MONTHLY ARCHIVE OF UPDATES

JUNE 2016

"My Devotee Is Always with Me"
"Actually those who serve Gurudev and the Lord full-heartedly, always stay with Gurudev and the Lord." His Divine Grace gives the examples of three devotees of the Lord that illustrate this truth: Laksmi Priya Devi, Srivas Pandit's son, and Chhota Haridas.
• Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 7 min | 24 June 2010)

From Sri Nabadwip Dham (7 photographs, 0.7 Mb)
A few photographs taken at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Sri Nabadwip Dham, during the past few days. After the tragic news spread everywhere, many devotees has come to the Math to support Srila Acharya Maharaj and bid goodbye to Sripad Santosh Prabhu.

Vaishnavs' Dealings: All Mercy
"A senior devotee must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others, but sometimes they also can chastise you—that is your blessing. Sometimes also they can chastise for preaching. I can give an example. It happened in Nityananda Prabhu's time..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min | 20 September 2009)

Not So Fast!
"We want to leave the material world, but you have had a relation with it since millions of millions of years ago, it is always inside you to your bone. It is not easy to leave material things, material ego, you must understand the situation you are in."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min | 2 October 2013)

At Srivas Pandit's House
Not only the Lord is always present there, but He personally takes care of His great devotee's needs, but "our eyes are blind by the dust of the material world, so how can we see the supra-mundane things?"
• Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 4 min | 2 October 2013)

Revolt!—and Surrender
"If you can do both, sravan-kirtan and service, then nothing will be able to remove you from your spiritual life. You must try very hard. The life of a brahmachari is an austere life, but if you can tolerate it, it will be very good for you."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 2 October 2013)

Collecting Jivas, Collecting Bhog
"Try to serve there—it is necessary to have the strongest practising and the strongest faith, these two are the main things. Try to find people through preaching, find people who would stay permanently at the temple, do proper service..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.9 Mb, 10 min | 29 March 2016)

Evening Programme at Sri Nabadwip Dham (12 photographs, 0.8 Mb)
Photographs taken today during the evening programme: His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj is addressing the assembled devotees on the eve of the Vaishnav-seva in honour of Sripad Santosh Krishna Prabhu.

Vaishnav-Seva in Honour of Sripad Santosh Prabhu
(40 photographs, 2.1 Mb)
Photographs taken today during the Vaishnav festival held in honour of late Sripad Santosh Krishna Prabhu at Sri Nabadwip Dham in the shelter of the lotus feet of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj.

Photo Album: In Honour of Sripad Santosh Prabhu
(45 photographs, 5.3 Mb)
A dedicated photo album prepared in memory and honour of Sripad Santosh Krishna Prabhu whose glories devotees remember and worship today all over the world.

Gaudiya Darshan: The Wonderful Nature of the Vaisnava
"There is no doubt that our Guru is supreme in our life, but the Vaisnava is also not less than that. The Vaisnava can give us Krsna. Guru always lives on a higher level of honour, but the Vaisnava is the general helper for the conditioned soul. The Vaisnava's position is very merciful for the conditioned soul. The Vaisnavas also very affectionately try to help each other..." >>>

Clear Aim In Life
"Every devotee must have a target. If you get on a plane but then realise there is no pilot, how will the plane fly? If we have no aim in life, it will not take us anywhere. We must think, 'I have come to Krishna consciousness and I will practise it properly.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (3 Mb, 8 min | 29 March 2016)

Using / Serving
"You cannot use Nrisinghadev for your own purpose or benefit—you must serve Nrisinghadev. We must give something to our Guru and the devotees, we should not take so much from our Guru or take anything from the devotees..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min | 21 May 2016)

Initiations (3 photographs, 0.3 Mb)
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj gives initiation to two Bengali ladies: photographs taken yesterday, 10 June.

Preaching Guidance: Blood, Cockroaches, and the Core
"Give your blood to bring people, try, then people will come. By only doing puja and sitting in one place people will not come. If you practise properly yourself, what you say to others will work. If you have a strong desire to preach, then strong mercy will come to you..."
• Download (3.2 Mb, 9 min | 21/05/2016 | Low audio quality — apologies)

A "Happy Style" Life
"If you come for devotional activities, you should not make yourself an enjoyer. Do not be a deha-rami, do not live like this. In heaven the demigods live in a very comfortable way, but sometimes they forget the Lord and become demons like it was with Jay and Vijay..."
• Download (4.9 Mb, 13 min | 21/05/2016 | Low audio quality — apologies)

Eternal Pastimes of Eternal Devotees
"Devotees cannot leave Lord Krishna, Bhagavan, they always stay with Him. Sometimes our eyes see that they change their body, but actually Bhagavan's lila, devotees' lila is always going on..."
• Download (1.4 Mb, 4 min | 20 September 2009)

