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Tag: Preaching
Only Truth Can Dispel Ignorance
Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj explains the difference between empiric and revealed knowledge, and demonstrates that only the combination of sukriti, faith, and scriptural knowledge given by the Vaishnav effects the soul’s deliverance.
This text is a continuation of the conversation from which the post Absolute Knowledge was compiled.
Student: A devotee once said to me that, as a necessity for preaching, we need to describe to the Western rational mind how the soul is transferred from one body to the next, and how it enters into a father’s semen. He requested me to ask you about this.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: To satisfy the curiosity of scientists?
Student: Yes.
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: When shraddha [faith] springs forth from sukriti [fortune], one may not care to know all these details. If you analyse this matter, you will find that there is no end to it. Approximate knowledge of it is sufficient to help you take to the path of devotion. Analysing things scientifically does not lead to an end. Knowledge of the Absolute does not come through scientific analysis. It never comes that way. Knowledge of the Absolute comes in an independent way, that is, through sukriti. It comes from that which is nirgun [supramundane]. The nirgun approaches the nirgun to take him to the nirgun [The soul approaches the Vaishnava to take him to the Lord].
Misunderstanding, made up of the modes of material nature, even knowledge in sattva-gun [the mode of goodness], cannot lead us to the highest plane—to the nirgun world.
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata yayatma suprasidati
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 1.2.6)What is sukriti and how does it originate? It is ahaituki and apratihata. This means it is causeless—its cause cannot be traced within the mundane world, that is, the world of the modes of nature, the misconceived world. Sukriti is beyond this world. Sukriti comes from the Lord’s agent, the devotee, and only when it accumulates sufficiently can truth disperse one’s ignorance. No part of ignorance can dispel ignorance—only truth can dispel ignorance. So, that which is nirgun can save us from all shades of misunderstanding and take us to the nirgun world.
api chet suduracharo bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah
(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.30)Here the Lord says that one who, according to the misconceived standards of morality and purity in the material world, is most disqualified, yet has a tendency for, and spontaneous flow of, exclusive attachment to Him, should be considered a sadhu. So, the nirgun flow must be considered; other things that may be present will vanish momentarily.
Sattva-gun may take one to the highest position but at that next moment one will return here. The concocted good or bad of the mundane world only move in a circle. Something that now holds the highest position comes back down to a lower position after only a moment.
abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ’rjuna
(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 8.16)[“All beings found within the plane of Lord Brahma downwards are subject to the law of action and reaction.”]
Development in the misconceived area is no development at all. But even a little improvement towards the nirgun reality is of infinite value. It will never be destroyed and never leave you.
api chet suduracharo bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah
(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 9.30)sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo mokshayishyami ma shuchah
(Srimad Bhagavad-gita: 18.66)[“Abandon all forms of religion and surrender exclusively unto Me. I will liberate you from all sin. Do not despair.”]
These advices make us have a faith that consideration of the Lord cannot be compared with anything good or bad in the worldly sense.
‘dvaite’ bhadrabhadra-jnana, saba—‘manodharma’
‘ei bhala, ei manda’—ei saba ‘bhrama’
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Antya-lila, 4.176)[“In the mundane world all notions of good and bad are mental speculation. ‘This is good; this is bad’—all such thinking is misunderstanding.”]
A good dream and a bad dream are both false. Do you follow? Neither the good nor the bad found in this illusory world have any value. Salvation from the glamour and charm of this world can come only from that which is nirgun, that is, from the Vaishnavas and the scriptures: Bhagavatam, Gita, and so on. Salvation springs from the nirgun world. We must be all-attentive towards that. Only that which is nirgun can help us, can snatch away our souls from the bondage of mundanity. The nirgun agents will come and snatch away the soul from the bondage of misconception; no sagun [mundane] agent can do that. He is a captive himself. Help must come from the nirgun plane.
“Despite having many possessions and great power here in this world, I am most insignificant because worldly things have no value”, such a feeling of grief and emptiness within the heart, such realisation that everything in this world is futile, makes one fit for the nirgun plane. One’s possessions in this world are like things possessed within a dream—they have no value.
When an earnest man prays for help from the nirgun world, from the world of cent per cent truth, then help from that world comes to him. Nothing from the sagun world is qualified to help him. Deception cannot free one from deception. A black marketeer may exchange goods with another black marketeer, a thief may exchange goods with another thief, but none of them are the owners of the goods.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Gauraharibol.
From Govardhan
Last night Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj travelled to our ashram at the foot of Govardhan after five days of parikrama in Vrindavan. Daily Srila Acharyadev, with the assistance of Sripad Bhakti Prapanna Tirtha Maharaj and others, has been leading the devotees on parikrama to different holy sites in Vrindavan, engaged also, as always, in a continuous programme of kirtan and Hari-katha.
