(4/8) Guru's Proximity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Radhastami, evening, Siliguri
6 September 2019, part 4
Translated from Bengali

There is a type of gurus called viviktanandi gurus. Such gurus live and practise spiritual life alone, in seclusion, and they do not like to be among other people. Such gurus serve the Lord alone, they do not teach others how to serve the Lord, neither do they give any guidance to others. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad, Srila Guru Maharaj, and other Gaudiya guru-varga act as gosthanandi gurus and arduously strive to bring eternal and real benefit to the jiva souls who have taken shelter in them.

Gosthanandi gurus serve the Lord together with everybody – they live happily with others, they chant kirtan with others, practise spiritual life with others, take prasad with others, circumambulate the Lord's abode with others, make festivals, serve the lord – together with others. They are joyful and delighted to practise in the company of devotees. It is the order of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad and Srila Guru Maharaj that such practice is more beneficial for us.

There are three kinds of Vaishnavs: uttam-adhikari (highest), madhyam-adhikari (middle) and kanistha-adhikari (lower, junior). Although gurudev is uttama-bhagavata (a topmost Vaishnav), he has to come down to the level of madhyam-adhikar (middle class) – serving the Lord with love and being friends with all the devotees, he bestows mercy upon foolish jiva souls and avoids those who are hostile (he ignores them – he does not listen to what anybody says or does not say). When the souls who have taken shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Guru worship their gurudev, the manifest guru immediately sends this worship to the Lord through the guru-varga. He never hijacks or uses anything that is given to him by the disciple during the worship for his own enjoyment. (For example, when somebody gives me a garland, I always say, 'Jay Guru Maharaj' – in this way, I offer this garland at Gurudev's holy feet. If somebody gives me ten rupees or comes to offer their obeisance, I say, 'Jay Guru Maharaj' – in this way, I utilise everything that comes to me in Gurudev's service.) Worship of the manifest acharya makes the Lord happy – his proper worship is automatically accomplished through that.

Gurudev also said this. When somebody came to give some land to the Math, Gurudev told me, 'You can take this land but not for your enjoyment. If you can use it for the service to the Lord, then you can accept it.' Whatever wealth there was left after Gurudev, I used everything to make temples; I used it for service. So many people have approached me with their lands – I took those lands and built temples there. No free land is left now. There is only one small place left to build, in Dinhata. After I finish it, the job will be done. There is already a small house on that land, and Deity worship and service are going on there in a small way. I told them that I would make a temple and rooms later. Because there are very few servitors there now, I have not started any construction there.

জগতে প্রকট ভাই, তাহা বিনা গতি নাই,
যদি চাও আপন কুশল

jagate prakata bhai, taha bina gati nai,
yadi chao apana kusala

'If you want your own happiness, except for this method there is no other way revealed in this world, brother.'

To bestow eternal benefit upon jiva souls, Krishna reveals Himself in the form of a guru. Krishna Himself told Uddhav Maharaj:

আচার্য্যং মাং বিজানীয়ান্নাবমন্যেত কর্হিচিৎ ।
ন মর্ত্ত্যবুদ্ধ্যাসূয়েত সর্ব্বদেবময়ো গুরুঃ ॥

acharyam mam vijaniyan, navamanyeta karhichit
na martya buddhyasuyeta, sarva deva-mayo guruh

Sri Krishna said to Uddhav, ‘You should know the bona fide spiritual master as My very Self. Gurudev is the embodiment of all gods. Never dishonour him or find fault in him by ascribing any mundane conception of place, time or circumstances to him.’

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.17.27)

Therefore, except for the worship of the current acharya, there is no other way to get supreme benefit. Although the guru and the Lord are one and the same and also different from each others, gurudev is an embodiment of the Lord’s servant. He is the knower of the Vedas and possesses transcendental vision. He can show the Lord to others – he can show us which way we must go to come to the Lord and to attain devotion to the Lord. His proximity and mercy destroys jiva souls’ material or fleshy vision. Those who have a fleshy mind cannot realise the proper identity of Sri Gurupadpadma.

I told you yesterday also that it is impossible to see gurudev with material eyes – you can see the guru only through sruti-jnana, the knowledge that is obtained by listening from the source. Therefore, we must hear what gurudev says with our ears. Only those who sit at their guru's holy feet and hear what he says can understand him. It does not mean being in his close proximity – it means that it is necessary to listen to what he says carefully.

Those who have a fleshy mind see the guru as a mere human and make an offence at his holy feet. This offence leads to degradation. There are ten offences to the Holy Name that must be avoided when chanting the Holy Name; one of those offences is considering the guru to be a mere mortal. You think, 'The guru eats like me, sleeps like me, goes to the bathroom like me, has a shower like me' – thinking like this is an offence of considering the guru an ordinary mortal human. You think, 'Oh, Gurudev is in Siliguri (or in Kolkata, or in Nabadwip), he will not know what I am doing.' But gurudev knows everything; he can understand everything.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 34 Mb
Length: 70 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Auspicious Life – Auspicious Deeds
2) Mercy Is the Master Key
3) Soul's Estrangement
4) Guru's Potent Proximity
5) Guru Is All-In-All
6) 'Jay Gurudev!'
7) Great Things Come from Great Mercy
8) Where Will You Run?