Surrender: Your Choice, Your Faith
"Those who came in this world and who can chant in this body, can follow Mahaprabhu's instruction, are very fortunate, otherwise this body is useless. If we surrender to the Lord, we must get proper devotion. There is one story in Mahabharata..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min | 20 September 2009)

In honour of Sri Ganga Mata Goswamini and Srila Baladev Vidyabhusan Prabhu, from the archive:

Ganga Mata Goswamini
"There was once a young girl, a daughter of a good Odisha king, who got much mercy from Jagannath. She always served in the Jagannath temple—made garlands and did whatever other service there was..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min | 24 September 2009)

From Sri Guru and His Grace:
"Srila Baladev Vidyabhusan's contribution to the sampradaya is no less important than that of the other great stalwarts in the line. Baladev Vidyabhusan was very akin to the Madhva sampradaya, but when he came in connection with Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur, he showed great interest in Gaudiya–Vaisnavism. He has also commented on the Srimad Bhagavatam and Jiva Goswami's Sat-sandarbha, and that enlightened thought is a valuable contribution to our sampradaya. We cannot dismiss him, he is our Guru."

Devotion to Devotees
"Devotees have no caste, no colour, nor any other distinctions—Krishna always helps anyone who serves His devotees cent per cent. In Mahaprabhu's time, there was one sweeper called Jhadu Thakur..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | 20 September 2009)

Sri Ekadashi Guidance
Guidelines on how to observe and honour this holy day: Ekadashi takes an indispensible part in the life of a sincere practitioner. At Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Ekadashi and paran are observed with affection and without fail according to the dates given in the Calendar.

• "Sri Ekadasi" (Sri Sri Prema Vivarta)
"One day, Gaurahari left the Gundicha Temple and sat in the Jagannath Vallabha garden. It was pure Ekadasi, and the Lord spent the whole day and night chanting the Name of Krishna..."

• "Observing Ekadasi"
"Mahaprabhu told everybody how to observe Ekadasi, and our Guru-varga also follow it. We must understand how to follow the Ekadasi day. Why do you leave your food? Not to please yourself, but to please the Lord."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min)

• "Ekadasi Vrata: Make Your Guru Happy"
"Mahaprabhu told us to follow the Ekadasi vrata and we follow it to please our Guru, to please our Guru-varga, and make Mahaprabhu happy."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min)

• SONG: Suddha-bhakata | শুদ্ধ ভকত-চরণ-রেণু
"I carefully observe the holy days related to Madhava, they are the mother of devotion."

• SONG: Sri hari-vasare | শ্রীহরি-বাসরে হরি
"On the holy day of Sri Hari, Sriman Mahaprabhu, the life and soul of the universe, began dancing..."

Chira-Dadhi Mahotsav at Sri Panihati / News From Nabadwip
(17 photographs, 1.3 Mb)
Surrounded by his associates, servitors, and devotees, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj takes part in the annual festival of flat rice and yoghurt in honour of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. Sharing several photographs taken this morning and afternoon at Sri Panihati during the busy festival attended eagerly by devotees and people from all over India, as well as a few photographs of the goshala progress taken at Sri Nabadwip Dham.

• Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Sochaka | শ্রীল-রঘুনাথদাস-গোস্বামি-শোচক
(Sung at Sri Panihati Festival preaching.)

From the archive:

Panihati
"We have been to Panihati for chira-dadhi mahotsav, it is the place where Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu received mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. It is not so far from Dum Dum Park, and it is a very nice place, on the bank of the Ganges..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3 Mb, 8 min)

Treading the Wrong Path
Trying to cut a shortcut and fostering chauvinism will not take you far: without getting mercy of Gurudev, your attempts to reach the goal will be thwarted; by discriminating against householders you can end up in hell.
• Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min)

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami: Breaking Free
"He wanted to take a roundabout zigzag route, avoiding Nityananda Prabhu and going directly to Mahaprabhu, but every time he went to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu rejected him and sent him back to his home...."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min)

Real Mercy, Real Service
Real mercy: "Getting mercy means getting service: if you have service, you have mercy."
Real service: "Practise properly, keep proper association, and always avoid the Nama aparadh, seva aparadh, dham aparadh, Vaishnav aparadh. Chant the Holy Name properly, without deceit, and with proper attention and service mood."
• Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 2 min)

Festival in Sri Panihati 2015 (10 photographs, 1 Mb)
Several photographs taken earlier this morning at the annual chida-dahi festival in Panihati, where Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu received mercy of Nityananda Prabhu.

Understanding Maya
"Maya is very powerful, and she always tries to remove jiva souls from their service to the Lord. So, disturbance must come—her duty is like that. Maya's duty is to always take over and remove from Krishna consciousness. We must be careful."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.2 Mb, 8 min | 20 September 2009)

Speaking Online to Caracas (6 photographs, 0.2 Mb)
Sharing a few photographs taken yesterday evening during an online darshan of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj granted to the devotees in Caracas, Venezuela.

