MADHU BINDAVAH

AVOID IMITATION

The necessity of sincerity.

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

Imitation should always be avoided. We must be sincere. Without sincerity, everything is bogus. Sincerity must be there, whatever.

sarala hale gorara siksa bujhiya la-ibe
(Sri Prema-vivarta: 8.3)

“When you are sincere, you will understand Gora’s teachings.”

yadi bhajibe gora sarala kara nija mana
(Sri Prema-vivarta: 8.2)

[“If you want to serve Gora, make your heart sincere.”]

Be simple, be unassuming, be sincere. Otherwise, everything will be bogus. If you imitate that you are a sadhu, it is gone. Don’t try to imitate, to copy, but really try to be so. Don’t try to copy the external movements of a sadhu, but the inherent thing, the inner thing, try to hit that. Try to acquire the innermost thing. Try to enter into the heart of a Vaisnava and not his figure nor dress. It is difficult, of course, to enter into the heart of a Vaisnava because there is the Temple of the Lord. Still, try to connect and get even a spec, a drop, of the nectar that is within the heart of the Vaisnava, that rasa, a drop of that rasa, is of the highest quality and divinity.