Cause of All Causes

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 7 February 2021, part 4

Our problem is that we suffer from avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification)—we always identify ourselves with the material body. We always think, "Oh, I am doing this," "This has happened thanks to me!" etc. When you say things like that, it is also a kind of false ego. Everything that exists in this world, everything that is happening in this world—everything is under control of the Supreme Lord. You all know this sloka,

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

"Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes."

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

Sarva-karana-karanam. He is the cause of all causes. The Lord does everything—He is the doer; and He sees everything. Everything is written in His diary, He can see and say anything.

Nonetheless, you can ask yourself, "Is my devotion increasing?" There is karma-misra bhakti, jnana-misra bhakti, janna-sunya bhakti (devotion mixed with pursuit of material gain, devotion mixed with pursuit of knowledge, and devotion free from any desire for knowledge). We always seek our own benefit. At the same time, we understand the relationship with our father, mother, sister, brother, daughter, husband, wife, et. al. very well, but we cannot understand our Gurudev—we are not even trying to understand our Gurudev. How much our Gurudev has given to everybody! He has given his very life for everybody—for your spiritual benefit; he threw himself for your spiritual benefit.

You must keep some place for the Lord, for Gurudev in your heart. Our heart is always dirty with kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, women, and fame), kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy), rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa (desire for enjoyment through eyes, tongue, nose, ears, and skin). If you invite Gurudev to your house, you must first vacate some place to keep him; in the same way, you must vacate your heart to be able to keep Gurudev in your heart. It is important to understand this. This is the main thing in our spiritual life.

We show so much devotion externally, but how much love for our Gurudev, how much attachment to our Gurudev do we have internally? How much time do we give to him every day? Every day, we work the whole day running behind some kanak, kamini, pratistha (money, women, fame), behind some establishment. But how much time do you have in this world? Do you have any time to spare for the Lord, for your Gurudev?

I was saying today that the main thing is sraddha, visvas (faith). I have told you that first come a strongest faith (sraddha). We must develop our faith because if faith is gone, then everything will be gone. Just as when you are making a building, you must have some foundation, in the same way the devotion foundation is sraddha (faith). If the foundation of your devotion is weak, then your devotion will gradually be demolished from your heart. That is why, our first and foremost necessity is to establish faith. After that, it is necessary to keep good association—it is necessary to practise nava-vidha bhakti. I have already told you about it. These are the most important things in our spiritual life.

Sometimes we feel tired, we cannot do so much, but in this case you must read books. Read Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, read Gurudev's books, Guru Maharaj's books. Read Srimad Bhagavatam, the main devotional scripture in our line. You cannot reach your real home without devotion—you cannot reach it through any material activities, any mystic practices, any knowledge. Only devotion can grant you entrance there. How can you improve your bhakti? Through good association. "Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate (ভক্তিস্তু ভগবদ্ভক্তসঙ্গেন পরিজায়তে, Brhan-naradiya Purana)—you can get devotion through the association of devotees."

I have told you—you cannot join a zoom programme every day or at all times, but you must always keep good association. There are nine kinds of devotional practices—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). You must practise minimum one of these practices every day.

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