(2/6) Loving Relationship and Obedience

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, evening class
20 January 2020, part 2

I have been telling you about practising Krishna consciousness for a very long time, and you have been chanting the Holy Name for a long time already. If you chant the Holy Name, you will get the supreme benefit, but thinking, "Where is the Lord? I do not find Him," we lose patience. It is necessary to always have patience and tolerance.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, "Prasada-seva karite haya sakala prapancha-jaya (প্রসাদ-সেবা করিতে হয় সকল প্রপঞ্চ জয়): by honouring the Lord's prasad I shall conquer all material diseases." We take so much of Lord's prasad daily, but do our material diseases go away? It means that there is some error on our part. It is very easy to give advice or guidance to others, but it is very hard to imbibe it within your own heart. First give advice to yourself, then you will get the highest benefit. First give guidance to yourself and try to make yourself perfect, then try to guide others; otherwise, there is no use trying to give advice to others—if you give the mantra to others without practising properly yourself, the mantra will not work.

We have been averse to the Lord from time immemorial. I have been coming to this area for twenty–twenty-five years now, and even Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) told me, "So many people have taken initiation, but can you say how many people have become disciples?" You take the mantra, you take the initiation; you put a garland on Gurudev's neck, you offer some flowers and sandalwood paste (chandan) to Gurudev—but this is not guru-seva. If you do not have a relationship with your Gurudev, if you do not have love for your Gurudev—if you do not develop a loving relationship with your Gurudev—then whatever you do cannot be guru-seva. It is necessary to serve with love, knowing the relationship.

You do not establish this kind of relationship just by taking initiation. It is necessary to take initiation to come to the line of Krishna consciousness. The problem is that instead of taking genuine initiation we pretend that we take initiation, and instead of guru-sevak (servants of Sri Guru), we become guru-bhogi (exploit our Guru) and guru-tyagi (reject our Guru). We do not think how we can serve our Guru—we never think about what service we can do for our Guru.

Every day, we offer arati, flowers and other kinds of worship to a photograph of our Gurudev, but do we ever think about what Gurudev says and about following what Gurudev says? Do we live following the instruction that Gurudev gives? You must ask yourself this and seek the answer within yourself. You take a photograph of Gurudev, put a garland on it, offer some flowers, but do you follow what Gurudev says? It is such a big offence not to follow Gurudev's instruction. You cheat your Gurudev. In the end, you only cheat and deceive yourself.

Many think, "I am young now, why will I practise Krishna consciousness now? I will serve the Lord when I grow old." You think you will retire at sixty and practise Krishna consciousness then because you will not have children to look after. But do those who say such things live following Gurudev's teachings? It is said in the scriptures, and Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said, that not everyone who takes initiation and the mantra is a real disciple. Those who do not live following and moulding their lives according to the teachings of Sri Guru are not real disciples. These are Srila Prabhupad's words.

In this world, although there is a very large number of gurus, it is very rare to find a disciple. In other words, you can find one–two gurus in this world, but you will not find a disciple in this world. You must remember this. Real disciples live their lives following and moulding their lives according to the teachings of their Gurudev. You must place the words of your Guru and the instruction of your Guru on your head, and there must be no self-defence. Gurudev tells you one thing, and you backchat—this is wrong. You must place his words on your head and follow them.

Suppose you are walking along a street and see a snake. You say, "Gurudev, look out! There is a snake!" If Gurudev says, "No, it is a rope," you must believe and accept it. The whole world says that the sun rises in the east, but if Gurudev says, "No, the sun has risen in the west today," you must follow and accept it. This is how Gurudev taught me. It is necessary to have such faith. It is necessary to have such surrender.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Pure Kirtan Springs from Heart
2) Loving Relationship and Obedience
3) Stumbling Along
4) Build Service Relationship
5) Repairing Bad Fortune
6) Chastity and Purity of Association