Do Not Get Swayed

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata-Worldwide, 16 August 2020, part 4

Question: Can antithesis be an apparently good thing? For example, we are progressing in our spiritual life, and then suddenly Maya comes with some temptation, and that is apparently good so we have to adjust to it?

Yes, that is,

তোমার সেবায় দুঃখ হয় যত,
সেও ত' পরম সুখ ।

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness."

(Saranagati 16.4)

Sometimes, when we do some service and some sadness can come, but we tolerate it. For example, we are not able to preach properly now—so many things happen, so many problems come, we cannot do so much service, but you can see it as a kind of a test—you can see it as Krishna always testing us through Maya. He wants to see, "When Maya attacks you, when Maya gives so much trouble to you and so many problems come to you, will you remember Me or will you forget Me? It is up to you." If you can remember the Lord despite any difficulties, then it is very good. This is what we should do.

So many problems come in our spiritual life, so many elements create problems, so much antithesis comes, but we should carry on our preaching. You know, it was Independence Day yesterday here in India, 15 August, and they did a political party programme in the temple at Dum Dum Park, 487. It was a holiday yesterday, but I had to go to the market for the service to devotees, and on the way back I passed the temple. They actually wanted to do that programme here in Sevak Bhavan, but I did not even talk with them—I did not allow this programme, but they did the programme there in the temple. On 15 August! It is very sad for us. It is Guru Maharaj's temple, Gurudev and devotees (mainly, foreign devotees) gave their everything to make that temple, but now that temple makes only cultural programmes instead of spiritual programmes. They had a loudspeaker, etc., we could hear the sound coming from there, but we tolerate it—our life is preaching and practising properly.

তোমার সেবায় দুঃখ হয় যত,
সেও ত' পরম সুখ ।

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness."

(Saranagati 16.4)

Devotee: Srila Sridhar Maharaj said they are celebrating independence day, but is it freedom from the senses or freedom for the senses?

Yes, that is the question. All senses are attacking us:

কাম, ক্রোধ, লোভ, মোহ, মদ, অভিমান সহ
আপন আপন স্থানে টানে ।

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions."

All senses are taking us to their own place—lust, anger, greed, attachment to material things, pride, ego, everything is pulling us to their own place taking us away from service. These are Srila Narottam Das Thakur's words.

কাম, ক্রোধ, লোভ, মোহ, মদ, অভিমান সহ
আপন আপন স্থানে টানে ।
ঐছন আমার মন ফিরে যেন অন্ধজন
সুপথ বিপথ নাহি জানে ॥

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane
aichana amara mana phire yena andha jana
supatha vipatha nahi jane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions. Thus my mind wanders like a blind man who does not know the right way from the wrong way."

We are blind. Our mind is blind, it does not know which way to go. When a blind man goes down the street, he does not know where there is a hole in the road, where there is some problem, where there is some traffic jam, whether some car is coming or not—a blind man cannot cross the road without somebody's help. Our mind is also like that—it cannot do anything without the help of proper guidance.

Question: How can one stop disobeying the guru and start obeying him without mental speculation?

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that our mind is always fickle, our mind is always naughty, but you can direct your mind in the proper way, you can control your mind with the help of your intelligence, with the help of good association. It depends on association. There is bad association and good association. If you keep bad association, your mind will become bad, and if you keep good association, your mind will become good. So, you must always take good association through sadhu-sanga.

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