(5/18) Disciples' Hypocrisy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa-Puja Adhivas, Tarakeswar,
Evening, 28 September 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

How can a jiva soul get spiritual benefit? Even if the soul understands what is beneficial to it, it can never actually attain this benefit without the mercy of a great soul. You can never come to the Lord – you can never worship the Lord or do any service – until and unless you mould your life according to the instructions and guidance of your gurudev. Ultimately, it is said that we must take shelter of a great soul. If you engage in external activities – if you take the mantra, offer flowers to a picture, and so on – but do not sincerely follow your guru's instructions and guidance, then there is no use in doing all that. Instead, practise spiritual life (sravan and kirtan) following the guidance of your guru.

You yourself cannot understand what is good for you. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings, 'Kise bhala haya kabhu na bujhinu (কিসে ভাল হয় কভু না বুঝিনু). I can never understand what is good for me.' But gurudev knows what is good for you. He tells you to do some service – you may not like it, but you must still do it following his order. If you do not do it, it will be done through somebody else (gurudev will engage somebody else to do the required service). Service can never be stopped. That which is dear to the Lord can never be stopped or obstructed. But if you refuse to do some service, you will be the one cheated out of service – you will be the one who will not be able to please the Lord. If you do not live your life following the order of a great soul, you can never attain the perfection of divine love for the Lord.

Has it all been recorded? [His Divine Grace chuckles, pleased.] If you read what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, it is good for you. I have been reading it today the whole day...

Question: In our Mission, gurudev told us, 'You must continue in this way.' It means that we must always listen to his order and follow it, but sometimes after the disappearance of the guru, we come to the next guru without following that order...

How do we come to the guru? There is a chaitya-guru (internal manifestation of the guru) in our hearts, and this chaitya-guru takes you to your mahanta-guru (external manifestation of the guru). Actually, there are many gurus available in this world, but it is very rare to see a genuine disciple. It is said in Srimad Bhagavatam:

তস্মাদ্গুরুং প্রপদ্যেত জিজ্ঞাসুঃ শ্রেয়ঃ উত্তমম্ ।
শাব্দে পরে চ নিষ্ণাতং ব্রহ্মণ্যুপশমাশ্রয়ম্ ॥

tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreyah uttamam
sabde pare cha nisnatam brahmany upasamasrayam

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.3.21)

Those who want to get spiritual benefit must take shelter, or surrender to, a bona fide guru. It is extremely rare to find a bona fide guru in this world. If you can come to such a guru and can change your life following his order, instruction and guidance, then you can become a disciple. There are many gurus in this world who can give you a mantra – they will take your obeisances (pranam) and donations (pranami); but a genuine guru never takes anybody's obeisances or donations – he always offers all obeisances and all donations to his guru and to the holy lotus feet of the Lord.

There are many gurus in this world who are eager to take disciples. There are many ancestral or family gurus, there are many teachers of material knowledge, many teachers of all kinds of material skills. But it is very rare to find a genuine spiritual teacher. You can attain spiritual benefit only by the mercy of a genuine spiritual teacher. At the same time, although it is rare but it is possible to find a genuine guru, but it is not possible to find a genuine disciple.

It is definitely necessary to take initiation into the mantra to become a proper disciple because one cannot attain perfection as a disciple without accepting the mantra. However, taking mantra from a guru, calling him a paramahamsa and giving 'jay' to him, offering flowers at his feet, putting a garland on him, offering him bhoga ‒ these are not symptoms of a disciple. All this can have some external value, but the actual symptom of a disciple is sincere love for the guru. It is necessary to have a relationship with the guru.

'Guru is my spiritual benefactor'—it is necessary to have this kind of faith in your heart. Being a disciple means following the guru’s order and instruction, keeping the guru happy.

The disciple must practise, behave and speak in such a way as to make gurudev happy. Serving gurudev means search for his happiness. Unless there is such a relationship between the guru and the disciple, there can be no spiritual benefit. You have taken initiation from gurudev, but you do not follow his order and instruction – if you become a 'disciple' but behave and act like this, it strikes gurudev’s heart, he feels perturbed, troubled by the behaviour of such a disciple. Because of such behaviour, disciples do not get spiritual benefit.

Offenders of the guru often show externally that they scatter flowers at his feet, recite poems and big mantras in his glorification, fight on his behalf – they show externally how much they love their gurudev, that their gurudev is their near and dear; but internally they behave in such a way that it gives pain to their gurudev.

Such offenders of the guru only show externally that they are devoted to their guru. In this world, the number of such 'disciples' is very big. Just as a bona fide guru is a rarity, so are bona fide disciples. Such a disciple is very rare to find among thousands and thousand of disciples. Very few people among those who become disciples have the fortune to attain the qualification of a disciple.

Srila Prabhupad says that a true disciple must receive supreme benefit: nothing can obstruct their path towards peace, happiness and divine love. Deceitful people who keep on displeasing gurudev with their various inauspicious actions and practises, are moving down the path of total ruination.

Externally, we offer dandavat pranams, give the guru something to eat, gave him some clothes, but you cannot cheat gurudev in this way. Those who have become proper disciples of their gurudev, are always, at every moment alert and intent on pleasing their gurudev. Many think that gurudev cannot see through their deceit. Such people are extremely unfortunate. They are bound to be unhappy, such people know no end of troubles in their lives. They become deprived of the genuine guru’s shelter.

Just as there are very few gurus, there are also very few disciples. They will suffer birth after birth. Deceit will take them to a downfall. Nobody can cheat gurudev. Those who cheat gurudev are in a terrible danger and great trouble. There is no happiness for them in this world or the next world.

On the other hand, those who truly accept the life of a disciple, follow the guidance of gurudev and no doubt get supreme benefit. If there is no feeling of any relationship with your gurudev, there is no spiritual benefit – there is only devilry and wickedness. It is impossible to practise spiritual life or serve the Lord without becoming a proper disciple, neither can you get the Lord if you do not become a disciple. When you start practising and developing the relationship with your gurudev, you will attain spiritual benefit and progress on the path to the transcendental world.

I have told you before – gurudev gives you a ticket to Vrindavan, but you get off half-way in Bardhaman or some other station. This is how you end up not reaching Vrindavan...

— : • : —

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Length: 83 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Disciple's Dependence
2) How Does Devotion Come?
3) Indispensability of Guru's Mercy
4) Stop Threshing the Husk
5) Disciples' Hypocrisy
6) Strong Desires, Wrong Desires
7) Identifying Yourself with Kirtan
8) Patience Is a Virtue
9) Internal Hypocrisy
10) Unhappy Mind
11) Kirtan Is Not a Show
12) Cook to Perfection
13) Install Gurudev in Your Heart
14) Submission without Resistance
15) Service Is Not a Rite
16) Vaishnavs' Ornaments vs Demons' Ornaments
17) Vaikuntha Vani
18) Absolute Self-Submission