Is it essential to serve the Lord?
Our duty is to serve guru and Krsna, and we will continue to do so. Let Krsna do whatever He pleases. We must accept His arrangements without reservations. The daughter of Vrshabhanu does not give up Krsna's service because She is afraid of being criticized.
Should one serve the devotees and the Supreme Lord personally?
It is not proper to engage others to worship and cook for the Lord. We can, however, make an exception if we are in some predicament or are ill. If out of laziness we do not feed Krsna but we ourselves eat nice foods, then our respect for the Lord's service will diminish.
How do we become free of lusty desires?
Having lusty desires means we want to enjoy sense gratification. It is the living entity's duty to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Aversion to the Lord's service drowns us in an ocean of material misery. If we wish to become liberated from that misery, we must serve the non envious servants of Krsna. That is the only remedy. Krsna's servants alone can protect us from lust. We tend toward lustiness because we are not inclined to serve Krsna, the transcendental Cupid. The slightest disturbance in the attempt to satisfy that lust makes us angry. Lusty desire is the mother of all sense gratification. The only occupation of a pure spirit soul is to gratify the transcendental Cupid's senses. One who acts for this purpose finds the seed of lusty desires destroyed by his service and surrender to Sri Krsna.
How do we achieve strength and mercy?
Mercy and spiritual strength are invested in the heart when one takes shelter at the lotus feet of guru without deviation. The spiritual master gives strength and mercy. Nourished by devotional service, the spiritual master's gift of mercy and strength gradually destroy one's anarthas.
Who should live in the Matha?
Our Matha is not meant for wrestlers nor do aristocrats need to live in the Matha. Only Lord Hari devotees should live in Matha. If we remove the people in the Matha who are fond of eating and enjoying initimate association with women, the Matha expenditures and problems will diminish. We have to send home those proud and independent people who do not follow the Matha rules and regulations, and who neither follow the spiritual master orders nor display humility.
How long does the living entity remain conditioned?
Until devotional service fully blossoms in the living entities, they cannot understand that they are the Supreme Lord's servants, Thus, they remain conditioned. Unless one develops transcendental pride, how can he give up material pride?.
Whom should the Matha avoid?
The Matha does not and cannot have relationship with anyone who takes shelter of the Math but is under the control of duplicity (Someone with the desire to misuse transcendental knowledge). Just as we need a boat and a boatman to cross the river, we need a spiritual master to cross the material ocean.
Should we give up material enjoyment [karma] and renunciation [jyana]?
MahaPrabhu instructed us to give up both material enjoyment and dry renunciation. Material enjoyment is defined as accepting mundane form, taste, smell, sound, and touch through our eyes, tongue, nose, ears, and skin as pleasureable. Although there is some apparent momentary happiness in material enjoyment, we later discover that sense gratification comes with more distress than happiness.
Articles
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- প্রভুপাদ - শ্রীনাম ও শ্রীনামী
- গুরুমহিমা - স্বপ্রতিষ্ঠার তরে
- The Purpose of Life
- त्याज्य-पुत्र
- হে যোগমায়া দেবি
- Respect one vaishnav and offend another Vaishnav is an offense
- হে শ্রীনিত্যানন্দরাম!
- প্রেম-কলহ বনাম গুর্ব্ববজ্ঞা
- কলি-কুশলী
- প্রভুপাদ নামের অপসারণ - Displacing the Prabhupāda Name
- প্রচারক তথা বিবিক্তানন্দী - Preacher vs. Living in Solitude
- দশম-অধস্তন আচার্য্যবৃন্দ - The 10th Generation Acāryas
- Vinode Vaibhava Sarasvatī
- Candra-mouli Śiva - Ahaṃ Vedmi
About
Message of Srila Bhakti Vinode Thakur.
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