(4/6) Preaching Guidance

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
12 March 2020, evening, Sri Nrisingha Palli
Part 4

It is very hard to follow what is written, but it is necessary to know these things. What benefit will we get through service? I told about it here in Guidance 4: service brings more service. These are Gurudev's words. What is the reward for service? Service brings more service.

আমারে বিষয়ী পাগল বলিয়া
অঙ্গেতে দিবেক ধূলি

amare visayi, 'pagala' baliya,
angete dibeka dhuli

'Considering me crazy, materialists will throw dust on my body.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur told, 'Saying that I am mad, materialist will kick dust upon my body.' Who can stop a madman of Chaitanya-chandra? 'Chaitanyer batul ke rakhite pare (চৈতন্যের বাতুল কে রাখিতে পারে)?'

[His Divine Grace then looks through the chapters' names in Guidance 4.]

'Self-submission is service to Krishna with all your senses.'

How must you worship Sri Gaurasundar? 'The highest worship of Sri Gaurasundar is through sankirtan.'

'Sri Dham Mayapur—Srila Prabhupad's heart.'

'Sri Sri Gaurasundar is extremely happy with the sankirtan of pure Vaishnavs.'

'On the days when I see devotional service in my home, I feel Goloka has manifested there.'

'Dina Krishna-dasa kahe nama-sankirtan: this poor servant of Krishna is chanting sankirtan.'

'Ideal of preaching Hari-katha.' This chapter described how one must speak Hari-katha, what one must do when going for preaching. Preaching is not for eating and sleeping.

'Affectionate chaste disciples do not stay anywhere except for the house of their guru. When you go for preaching, you have to stay at other places—in this case, wherever you have to stay, you must bring there the atmosphere of your guru's house, ashram and temple. Whenever you stay in the preaching field, you must remember that my Lord is there, my Gurudev is there, and I have service.'

I wrote in this chapter how one must behave when going for preaching. Those who are preaching must read this chapter. I will read it now to you.

'Affectionate chaste disciples do not stay anywhere except for the house of their guru. When you go for preaching, you have to stay at other places—in this case, wherever you have to stay, you must bring there the atmosphere of your guru's house, ashram and temple.'

Do you understand? When you go for preaching, you must think that you are staying in your Guru's house – you make the atmosphere of your Guru's house, of the temple. When you stay at the temple, you wake up for mangal arati and come for the classes, but when you go for preaching, you do not start programmes and do not practise temple life. This is not preaching. You must bring there the atmosphere of your guru's house, ashram and temple.

'Whenever you stay in the preaching field, you must remember that my Lord is there, my Gurudev is there, and I have service. You should always remember this. Vaishnavs do not stay in the universe of Kali—they live in the abode of the Lord's service, in the abode of their Guru's service. When you go for preaching, you must have the feeling that you are in the temple. Just as every morning at the temple, you give the class, chant kirtans, do mangal-arati, Tulasi-parikrama, serve the Lord, in the same way you must live your life in the service of the Lord, in Hari-katha, in lectures and kirtans when you go for preaching. You must preserve all these eternally practised devotional activities following all rules and regulations. You should practise preserving this mood as much as possible, then you will progress in your own devotional practising life; otherwise you can be attacked by illusion (Maya). Collecting items for service is not the main purpose of preaching. If you become concerned only with money, you will be removed from Krishna consciousness. You must create the atmosphere of the temple as far as it is possible, and stay within it.

'When you go for preaching, you must create an atmosphere favourable to devotion. When you give a class and chant kirtans yourself, then you will encourage people around you who have faith to join this kirtan. It is very important to create the atmosphere of a temple for self-preservation, i.e. to protect your service and devotional practice. We can see that sannyasis always sit amidst fire blazing on all four sides. Why do they sit amidst blazing fire? They do not do it not to collapse from cold. This fire is Hari-katha, kirtan, service to the Lord, and service to the guru. You must progress in your practising life keeping the sacrificial fire of your service ablaze. What is this fire? It is service intelligence; keeping yourself busy with preaching to give benefit to yourself and others. Going to preach alone is not advantageous—it is advantageous to preach in the association of Vaishnavs. You should not stay without Vaishnavs. It is your bad fortune if you go for preaching on your own.'

You must remember this very well. People like to go for preaching alone because they can eat, sleep and enjoy nicely, they can visit different places. Many devotees send their invitations, and somebody goes there on their own and enjoys. If you go for preaching alone, it is not good.

'When you go for preaching, you should always keep the mood that I have come here for the service of the Lordships—i.e. service of Sri Guru, Sri Govinda, Sri Gopinath, Sri Madan-mohan. During preaching, you go to many places where you will find neither a temple nor people who have faith. That is why it is necessary to create a temple.'

Sometimes, you live in a grihastha house, but you have to create a temple in your house – turn your house into a temple. You must create there an atmosphere of devotional activities.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Love Your Service
2) Service Foundation
3) Guru–Disciple Relationship
4) Preaching Guidance
5) Meaning of Surrender
6) Demons Among Devotees