Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-May.4.

Association with Saints Wipes out Desire
We should always remain in the company of saints. This is extremely important in the journey towards God. However, if the heart is not pure, what would be the use of even such company? Really speaking, saints should not be seen with their physical form. Their benevolent influence works not so much through the physical body, the shell through which they appear to us, as in the sadhana they prescribe for us. They are devoid of all sensuous desires, and therefore we cannot really meet them, that is, understand them truly, unless we free ourselves of such desires.
Suppose a thief goes to a saint; his eyes will naturally look out for and spot articles which can be stolen; he will understand neither the noble nature of the saint nor get to know his valuable teaching. These we shall only realize if we approach him with a pure, desire-free heart; what they give to us in that state has unequalled value indeed.
A certain person, along with many others, used to go frequently to a saint for darshan. He never mixed with others, never communicated with anyone, and always appeared deeply dejected. One day, the Master, not seeing him in the crowd, abruptly said, "Hasn't that silly child of mine come today?" At this, the man suddenly went into a rapture, started to dance in joy, and left the place, never to return. Nor did he need to return; his object had been achieved; for had the Master not called him 'mine'? It is the highest ambition of a true disciple that the Master should admit or accept him as 'his', 'his very own'.
The common disciple has not freed himself of desire; indeed quite often he approaches the guru with the very object of having some desire fulfilled and therefore he does not realize the importance of being accepted by the guru.
The guru, on the other hand, aims at completely annihilating all desire in the disciple. This can be achieved by nama-smarana, and this is, therefore, what we should do. Nama removes all anxiety and yearning for desire. When the mind baits us with one desire or another we should retaliate with nama, which is an efficient antidote. Association with a saint or even with a sincere sadhaka provides a very congenial atmosphere for nama-smarana.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi-May 4

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada -May4

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-May.3.

Purity of Heart, and Determined Nama-smarana
Eschew the idea that you have yet something to do. "I have dedicated myself to God, and now there is no longer anything else that I have to achieve or strive for", this should be the attitude of your mind. You will certainly win tranquillity of mind if you solemnly promise to God, "Lord, henceforward I live only for Thee; nothing else now claims my attention except remembering Thy name."
It is incorrect to say that old age makes the mind weak and therefore unable to repeat the holy name. While enumerating His manifestations, Lord Krishna says, in the Bhagavadgeeta that, among the organs and faculties of the body, He is the mind. The mind, we imagine, becomes helpless at the last hour of life; and yet the Lord exhorts us to remember Him till and at the last moment of our existence. It cannot, therefore, be that the mind must lose awareness of Him. Of course, advanced age may mean loss of ability to sit up in meditation for as long as in younger age, or that sleep may overtake one during meditation; but it cannot happen that the mind may lose awareness of God and the divine name. What actually happens is, not weakening of the mind, but its preoccupation and loading with thoughts about extraneous worldly matters. What is required, therefore, is disengaging the mind from those extraneous matters and concentrating it on God. If we dissociate the mind from money and such other worldly matters, then we cannot miss our goal.
Hankering after money and popular esteem or recognition, drive a person away from the divine, so one should avoid falling a prey to such hankering. One cannot avoid the possibility of coming across it in worldly life, but one who aspires to love of God should be on guard to avoid its evil effects.
Righteousness, devotion to God, remembering and repeating nama, and company of saintly persons, are the means of purifying the mind. In brief, close association with the saintly is the surest remedy. An obvious sign of a pure mind is a desire that the whole world should be as happy as ourselves. To foster this desire, one should make it a practice to pray for peace and happiness to all in the world; then God will in His grace certainly purify the mind.
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Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Marathi -May 3

Sri Maharaj's Pravachan in Kannada -May 3

Sri Brahmachaithanya Pravachan-May.2.

Great Vigilance is Necessary in Sadhana
A farmer may have cultivated the land and sown selected seed; the rain may have been sufficient and timely; the sprouting may be vigorous; even then, however, he must not rest careless; for even as the growth proceeds, increasing care becomes necessary. For one thing, stray cattle may enter the field and cause destruction; also, pests or locusts may ruin the crop. Intrusion by cattle may be easily apparent, and can be controlled by fencing; but attacks by pests or locusts may not be noticeable without minute inspection, and can only be controlled by sprinkling of appropriate medicines or chemicals. This means that the farmer has always to be vigilant; so, too, has one who is striving for spiritual uplift.
What a fence or hedge is to the field, ordinary life of family and worldly affairs is to the spiritual aspirant; he should therefore pay due attention to its proper management, taking care, however, that it does not thrive so much as to encroach on the main crop and overwhelm it. He should not forget that the sole role of family life is like that of the fence-protection, and give it only that much importance and attention, and no more. We should lead family life without letting it become an impediment in the spiritual path. Just as the farmer inspects the crop very minutely to detect the incidence of pests, so too should we be carefully on the watch lest the mind should get attached to worldly matters.
With proper precautions as outlined above, a farmer may successfully reach the stage of harvesting of the crop. But care is required also in threshing, and the grain must be carefully garnered to prevent incursions by rats and mice. It should be carefully husked so as not to injure the grain. Thus care and caution are needed at all stages. So, too, they are necessary for the aspirant; for, instances are numerous where the aspirant's progress is retarded if he acts carelessly, or under an illusion that the journey is finished and he has reached the goal. The aspirant leading a family life will have to live among other householders, and must therefore exercise great caution lest his mind should go astray owing to their influence; there is no knowing when the inner inclination may change. Spiritual quest is indeed a difficult hunt.
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