(1/4) Heal Yourself

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, evening class,
12 April 2019, part 1
Translated from Bengali

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

'The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from Gurudev.'

(Bhavartha Dipika)

Say together with me:

হরে কৃষ্ণ হরে কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ হরে হরে ।
হরে রাম হরে রাম রাম রাম হরে হরে ॥

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

We are present here after a long time. Soon is the holy disappearance day of our Sri Gurupadpadma. Apart from that, the annual inauguration festival of this temple is coming soon, too. The installation day of the Deity was earlier, but on that day, we were inaugurating another temple in Bardhaman, so we could not come. That is why I thought that I would make Guru Maharaj's disappearance festival here, so I have come here a few days before the date. The day falls on the ekadasi day this year, it is a fasting day, so we will distribute prasad on the dvadasi day. We should fast in the morning on Guru Maharaj's day anyway, so we will take some anukalpa at noon and in the evening, and the next day (17 April), we will take paran and have the festival. The coming Sunday is the appearance of Lord Rama (Rama-navami). We will be also giving prasad to everyone on this day.

Whenever you make an utsav (festival), it is necessary to have utsaha (enthusiasm). Be it Gurupadpadma's appearance or disappearance, be it Rama-navami or any other auspicious day, it is necessary to feel joy when making these festivals, it is necessary to feel joy and to have enthusiasm – these are the symptoms of devotion. We sing, 'Chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi' chhaya guna deha' dase (ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে). Please subjugate my six urges, rectify my six defects and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant.' Enthusiasm is one of the good qualities. There is such a thing as enthusiasm, and you must always try to have it.

There are five diseases. I have explained them to you earlier. Ignorance (avidya) false identification (asmita), misdirected love (raga), aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment (dvesa) and being unable to give up unfavourable habits (abhinivesa).

Ignorance means that we do not know the relationship that we have with the Lord – we forget that we are His eternal servants. Those who identify themselves with their bodies (who think that they and their bodies are one and the same) are ignorant. If you take your blood and compare it to the blood of your parents, you can see that it is the same blood group, so your parents give you these bodies, but they do not give you that which you are (they did not produce you). As soon as you leave your body, your body will be cremated or buried. So, ignorance means having no knowledge about the Lord, having no knowledge about our relationship with the Lord. Our bodies have no relationship with God. Composed of earth, water, fire, air and ether, our bodies are part of the material world.

False identification means identifying yourself with the perishable body and having attachment to it. 'This is my body.' When your father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends, wife or children die, you cry and mourn the loss of your beloved ones. That is false identification.

Misdirected love means attachment to the body, it means always thinking about the body and anything that is conducive to it (eating, dressing, sleeping). It means to be a gross materialist who lives by bodily pleasures (deha-rami) and being always deeply attached to material things. It is a disease to be always thinking about eating, wearing clothes, sleeping or anything else related to the body.

Aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment.

Being unable to give up unfavourable habits. It means feeling attached or attracted to the things that are not favourable to devotion. It means not being able to tolerate, having little patience. This is also a disease. Such people have little patience – they cannot wait, they cannot tolerate something; they are always impatient.

These are the five diseases.

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