Correcting Your Attitude

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

Question: On the one hand, it is said that devotees should think in the interest of the Math, and, on the other hand, it is important to practise properly at home but this practice should not prevent the interest of the Math. Yet somebody says, "Oh, I have Deities at home," "I am chanting at home"...

Yes, it is necessary to follow this. Actually, everybody should understand the interest of the temple, the interest of the devotees. You cannot be biased thinking, "Oh, she is my family member and I will support her even if she does something wrong." This is not correct.

Devotee: ...If the person already has this attitude that, "I am OK, I am practising at home," how can they correct themselves and focus on the interest of the Temple?

If they listen to lectures, if they want to change, then slowly, slowly they can change. If somebody wants to correct themselves, if somebody wants to purify themselves, then if they try, they can do it. If somebody is not interested in that, if they think, "What I am doing is right, what I am thinking is right," then there is no question. Actually, this is wrong. You must always think, "Is what I am thinking correct or not? Is what I am doing correct or wrong?" You must understand this yourself. If you only see things your way and think this the only right way, then you have a problem. We must correct and adjust ourselves. It is necessary for spiritual progress.

Question: You always say there is no time to lose in this world, but you also say that we need to have patience in the process...

Gurudev says, "Sahasa vidadhita na kriyam (সহসা বিদধীত ন ক্রিয়াম্): do not do anything suddenly." It means, "Wait and see." That is why Gurudev always says that we must be tolerant and patient. It is necessary to have these qualities. And not to lose time means you must not lose your time on other things. You must always be alert, always eager and available for the service of the Lord. Always engage yourself in the service of the Lord. Even I must also engage myself in the service of the Lord. And when it comes to other things, then you must exercise patience, but not in relation to service. When it comes to service, you must do what is necessary immediately.

It is also necessary to be patient and tolerant when somebody does wrong. If you do something wrong, you must understand it is not good, you must tell yourself, "It is not good," "It is not good," and correct yourself. This is how you can sometimes control and handle the situation. Otherwise, if you cannot control it, then you must give everything over in the hands of the Lord.

This is what happened in Hapaniya. Last year, some man forcefully took Gurudev's favourite pond Shanti Sarovar, in Hapaniya. At first, he wanted to give me money for it—ten thousand rupees per year, but I told him that I am not a businessman, I told him not to do this, but that man is very bad, he is a big gunda [thug] who has probably killed many people. He had been always nagging me, and in the end he took the pond forcefully. I prayed to Radha-Gopinath, "O Gopinath, You are the controller. Please arrange something!" In the end, one-two months ago somebody threw a bomb and killed that man. The man was so bad that when the news spread that he had died, all the villagers made a festival.

So, there is a controller—Krishna. We will try our best, but when we cannot manage, we must give it to His hands, "Gurudev, Krishna, please you take over now."

You all know that I am out of the main temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and so many people come and tell me, "Please come and take over the temple!" but I always say, "No, wait and see." It is necessary to have patience. One day will come, and we will go there easily. When their offences increase and get very high, then they will go down on their own. This is called 'aparadher bhoja'—the load, or burden, of offences. When this burden of offences becomes too much, their boat will sink and they will go to hell. If you put five kg into a boat, the boat can take it, but if you put five quintal (five hundred kg), the boat will sink. So, when the load of their offence becomes too much, they will sink. In the meantime, we must oil our own machine—we must see to ourselves, we must not see others' faults. We must be very humble. Krishna is powerful, He has all power, and He is the controller. Then, one day will come, and everything will be harmonised. It is not necessary to worry.

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