Around five hundred devotees from all parts of India and the world—including the USA, South Africa, Russia, Mauritius, and Singapore—are now gathered in Govardhan in anticipation of the landmark festival to be held tomorrow in honour of the second disappearance anniversary of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj and the inauguration of his pushpa samadhi, as well as worship of his Sri Murti there.
Our honourable sannyasi section include Their Holiness’ Sripad Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Prapanna Tirtha Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Chandan Parvat Maharaj, and Sripad Bhakti Nandan Narayan Maharaj. His Holiness Sripad Bhakti Bimal Avadhut Maharaj is also expected.
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Preaching in West Bengal
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj left Nabadwip last Monday with a group of Western devotees and spent the last week travelling and preaching in towns outside of Kolkata.
On this trip Srila Acharyadev particularly wanted to give nourishment to the existing devotees of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math as opposed to recruiting newcomers. At each programme Srila Acharyadev strongly preached the fundamental principles of pure devotion in order to deepen the understanding and faith of Math members who live in ‘mixed’ spiritual association and rarely, if ever, hear the conception of our guru-varga.
Srila Acharyadev emphasised that service is the only way the soul’s ultimate potential is realised, and that service must be carried out under guidance of Guru and Vaishnav. He repeatedly cited Srila Saraswati Thakur’s definition of bhajan: that which we are engaged in by Guru and Vaishnav, not that which is pleasing to our mind, should be known as bhajan.
Srila Acharyadev also made it clear to his audiences that he was not there to perform kirtan for them; he was there to induce *them* to perform kirtan. Srila Acharyadev demonstrated that he had no interest in being worshipped; the purpose of his visiting the devotees was to deepen their understanding and practice, to bring them under the shelter of the conception of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in full.
The week was highlighted by a programme on Sunday evening at our Dum Dum Park Sevak Bhavan centre. Srila Acharyadev spoke twice for more than an hour and half each time. He ended the night dancing and smiling with joy to see an audience of people dressed in pants and shirts, and wearing Kali-tilak jumping up and down chanting ‘Nitai Gaur Haribol!’
[nggallery id=12]In Ekachakra Dham
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj departed for Ekachakra Dham last Monday to begin preparations for Sri Nityananda Trayodashi. In addition to overseeing countless tasks and personally fulfilling many errands in the run-up to the festival, Srila Acharyadev continued to nourish the devotees with kirtan and Hari-katha, led several parikramas in the surrounding area, and daily sent preaching parties out to nearby towns such as Rampurhat and Tarapith.
The day itself has arrived and a grand festival is beginning this morning with a large international group in attendance; photos and news will be posted presently.
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Preaching in South India
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj travelled to the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh this week. He completed an intense five-day schedule, visiting three towns separated by 3–5 hours drive where he led several programmes a day. His trip was organised by Sripad B. N. Shanta Maharaj and the community of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s devotees in South India.
In his preaching Srila Acharya Maharaj emphasised the teachings given specifically by Sriman Mahaprabhu: to practice devotion by engaging in Hari-nam-sankirtan rather than simply puja; to engage in service solely for the satisfaction of Krishna rather than the satisfaction of oneself; and to aspire for the service of the Vaishnav rather than the service of Krishna Himself. In South India the worship of Krishna directly—the worship of Krishna without the shelter of His devotee—is predominant; Srila Acharyadev pointedly emphasised the radical focus upon anugatya-bhajan which is the life of the Gaudiya sampraday.
Srila Acharyadev’s preaching was very well received: hundreds of people attended his lively discourses, numerous persons accepted initiation, and more than forty people confirmed they would join the Gaur Purnima festival in Nabadwip this year. Two temples were donated to Srila Acharyadev’s care and he accepted them in order to fulfil Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj’s long-standing desire to make a temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in South India.
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Winter Preaching in Kolkata
By the inspiration of Srila Acharyadev, Devahuti Devi Dasi and a group of devotees recently took the math’s bus to Kolkata for ten days. Daily they took the bus, the home of our Sri Guru Sri Gaura Sri Nityananda vijay vigrahas, out around the city. On one occasion, a group of two to three hundred people joined the kirtan procession following the Deities in the bus.
The devotees distributed a large number of books and held two programmes in the Theistic Media Centre at our Sevak Bhavan in Dum Dum Park which were each attended by over sixty new persons. Sripad Bhakti Vigraha Nyasi Maharaj and Purushottam Jagannath Prabhu spoke to the guests in Bengali and English.
Srila Acharyadev was so pleased with the service of Devahuti Devi Dasi, and commented that she is an example for devotees in our Mission. She engages in full time service, including preaching and taking care of the daily puja of the vijay vigrahas, while simultaneously raising her two young children.
We are posting some photos of these recent activities despite their blurriness.
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