When he first arrived in Malaysia Srila Gurudeva had asked that class be given in the morning by any of the senior devotees, saying that he might come to speak himself on some days. Coming into the temple room this morning, he was not happy to see the poor attendance, and asked why so few devotees were present. One devotee who just happened to wander in at this point when challenged by Srila Gurudeva said that he had been chanting japa. Srila Gurudeva then replied: "If one is chanting without taste in hari-katha, then all his seva and harinama will be zero."

Seeing a local devotee attending to some pujari duties Srila Gurudeva told him that he should come and hear the class too, and that he would tell his personal servant Navina Krsna prabhu to make the offering instead. Srila Gurudeva then began to tell a story about a guru and a neophyte disciple.

"There was a very bonafide guru who had a kanistha disciple. The disciple wanted to serve his guru but he had so many defects. Because his intelligence and heart were impure, he could not touch the interior mood of his guru. He was sincere but that is not enough to touch the inner moods of the guru. Still he was trying, by watching and following carefully all of the external activities of his guru. Trying so hard, if the disciple would see his guru sit to do japa for half an hour, then he would sit for one hour. If he saw that the guru was sitting straight, then he would try to sit straighter. When the disciple saw that his guru was doing acaman three times, then he would think 'then I will do it 50 times.' When he saw his guru doing arati, offering incense four or five times, the lamp 14 times in all, the water four times, the cloth five times, and the camara four or five times he thought that he would do everything exactly as he had seen, but for much longer. Taking the incense, he now began to offer it for half an hour. When he had finished he next took the lamp, and now offered this for half an hour too. Meanwhile others saw that he was taking half an hour for each article, and they thought 'Oh, we'll do it for one hour!' So this arati was now taking two hours, and afterwards the devotees were so tired. Seeing all this, the guru could not understand why it was taking so long, and he thought that his disciple could not really be touching his inner mood. So the next day when he saw his disciple nearby, the guru took his asana(sitting mat) and began to swing it around his head fifteen times. When the disciple saw this, he picked his up and swung it around his head thirty times. So in all this time the disciple had been imitating his guru, but he never thought to ask him the reason why he was performing all these activities.

"So what is the real reason behind doing acamana, arati and all these things? When Yasoda does arati with her lamp, she is just trying to examine Krsna's body to see if He has been hurt by fighting with other boys. But if you're taking hours, then Krsna will get hungry, weep and run away. We should not swing the camara like this(Srila Gurudeva then swung his arm around vigorously) this is not a wrestling match, or exercise. It must be done with affectionate mood. There is no regulation in scriptures to do it for such a long time. Arati should be done very softly and artisticly, gently and smoothly, not very fast, especially near Krsna's face. Water is offered to wash His mouth, just as Yasoda does, two or three times. More than this is not required. We offer the cloth to dry Krsna's mouth, it should be done very softly, not like this(Srila Gurudeva briskly rubbed his hand to and fro), very hard, for one hour. And dhupa(incense) should not be offered to Krsna's feet or face. If it is offered to his face then the smoke will drift up, and he will not be able to appreciate it."

Srila Gurudeva now began to speak about chanting harinama. "Harinama which is not done with the heart will not even make any sukrti. Instead‚ if you are thinking 'mother is ill ...shall I go to India - or England? Where is she now?...' then it is better to smash this body in seva in order to get some sukrti. Devotees should not neglect coming to hear harikatha in the name of chanting, otherwise advanced devotees will feel like they're wasting their time. Those who are neglecting hari-katha are very unfortunate. When Vrndavana vilasini(now 52) was 16 and very beautiful like a rose, she was distributing books in the airport, and, if rebuked, no harm. So why have you come with me? You should go and preach to energetic people. If there is no preaching, then advanced devotees will think 'Why am I here? No use.' One who neglects to preach will become sick. Although we'll never be able to do it, we should try to repay Srila Svami Maharaja by following his process. We should distribute all the books we have here in Malaysia so that they'll have to be reprinted. Go and preach to less fortunate persons with compassion, and bring them here, otherwise why have we come?"

A local devotee who is one of Srila Gurudeva's initiated harinama disciples was sitting at the back of the class, having entered some time after it had begun. Seeing him there, Srila Gurudeva asked him:

"Why are you sitting so far away? Are you afraid? Are you afraid of diksa?"

"No Maharaja!" the devotee replied earnestly.

"Then you should take tomorrow!"

Srila Gurudeva said to him. "I will give you forcibly! You should shave your head..."

Then, turning to the devotee's wife he said: "You should shave him. You should shave all his material desires."

—end—

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