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Haribol! I am very happy to be with all of you. Today I have a big surprise for you. For this year we have a prize for those who most frequently attend the chats. Here we have find some remnants from Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja, the great singer who left the world in Vrindavan. We have found his watch, and it will be given next year to him/her who most support the chat on the Internet. So be prepared! But first of all, the essential chats should be read together with the devotees in the temples, since obviously there are always very few devotees on the chat.
Well, there is one thing I would like to say to you today. It is regarding the necessity to care about the well-being of the others, who are close to us. Many times in life, we forget about the others and only care about ourselves. Inclusive we forget the people who are most close to us; even though we know that they are not fine or that they have some problem, we do not care about supporting them in something. This is something that comes from impersonalism. It might seem insignificant for you, but if you have any pain, some real great pain, how much won't you rejoice if someone asks for your well-being?! This kind of attitude could be called good education, but it is also a question of a vaisnava sensibility.
To help the others is the effort that really shows our interests in them. Of course, the spiritual things are given priority, but who says that it is not spiritual to give ginger water to a vaisnava who have caught a cold? In the material world between men and women in love, they show this very clearly. They attend in everything, inclusive the desire of the other. Afterwards, when this desire is lost and the person does not feel any support from the other, the relationship is in danger. The austerity of the renounced is very nice, but it is necessary to be very attentive between the brahmacary devotees and the women devotees apart. This is also the support we have in monastic life. Really, there might be cases where people want to marry only to get someone to care for them. In a real family, one learns many things. It also exist people who still don't understand anything. They still cannot think of anything beyond their egoism, like those who desire the fruit of their work, like people who only want to be liberated. They don't understand the great secrets of bhakti, of the unselfish loving service.
Therefore, sometimes appear differences, dysfunctions, and divergences from the ideal in a community where there are many neophytes. Of course there are such situations, but one should not get dejected for that, in no way. One should get enthusiastic to be the opposite. One should inspire with one's own example to be attentive, loving, caring for the others to eat well, for the visitors to be well received, for the temple boutique to be equipped, etc. Do you think this is difficult? Well, this is a matter of education. It is the difference between a sudra and a brahmana. And the beautiful is to see that such a person, who has these attentions, is the person who is always happy. This while the harsh ones, the insensible, the immature involve in anything. They easily get to the mental plane, sad, complaining a lot, looking for someone to blame. They are critical and have faces that are like...Heronimus Bosch or Guayasamin.
Bhakti is joy. It is to learn to smile, to encourage, to uplift, to be patient, to be faithful; and this not by rules or regulations, but by realizations. This is the essence of my short message today.
A huge embrace from my heart.
Always your well-wisher
Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti
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