(3/13) Spiritual Safety

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata-Worldwide, 21 June 2020, part 3

I am very happy to see you all. This year actually, I am a little sad because I cannot go to the Ratha-yatra festival in Puri. Every year, so many devotees join us, and we do parikrama two times a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. We visit Gambhira (the place where Mahaprabhu stayed, where His bhajan kutir is), Haridas Thakur's samadhi, siddha bakul, Chatak Parvat, Alarnath, Bhuvaneshwar, Ananta Vasudev temple, Sivji MAharaj's temple. We always visit many places with devotees, but this year the situation is sad. Neither the government nor the supreme court want Ratha-yatra to happen this year. It is very difficult for devotees because if Jagannath does not come out on His chariot, how will bad elements be removed from this kind of world?

So many bad things are happening now all over the world. India is also fighting with China now. There is so much politics going on in this world, and people all over the world are suffering from the coronavirus (COVID-19). Because of this pandemic disease and situation, we are all staying in our houses. Some devotees have even lost their service (their job) and cannot maintain themselves, but they are still helping Indian temples. I am very happy with their help. Many devotees are helping us according to their capacity, and I am also trying to continue my service.

I had many things to do in Nabadwip today, but because the Internet connection is not very good in Nabadwip, I returned to Kolkata this afternoon to give this weekly Sunday class for all the devotees. I think that we can meet again on 23 June (the day after tomorrow) this week also, on the day of Sri Jagannath Ratha-yatra. If you can try to join that programme, I will be very happy.

At this moment, so many devotees are helping us – devotees from Brazil, America, Singapore, Russia, South Africa, Mauritius, Ecuador and other countries. In many countries, such as Venezuela or Colombia, the condition is very difficult, but devotees are still helping according to their capacity. They help and send service donations to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. I am trying to serve devotees with that. Now I am making another guesthouse because many devotees come at the Gaura Purnima time but they have to suffer and stay outside – I rent some houses or send them to stay in this house, that house; it is very difficult. That is why I am thinking that another guesthouse is necessary.

Many devotees, both worldwide and here in India, always phone me and say that they want to come for festivals – they feel very bored in their houses. Many festivals have passed already (Gurudev's disappearance festival, Nrisingha-chaturdasi festival and others); later, there will be Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's disappearance festival and after that Janmastami. I do not know if everything will be free by then, I still cannot understand it. But temples are gradually opening, although large gatherings are still not allowed.

I also always think about the safety of our devotees in this kind of pandemic disease and situation. Seeing all the devotees, I pray to Lord Jagannath and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, 'Please give devotees some energy to serve the Lord, to serve you. Please do not take away their service energy.' I always pray to the Lord that He may give you more and more energy to serve devotees. I always pray for you all, and I pray that you may all overcome this situation. I know that the economical condition is very low in this world and many are living in a bad position in this world. Also, devotees cannot go house to house preaching, cannot do book distribution, cannot distribute Harinam sankirtan in the street. How will they preach?...

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Without Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur Our Line Is Nothing
2) Mandakini Dhara
3) Spiritual Safety
4) Ignore and Avoid Misconception
5) Practise and Keep Faith
6) Family Consciousness
7) Uncover Yourself
8) Opportunity to Serve
9) Live in Seva-Kunja
10) On Astrology
11) Be Sharp
12) Sincere, Keen and Humble
13) Observing Gundicha Marjan