(13/18) Install Gurudev in Your Heart

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa-Puja Adhivas, Tarakeswar,
Evening, 28 September 2019, part 13
Translated from Bengali

There is a feeling of a relationship between our body and mind. 'My father,' 'My mother,' 'My relatives' – when there is such feeling ('my'), it means there is a relationship. But if I have no feeling for something, it means I have no relation with it. Material people feel that they are related to their wives, sons, mothers, fathers, relatives. Practising devotees should also have this sense of relation – but what should they be related to? There should be a relation with Sri Hari Thakur (worshippable Supreme Lord) and Vaishnav Thakur. 'Sri Gaurasundar and Sri Shyamasundar are my Lordhips, my worhippable Deities. They are the objects of my service' – such a feeling of closeness should be there in your hearts. Sri Sri Hari Thakur and Sri Guru Thakur should be installed within your hearts.

'My Lord Krishna,' 'My gurudev' – when such a feeling of closeness comes, then your service life starts. When you have got a relationship with Sri Hari, Sri Guru and Sri Vaishnavs (that is, when some feeling or the feeling of closeness comes to you), then it means your service life has started. If you are fortunate and have got such a feeling of relatedness, it means you have already started your journey on the path of devotion.

'I must see what makes Sri Hari Thakur, Sri Guru Thakur happy. My Lord is everyone's Lord, but whether everyone thinks or does not think about His service and happiness, I must think about it.'

'If nobody cooked for the Deities today, if there was no arati today, if nobody sang kirtans – what is it to me? My service is to wash the dishes (or to go for collection)' – those who have a sense of relatedness would not be able to remain indifferent because they will feel pain in their hearts, 'The Lord is mine, and my Lord has not eaten today!' If you have a relation with the Lord, you should be attentive to all services, all devotional practices. When such a relation comes, you will not have any compartmental mood when it comes to service. 'My job is only to pick flowers', 'My job is to wash the dishes', 'My job is only to chant kirtans' – if you have such a mood, it means this relation has not fully come to you.

Where does this attachment (when you consider someone your very own) come from? Such affection comes from faith, devotion and love. One's practising life should start from the feeling that 'the Lord is my own family, my near and dear, and there is a relationship between us.' You cannot get this feeling by reading Bhagavatam. Servants of gurudev – those who are dear to gurudev, those who gurudev loves, and those who love gurudev – have the feeling of this relation. If you are related to Sri Hari Thakur, Sri Guru Thakur, and Vaishnav Thakur through faith, devotion or love, then your practising life has started. We must understand that if there is no affection, love and feeling that 'He is mine,' then coming, offering some flowers and going away, offering a mango and going away – this is not a relationship. If the feeling that 'He is mine' is not there, then there is no relationship and no practising life.

There is one more profound, wonderful and secret point. Sri Hari Thakur (the Supreme Lord) is the object of my worship and service, but you cannot bring this feeling that 'Sri Hari Thakur is my near and dear' all of a sudden. The Lord does not come to me assuming a form of flesh and blood – it is not possible to get love and affection from Him directly, just as it is not possible to have a conversation or exchange feelings with Him. However, it is possible to get love and affection from Sri Guru Thakur directly. The relationship with Sri Guru Thakur is more real and tangible that the relationship with Sri Hari Thakur. The guru eats, speaks, sleeps, he chastises me, he looks after my welfare. It is easy to create a relationship with Sri Guru Thakur based on faith, devotion and love, just as it is easy for a mother to love her son because she can take him on her lap and feed him milk, she can talk to him, she can happily cook for him. Therefore, to love your son is easy, but you cannot feel this kind of love for a photograph, for example. Gurudev assumes a form of flesh and blood, and it is easy to develop a relationship with him – it is easy to foster the feeling of kinship, affection, faith, devotion, or love. Those who take gurudev as their very own are also very dear to me.

Relationship with gurudev is not created just by taking the mantra from him. If somebody loves gurudev, for whatever reason, then they have this relationship with him. Whatever your previously acquired nature is, whatever your fortune is, for whatever reason it may be, if you have this close, affectionate relationship with gurudev, then you have started your way along the path of devotion and you can proceed very easily. This is the first step on the stairs of devotional path. If you take gurudev as your very own, it means you have devotion and love.

'Gurudev is mine' – if this feeling has not appeared in you, then your practising life has not started yet. Mother is my mother, sister is my sister – I understand this very well; but that Sri Hari Thakur is my Lord, that Sri Guru Thakur is my gurudev – I have not learned this yet. 'But I say, "Jay Gurudev" and offer many flowers to his photograph!' There is nothing wrong in that, but it is necessary to develop a relationship. 'I love gurudev, and he loves me' – you cannot understand this relationship of the heart by reading scriptures or kirtan books; it comes from within your heart, and when it comes, you can progress towards the domain of devotional service very quickly.

'My gurudev has two thousand disciples – whether others come to visit him or not, I must go to see my temple and my Lord.' 'They did not cook properly for the Lord today, the Lord is fasting!' – this will give pain to my heart. If you have affectionate feelings towards the Lord and the guru, then your practising life will be successful. You may still have sins, offences, faults and shortcomings, but they will not be there for long. When you feel this relationship, then everything will float away in the flood of divine love. This feeling of close relation ('he is mine') is so strong – it is so powerful and potent! 'I have seated him in my heart' – when such a feeling comes, then the guru's job is successful.

Those who have got such a relationship are venerable (namasya). Those who feel such a relationship – even if it is a little girl or an old man – they are worshippable (pujya). Even if they do something wrong, they love Hari Thakur and Guru Thakur, so I offer them my obeisance. Somebody may not know how to sing well or how to cook well, somebody may not have any qualification, but because they love Hari Thakur and Guru Thakur I offer ten million obeisances at their feet. It can be a very young girl, it can be an incompetent or an invalid person, it can be a person with no good qualities, but they are worshippable (pujya) and venerable (namasya).

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 40 Mb
Length: 83 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Disciple's Dependence
2) How Does Devotion Come?
3) Indispensability of Guru's Mercy
4) Stop Threshing the Husk
5) Disciples' Hypocrisy
6) Strong Desires, Wrong Desires
7) Identifying Yourself with Kirtan
8) Patience Is a Virtue
9) Internal Hypocrisy
10) Unhappy Mind
11) Kirtan Is Not a Show
12) Cook to Perfection
13) Install Gurudev in Your Heart
14) Submission without Resistance
15) Service Is Not a Rite
16) Vaishnavs' Ornaments vs Demons' Ornaments
17) Vaikuntha Vani
18) Absolute Self-Submission