(2/12) Open Your Door to Mercy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bhanjipur, 1 December 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Many people think, 'Oh, there are many problems at the temple and I have to work here so hard. I would rather go to Vrindavan and stay there alone!' Or they think that they would rather go to some jungle or a cave in Haridwar or Rishikesh and stay there. But if you decide to go to Haridwar or Rishikesh and live in the mountains, are you going to leave your stomach behind or are you going to take it with you? Even if you want to live alone and go to Vrindavan, you will still have to take your stomach with you and worry about feeding it. When you get hungry, you will have to go to people's houses to find something to eat. What is the point then? You will not come to the Lord like that. Even if you live your whole life like this, you will not come to the Lord like this.

That is why I am praying to you all – if you want to get the Lord, if you want to rescue yourselves from the bondage of this material world, please accept the mercy of the supremely gracious Lord Chaitanya-chandra. This mercy is walking door to door, approaching everyone – some close their doors, but if you open your door, that mercy will enter it.

Many people close their doors. If you come to them saying, 'Hare Krishna,' they shut their doors. They are scared, 'Oh, a sadhu has come, he will take something from me!' But we do not come to take anything from you. Why do we come? We come to help, to give benefit to everyone.

One time, when I was a brahmachari (it must have been more than twenty-five years ago), I went for preaching to a village in the Midnapore district. As soon as one man saw my car, he said to me, 'I am telling you with folded palms: please do not come to my house. We have had a flood, so we do not have anything to give. We will not be able to help you.' I told him, 'I have not come to take anything from you. Actually, I have come to help you.' Then, he said, 'Oh, then come, please come.' Probably he thought that I would give him some money... Anyway, he invited me to his house, gave me a mat to sit on. Then, I saw him climb a tree to get us some coconut to drink. I told him, 'First you sit down and listen to what I want to say to you.' The man and his wife sat down and listened. They liked what they heard. Do you know what they did after that? They had fifty rupees at home – they gave it to me. They had some rice in a jar – they poured everything they had into our collection sack. I asked them, 'What are you doing? What are you going to eat tonight?' The man replied, 'Well, the Lord will take care of it.' He started thinking about the Lord. They also came to Nabadwip for the parikrama.

At first, when I invited them to come, the man said, 'Oh, it is very expensive! We do not have so much money to go to Nabadwip.' I told him, 'The ticket to Nabadwip costs thirty-two rupees, so you will need sixty-four rupees for the two of you. I will tell you how you can get this money. Here is what you should do. You cook rice at noon and in the evening – take a jar and, every time you cook rice, keep a handful of rice aside in that jar: a handful at noon and a handful in the evening. You are saying that you cannot come this year, I understand, but I will come to you again at the end of the year and then you will see.' When I came the next time, after one year, he showed me that he had kept aside a lot of rice. I told him, 'Prabhu, I do not need so much rice right now. Give us ten kilograms from here and sell the rest. When you sell it, you will get the money to come to Nabadwip.' I remember they had about seventy kilograms of rice left. They sold it, and the husband, the wife and their small daughter came to Nabadwip. They did parikrama, and they liked it. When they saw Gurudev, their devotion increased even more. So, they took initiation and started following all the rules and regulations. They have been living as devotees since that time. Now they sometimes tell me, 'Maharaj, you are not coming to our village anymore...' I tell them, 'I came there to hijack. I did not come to hijack your money – I came to hijack you all, and my mission is completed. You are both disciples now, and even your two daughters and their husbands are initiated, too.'

[Some trouble with the microphone] What is going on? Go and find out. You know, Guru Maharaj said one thing. 'Yata chila nadabune haye gela kirtane ara kaste bhenge gadano kattala (যত ছিল নাড়াবুনে হয়ে গেল কীর্ত্তনে আর কাস্তে ভেঙ্গে গড়ানো কত্তাল). Lit. all the foolish peasants come to do kirtan with broken scythes as kartals (Clodhoppers have turned artists; fools have turned leaders)'...

So, the husband, the wife and their children took initiation. The husband has already passed away, but his wife is still alive. Their two daughters also came to this line and took initiation. They still sometimes come for the Vrindavan parikrama. This is what 'kara more atmasatha' means.

শক্তিবুদ্ধিহীন, আমি অতি দীন,
কর মোরে আত্মসাথ ॥

sakti-buddhi-hina, ami ati dina,
kara more atmasatha

‘I have no strength, no intelligence, I am very poor. Please hijack me!’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'O Gurudev! Please hijack me! Please take me out of illusion and engage me in the service of the Lord.' This is what mercy is. If gurudev gives us some service and we can accept it, then we do not have to do anything else in our lives. If we can follow our guru, if we can live and serve following his guidance, then we do not need to do anything else in our lives. We must always remember this.

— : • : —

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Length: 69 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) A Life of Imperfection
2) Open Your Door to Mercy
3) Eternal Focus
4) Harinam: Devotees' Heartbeat
5) Humans' Advantage
6) Call Out to Gaura-Nitai
7) Repent and Revolt
8) Gift of Sankirtan
9) Seat Sankirtan In Your Hearts
10) Survive and Thrive
11) Service Life—Joyful Life
12) All Walk, No Talk