From the archive:

Parama Karuna Nitai Gaurachandra
"I am always with you, and truly my love and affection are always with you—I cannot forget your service, your love and affection, and how Nitai Gaurachandra constantly bestow Their mercy on you all."
• Download the audio (3.3 Mb, 10 min | 15 June 2011)

Glorious Parama Karuna
"It is such a glorious and happy day! Gaura Nitai wanted to come but They were searching who They would come with. When They finally got Gurudev's good association, They suddenly caught Gurudev's hand and came to Caracas."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 6 min | 3 June 2015)

• SONG: Parama karuna | পরম করুণ পহুঁ দুই জন
"Nitai and Gaurachandra are the two most merciful Lords. There are no benefactors in the three worlds as merciful as Them. Hearing of Their glory, birds and animals cry and stones melt."

Service and Sincere Practice
"By the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, Raghunath Das Goswami got some great mercy, and you can understand that he actually got that mercy through Vaishnav seva..."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | 19 June 2016)

Glimpses from Sri Nabadwip Dham (12 photographs, 0.9 Mb)
Sharing photographs taken around Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Sri Nabadwip Dham, yesterday and today early in the morning.

Smart, Savvy, and Sannyasi
Addressing questions about the fundamental characteristics of a devotee: an intelligent approach to obtaining Vaishnavs' prasad, harmonising any environment, and what matters far more than the colour of the cloth.
• Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 7 min | 20 September 2009)

Wholesome and Wholehearted
"You take initiation and think everything is finished, but it is not so. Continue your job, take care of your family, but do it only for the Lord. Krishna does not want big prasadam from you—whatever you can give to Him, He accepts it. It is necessary to give your heart."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 20 September 2009)

The 'Crazy', the Wicked, the Restless
"There was once a sahajiya Guru. He could not teach others anything good, he did not know anything and used to always cheat his disciples, but once he thought, 'Every day I go house to house, but in this area there is this rich king...'"
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | 6 August 2002)

A Name and the Holy Name
"Hare Krishna maha-mantra does not equal to any name—it is not the same as a husband's name, as my name, or anyone else's. The Holy Name is non-different from Krishna."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | 6 August 2002)

Divine Backing
"No one can stop, attack, or defeat those who have Gurudev's backing. It is necessary to have this kind of strong faith. It all depends upon faith. No one can destroy those who have a strong faith in their Gurudev."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.1 Mb, 5 min | 1 August 2002)

Where is Hari?
"We ask many questions, we want to know everything, but actually it is not necessary. We must serve our Gurudev, we must serve our Lord, then we will get benefit. Sadhu-sanga is not eating together with the sadhu or sleeping together with the sadhu."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min | 1 August 2002)

Rely On Gurudev
"Gurudev is nondifferent from Krishna; at the same time Gurudev is like Radharani. Many obstacles will come in our practising life, but if we remember Krishna, if we remember our Gurudev and if we serve our Gurudev, then they must protect us."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 6 August 2002)

Odds and Ends (6)
Several educating excerpts from the lectures of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj that were not included in the main posts:
• Accept or reject? • Sincere service until death • The result of chanting • Seasonal fruit • Observing Ekadasi • What is devotion • ISKCON Ratha-Yatra • Three prayers on the way to Ekachakra • What is mercy?
• Download / listen to the audio (3.3 Mb, 9 min)

Guidance, Issue #07 (EPUB file, 0.8 Mb)
An ePub file for offline reading on mobile phones and tablets containing the lectures of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj published here from April to June 2016. We pray this serves as a source of guidance, nourishment, and life to all the devotees and well-wishers worldwide.

 · · • • • · ·

2016

 JANUARY
 FEBRUARY
 MARCH
 APRIL
 MAY
 JUNE
 JULY
 AUGUST
 SEPTEMBER
 OCTOBER
 NOVEMBER
 DECEMBER

• OFFLINE READING, ePub:
(All lectures of His Divine Grace Om Visnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj posted here on the website)
Issue #1 (31 Dec '14)
Issue #2 (2015/1)
Issue #3 (2015/2)
Issue #4 (2015/3)
Issue #5 (2015/4)
Issue #6 (2016/1)
Issue #7 (2016/2)
Issue #8 (2016/3)
Issue #9 (2016/4)
Issue #10 (2017/1)
Issue #11 (2017/2)
Issue #12 (2017/3)
Issue #13 (2017/4)
Issue #14 (2018/1)
Issue #15 (2018/2)
Issue #16 (2018/3)
Issue #17 (2018/4)
Issue #18 (2019/1)
Issue #19 (2019/2)
Issue #20 (2019/3)
Issue #21 (2019/4)
Issue #22 (2020/1)
Issue #23 (2020/2)
Issue #24 (2020/3)
Issue #25 (2020/4)
Issue #26 (2021/1)
Issue #27 (2021/2)
Issue #28 (2021/3)
Issue #29 (2021/4)
Issue #30 (2022/1)