(2/9) Beyond the Walls of Your Ego

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
20 November 2020, noon, part 2
Translated from Bengali

The sun rises in the east, but if there is a wall, then no sunlight will come. In the same way, we have erected walls of ego all around us, and no Hari-katha or spiritual things can enter those walls and reach us. That is why we are always told, and Mahaprabhu also told the same thing, that people worship God so much and pray, 'Make me rich', 'Give me knowledge', 'Make me beautiful', 'Give me a wife'. No matter what god or goddess you worship, if you do it with this mood, it means you turn God into a bribe-taker. You bring some rice, banana, fruit, roots on a plate, give it to the Lord and say, 'O Lord, please give me this, that, that'. You give some bribe because you think that you will not get what you want without giving some bribe to God, just as you give a bribe to government officials to get something from them.

Today, I was going in the car, moving slowly through the traffic, when suddenly I got a phone call from Vrindavan. The devotee told me, 'Gurudev, there is a problem in Vrindavan. The electric meter has stopped. We do not know how long it has not worked – we have got the electricity bill today and saw that it was much less, then we noticed that the meter for the line is not working. Now we have to pay a fine of 5,000 rupees.' Then, the electrician took the phone from him and started threatening me that he would cause more problem. I told the devotee, 'Take 10,000 rupees, give it to him. Let him fix the meter and forget it.' As soon as the man heard it, he let it go and finished the hubbub. I know that the works do not cost 5,000, but it is no use trying to complain to the police... The man took 10,000 rupees, repaired everything and left... I know how to please demigods – if a demigod likes a particular flower, you must give that kind of flower to them. If you give Kali Ma a joba flower (hibiscus), she will like it.

When Gurudev was young, he used to stay at the house of Srila Swami Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad), the founder of ISKCON, at Sita Kanta Banerjee Lane in Kolkata (near Ultadanga). At that time, Srila Swami Maharaj was a householder, he had not taken sannyas yet, and Gurudev was a brahmachari (his name was Gaurendu Brahmachari). During those days, Gurudev would go house to house preaching, distributing books, collected some donations. One time, some man asked him, 'Listen, why do you worship Krishna? Why do you worship your Guara Hari? Can you not worship Kali?' Gurudev was very young at that time, he had just joined the temple (he was about eighteen years old), he did not know much, so he just kept quiet and went away. When he came back to Srila Swami Maharaj's house, he told him, 'One man asked me today why we do not worship Kali...' Swami Maharaj asked him, 'Gaurendu, could you not answer anything to him?' Gurudev replied, 'What was I to answer?' Then Swami Maharaj said, 'If you worship Kali, what will your Kali give you? Money, wealth, a house, a car, all these things. What does your Kali Ma look like? She is naked and wears a garland of skulls on her neck (they are all skulls of demons – there are no Vaishnav tilaks on them)! When you see your Kali Ma, you come to her to enjoy with her, but she grasps you by the hair, cuts off your neck and feeds your head to ghosts and witches. To pacify your Kali Ma, her husband Lord Siva comes and falls at her feet, praying, "Please stop, please stop!" and she steps on the chest of her husband! This is what your Mother is like. But our Mother is not like that. Our mother is not a demoness. Our Mother Srimati Radharani is very beautiful, radiant and loving. Everything is beautiful about Her. You should have answered to that man like that.'

When you come to Goloka, you will get love and affection, peace. You cannot get these things by worshipping Kali. When you worship Kali, you only think of enjoyment, and when you think of enjoyment, it only leads to fights and quarrels. Wherever there is money, wherever there is kanak (money), kamini (women) and pratistha (fame), there is always fighting, disturbance and bloodshed because of money, wealth, houses, cars and other material things – they always bring disturbance and unrest. That is why it is said,

নাহি মাগি দেহ-সুখ, বিদ্যা, ধন, জন ॥
নাহি মাগি স্বর্গ, আর মোক্ষ নাহি মাগি ।
না করি প্রার্থনা কোন বিভূতির লাগি’ ॥

nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

'I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers.'

(Sri Siksastakam, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We do not pray for any of these things. There are such beautiful things – fresh mountain breeze, beautiful flowers, beautiful garden, beautiful atmosphere. There can be all these very beautiful things...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Result of Great Fortune
2) Beyond the Walls of Your Ego
3) Hanker and Try
4) Govardhan's Arrangement
5) Krishna, Stealer of Pride
6) Annakut Mahotsav
7) Who Are You? Where Are You?
8) Enter Service Plane
9) Taking the Holy Name