(8/14) Wholesome Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
26 February 2019, noon, part 8
Translated from Bengali

Do you dream of going to heaven? Do you think that you can do something good in this world and after that go to heaven? It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita that if you do some good works, you go to heaven, and once that pious merit finishes, by the will of the Lord you have to come back from heaven to this world again – and instead of a human birth, you may get some lower birth.

There are gods in heaven who often think about the Lord, but because they live in so much luxury and happiness, most of them do not. Even gods in heaven forget about the Lord. Such gods will have to face an unfavourable future, but the gods who think about the Lord can again be born as humans and start practising Krishna consciousness in their human lives. After that, in their next births, they can come to the Lord's abode.

This is the process stipulated in the scriptures. This is what is written in Srimad Bhagavatam and all other scriptures. You should always remember this, always think about this – if you can do that, then you will see that you can easily get supreme benefit.

It is possible to attain devotion to the Lord by chanting His Holy Name in the shelter of a bona fide guru.

Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj gave one very nice example. There are so many wonderful, beautiful things to see in this world, but if somebody has no eyes (if their eyes are blind), they will not be able to see any of it – for them, this whole world of beautiful sights will have no value. We are talking here now through a microphone and the sound can be heard so far around us – there is so much discussion going on, so much kirtan going on – but if somebody is deaf, they cannot hear any of it. So, there is a world of sound for those who have ears; there is a world of sight for those who have eyes; in the same way, there is God for those who have devotion. If somebody has no devotion, there is no God for them.

Our lives are neither about rejecting Krishna's things or enjoying Krishna's things out of ego – our lives are about taking Krishna's things and using them in His service. If we can do that, we can get the title of a servitor and we can become Krishna's servants. Otherwise, if, realising that everything in this world belongs to Krishna, we choose to reject everything (because it does not belong to us), then we will become mayavadis (illusionists), sunyavadis (voidists), nirvisesvadis (impersonalists) or brahmavadis (impersonalists). On the other hand, if we think that Krishna's things belong to us and enjoy those things, then we will earn the title of a sambhogvadi (enjoyers). Neither of these approaches can ever bring you to God. If we can take Krishna's things and take them along with us on the path of devotion by utilising them in Krishna's service and consider whatever remnants come to us as His prasad (His mercy), then we can see that we have been able to enter the world of devotion.

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Size: 37 Mb
Length: 76 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Bound and Benumbed
2) Within and Without
3) Think about Your Actual Self
4) Pivotal Difference
5) Forget Me Not
6) Antidote to Material Life
7) Mixing in Adulteration
8) Wholesome Life
9) Devoured by Darkness
10) Spiritual Power
11) Depths of Devotion
12) Guard Your Spiritual Purity
13) Focus on Lord's Happiness
14) Pure Devotees' Pure Hankering