(13/13) Western Idiosyncrasies

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja of Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
1 January 2021, part 13, translated from Bengali

We must give up meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, masoor dal (lentils), tea, coffee, etc. However, when we go abroad, there can be no moong dal available in the country, so we sometimes have to take masoor dal (lentils). What are we to do? We either have to take it or just not eat dal at all when travelling. One time, I was abroad with Gurudev. I had not eaten masoor dal for a long time, and when I ate it in front of Gurudev (it was served to us by devotees who did not know we are not supposed to take masoor dal), I liked the taste and ate a lot of it – seeing this, Gurudev told me, ‘Yes, eat, eat! You will not get this dal in Bengal!’ What will you say then?

Another time, we all sat down to take prasad. A beautiful, dressed-up, dolled-up girl was distributing prasad. She looked like a goddess who had come down from heaven: a very good-looking girl. She was giving some sweets they had made themselves, but she had very long nails!! Leave that, how did she distribute prasad? She was holding her clothes with her right hand, pressing them to her stomach, and she was distributing the sweets with her left hand! When I saw it, I quickly said, ‘No, no, I won’t have sweets, thank you!’ Gurudev saw it and said to me, ‘Oh, but you are not diabetic yet! Do you not eat sweets anymore?’ Then, he laughed and said, ‘I know why you did not take the sweets!’ [His Divine Grace and devotees burst out laughing.] I did not feel like taking it at all because I knew some of them do not bath even once a week – some of them may not have a bath for fifteen days or even a whole month! – and when they pass stool, they do not even use water, so it is awkward enough that you have to take food from their hand, but, on top of that, the girl was giving it with her left hand! I quickly lost all appetite! [Laughter.]

They have to be taught everything. Those who are staying with me live in a pure way: they have learnt all these things. Different countries have different ways, and not everybody can come and stay with us to learn the proper etiquette. Such is their culture. What will they understand? They do not understand anything… Once, a Western devotee came to pay obeisance to Gurudev. He took off his shoes and was about to pay obeisance to Gurudev, but he had his mala (chanting beads) on his neck, so somebody told him that his mala was touching the ground, that it was not good. What did that devotee do? He took his mala off his neck and kept it on his shoes! [Laughter.] What will they understand then? They have to be taught everything. They do not know all this culture – they must gradually learn the proper culture, and it is necessary to explain everything to them. Those who came to the mission in olden days know these things, so they come wearing saris and follow all rules and regulations – they practise properly.

…Have you ever been to a beach? I went there once when I was in Venezuela. They offered me to go to the beach, and I thought, ‘OK, I have never been to a beach. Let me go there once to see what a beach is like.’ When I saw it, I said, ‘I see it for the first time in my life, and I do not want to see it ever again. Let’s get out of here quickly!’ I went there with the drums and karatals, and everybody was laughing. People do not wear clothes there! Even women take off their clothes and stay like that! There, nobody, not even women, wear clothes when they swim. Everyone is undressed! How can I stay there, tell me? We go there to do kirtan, but they are all laughing. Thousands of boys and girls jump and swim in the ocean without any clothes! When I saw it, I thought, ‘O Lord, why have You brought me here? I know that You have brought me here to preach, so that I could preach Hari-kirtan here and bring them benefit. Bugger it, I do not need to give any benefit here! Let me get out of here quickly!’ [His Divine Grace laughs.]

When I went to Russia, we went through some parks – I just closed my eyes! One time, we were doing kirtan. Srila Ashram Maharaj was walking next to me. Suddenly, we saw a pretty girl with a bottle in her hand walking towards us. There was no way to avoid passing her – everyone is walking down the street, but when the girl saw Srila Ashram Maharaj, she threw the bottle aside, came up to us and suddenly jumped on him! I bolted out of there at once! [Laughter.]

Gurudev also told us about New Zealand when he returned from there. You know that in our country and in other countries, people shake hands when they greet each other. Do you know what they do in New Zealand? When somebody comes to visit your home, the guest and the host come close to each other and rub noses! [Explosive laughter.] What kind of customs are these?! But these are their rules. Gurudev comes to somebody’s house, and since this is how they greet their guests, you have to rub noses with the host! [Laughter.]

Such are the places where I have travelled… People come from such places to chant the Holy Name and practise Krishna consciousness. Gurudev brought people from such places to this path. Now they live like civilised people: they wear saris, they cook and practise nicely. When you go to public events or places in those countries, you cannot even look at what is going on there, but it is necessary to preach there. There, amidst the crowds, it is necessary to take out a microphone and chant, preach. Moreover, when you see all those things and all those people, you have to stay straight. Do you think everyone can do that? At festivals, people do not even wear clothes. They only wear something on their hips and cover their chest a little, and the rest of the body is without any clothes. Now some of these things are coming to this country, too. You saw yesterday that some girls came wearing jeans. India is slowly becoming like the West. If I say all these things, they will print it in newspapers, saying, ‘Oh, Maharaj has said this and this about ladies’ clothes!’ We cannot speak about these things publicly because everyone is independent now – you cannot tell anything to anyone.

This is the Age of Kali. Kali is slowly coming more and more…

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Those who will take initiation tomorrow must come upstairs to the veranda. Be ready by 8 a.m. There will be a fire sacrifice for those who are taking the second initiation. If there are many devotees taking the first initiation, then I will give the second initiation first. If you all can sit at the fire sacrifice, it will be good. Mantras are chanted during the sacrifice, and if you listen to those mantras, it is good for you. I will not take more of your time today. I am finishing here.

[His Divine Grace chants ‘Hari Haraye Nama Krsna’, recites Sri Jaya Dhvani and concludes the evening class.]

There is a festival the day after tomorrow. Please stay. If anyone has to leave earlier, if there is some urgency, I will not say anything, but please take prasad in the morning before you leave, it will be good.

[Note: This part of the lecture is published with no intention of demeaning anyone but with the view to acquaint readers with the vision and mood of His Divine Grace as well as offer guidance to those who are not aware of basic human dignity and encouragement to those who struggle to adjust with the oft-perverted environment. Vox populi is not vox dei.]

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Length: 80 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Know and Love the Lord
2) Develop Deepest Dedication
3) At Lord's Home
4) Pure Preacher's Position
5) Clear Vision
6) Clear Identity
7) Sustaining Yourself on Gurudev's Words
8) Internal Purity
9) Kirtan-Yajna
10) Give Up Illusory Luxuries
11) Who Will You Blame?
12) Analysis Is Paralysis
13) Western Idiosyncrasies