(2/10) One-Pointed Happy Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila Gurudev's Vyasa Puja, Nrisingha Palli
14 December 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Those of you who have taken initiation should pay more attention to your spiritual lives. Become members of Krishna's family. This is what I want for you all. You know, Krishna's family is like a big factory where a lot of employees are required. Just as people look for a job here in this world, the Lord also arranges for jobs in His own domain. This 'job' means service. Somebody can sweep, somebody can clean the rooms, somebody can do other cleaning works, somebody can distribute prasad, somebody can cut vegetables, somebody can cook, somebody takes care of the Deities' worship, somebody chants kirtan of the Lord, somebody can speak Hari-katha. Everybody can do some service according to their capacity and spiritual right. It is necessary to keep up preaching about the Lord.

If you stop preaching and instead spend the whole day gossiping and discussing others, wasting your time, what will you gain by that? Srila Prabhupad also said, 'Who sees others' faults? Those who cannot control their own minds.' So, if you cannot clean and control your own mind, you will look at others' faults. We must never think about others' faults. Whatever atrocity one may commit, we must tolerate everything (sakale sahiba) – if somebody feels happy to behave in such a way, if somebody feels happy to chastise me and tell me ugly things, let them do it. What is it to me? I have no problem. If somebody is happy to tell bad things to me, let them say it, what is it to me? Genuine gurus never criticise anybody, never gossip about others and never think anything offensive to Vaishnavs. We should always think about others' spiritual benefit.

We leave everything to the Lord and rely only on Him – however He keeps me, whatever He makes me do, I will live like that. 'Avasya raksibe Krsna visvasa palana (অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ বিশ্বাস পালন). Surrender means believing that Krishna will certainly protect me.' We must accept such faith and live accordingly.

These are the things our Guru Maharaj taught us. I have explained it to you so many times, giving so many examples. I have told you about a sadhu who was going to take bath in the Ganges and who was ill-treated on the way. He did not mind anything. Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj also had a similar mood. This kind of mood should come to all of us. You cannot even conceive of it. Srila Haridas Thakur was beaten by Muslims at twenty-two marketplaces! People abused Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur so much, too. The residents of Nabadwip committed so much atrocity towards him, and they were actually going to kill him. But:

কুলিয়াতে পাষণ্ডীরা, অত্যাচার কৈল যা’রা,
তা সবার দোষ ক্ষমা করি’ ।
জগতে কৈলে ঘোষণা, ‘তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা’,
হন ‘কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ’ ॥

kuliyate pasandira, atyachara kaila ya’ra,
ta sabara dosa ksama kari’
jagate kaile ghosana, ‘taroriva sahisnuna’,
hana ‘kirtaniyah sada harih’

‘You [Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad] have forgiven the atheists from the Kulia village despite their atrocities and proclaimed to the whole world: one who is as tolerant as a tree can always chant the glories of the Lord.’

(Acharya Vandana)

It is necessary to become as tolerant as a tree. We are always busy worrying what somebody says, what somebody does, but when are we going to chant the Holy Name of the Lord? When are we going to serve the Lord? When are we going to spend time on the Lord? 'Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা). Without service to Vaishnavs, you cannot get any relief.' If you look even at my own example, you can understand this, too.

You can see that the temple has been decorated so beautifully. I went around the whole of Baro Bazar in Kolkata and brought all the things here. I also collected bhoga at Baro Bazar and brought here everything for the festival of my Guru Maharaj. I feel happy to do everything with my own hands. Many ask me, 'You are the acharya, why are you doing all these things yourself?' But I am happy to do it myself. I am very happy to do service. I went shop to shop at Baro Bazar and collected rice from one shop, dal from another shop, plates from another shop, and so on. I went only with Kamalendu Prabhu and the driver (he parked the car nearby and waited).

When I came here, to Sri Nrisingha Palli, I saw that the mattresses were in bad condition, and I thought, 'Why must devotees sleep on bad mattresses? It is wrong.' So, I went to Krishnanagar yesterday and bought more than fifteen new mattresses. I am happy to do this. I do not mind it at all. It is not necessary to worry about money or to be stingy. The Lord gives money through one hand and spends it through another hand. People always run behind money, so they become attached to it, but I do not run behind money. This is what Guru Maharaj taught me. He told me, 'You must not run behind money. Only preach about the Lord, about the glory of your gurudev, and money will run behind you.' That is why I never have to run behind money.

How to make a festival? Who will give the money? Who will do this or that? I do not have to think about all this. You can see that I have not asked any of you for even five rupees. You come to take initiation and I ask you for ten or a hundred rupees – has anybody heard me do this? I have never done this. I learned from my gurudev. I have never asked even Gurudev for money. In my early days, when I was a brahmachari and later a sannyasi, I would do house to house begging people for a handful of rice. I went house to house for people's benefit. Those who gave something got some sukriti, and if somebody did not give, then what can you say about them? In such cases, I just pray to the Lord for them.

So, it is not necessary to worry about anything. If you serve the Lord, He will not throw you into any troublesome situation. I told you before that I wanted to make one more floor here at the temple, and you can see that it is already completed now, before Gaura Purnima. I have also finished expanding accommodation in Ekachakra, and I am completing the construction in Bankura also. I have made a new kitchen room in Mednipore, I have also made some improvements in Ganga Sagar. In this way, little by little, we try to serve the Lord. You may have heard about a new temple that is being built in Uluberia also. The temple construction works started not so long ago, but two floors are already constructed, and now they are going to make domes on top of the roof.

So, my thing is that you should just continue preaching.

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Size: 41 Mb
Length: 86 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Preaching Life
2) One-Pointed Happy Life
3) Do Not Get Blown Away
4) Temples Are Not Temporal
5) Danger of Deviation
6) Love for Kirtan
7) Soul Consciousness
8) Gist of Religious Life
9) Burning Burden
10) Living the Dream