(4/8) Mind Over Matter

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme
Translated into English from Bengali
17 February 2020, part 4

We were singing this morning:

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

[Limbs of surrender] "Humility, self-submission, accepting the Lord as your maintainer, keeping faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me.'"

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Our parents have given us this body, but they do not give us that which we are. I tell you this again and again, in every lecture. I explain to you this atma-tattva jnana (knowledge of the soul).

We like to say, "Eat whatever your soul (heart) desires." But the soul always stays inside, it is the mind that lives in the external world. If my mind wants, I will eat pig's meat, dog's meat or cat's meat today. For example, people eat raw pork, rats, lizards, spiders and other insects in China, but I can tell my mind, "I will not eat this!" and not eat it. If you do not give five kg meat to a tiger or a lion, they will start making noise, but we know better.

Take a small child for example. He wants to eat soil, and if you take soil out of his mouth, he will begin to cry. Give it a sweet then, and he will say, "Oh, how nice!" We have some intelligence—we know that if we get the Lord, there is nothing else left to be attained. If you get the Lord, there will be no lack of money, houses, cars or anything else. The Lord lacks nothing. But the Lord makes us suffer a lot, but we welcome and invite more suffering, "I want more suffering! Let me suffer more! Tomara sevaya yata haya duhkha, seo ta' parama sukha (তোমার সেবায় যত হয় দুঃখ, সেও ত' পরম সুখ)—whatever unhappiness comes through Your service is also a source of great happiness for me" (Saranagati).

When Parvati cursed Chitraketu to go to hell, Chitraketu became happy and smiled. He did not mind it. For devotees, it is not a problem if they go to hell or heaven, if they get liberation or live amidst some bad situation. Wherever devotees live, whatever the situation the Lord keeps them in, they always think, "Everything is the wish of the Lord." Be it some disease, some grief, some happiness, some suffering, death or live—everything happens by the will of the Lord. Devotees always think about the Lord, but the outside people, the people in this world, cannot think like that.

I went to a house recently—the man told me that he had spent almost two million rupees but could not save the life of his son. No matter how much money you spend, whenever the Lord calls you, you will have to leave that same day.

ভাল মন্দ খাই, হেরি, পরি, চিন্তাহীন ।
নাহি ভাবি এ দেহ ছাড়িব কোনদিন ॥

bhala manda khai, heri, pari, chinta-hina
nahi bhavi, e deha chhadiba kona dina

I eat luxuriously, look around, and dress carelessly, never considering that one day I will leave this body.

(Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We never think that one day we will have to leave this body. The soul does not want all this food. The soul is related to the Supersoul, and the soul only knows what the Supersoul wants.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Bhajana-Siddhi
2) Ignorance Is No Excuse
3) Where There Is No Will There Is No Way
4) Mind Over Matter
5) Choice Is Yours
6) Load of Luggage
7) Caught!
8) Internal Poison