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If you remain blind, don't try to lead other blind men. That is misleading. First of all open your eyes. Everything is there. Nobody can do anything whimsically. If you do whimsically, concoctedly, that will be failure. It will not be effective

Expressions researched:
"If you remain blind, don't try to lead other blind men. That is misleading. First of all open your eyes. Everything is there. Nobody can do anything whimsically. If you do whimsically, concoctedly, that will be failure. It will not be effective"

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). If you remain blind, don't try to lead other blind men. That is misleading. First of all open your eyes. Everything is there. Nobody can do anything whimsically. If you do whimsically, concoctedly, that will be failure. It will not be effective.

Prabhupāda: The thing is the spirit, real service of preaching, stopped. Formality is going on, but the real business . . . Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement means āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa (CC Madhya 7.128). That is stopped. Do you follow? The formalities is there, but the real life of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is preaching. Otherwise why Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra ei deśa? Tāra means preach. Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa-upadeśa' (CC Madhya 7.128). And that is stopped. They are satisfied if they could construct one temple and beg some rice from the neighborhood: "Sir, we have got some temple." That's all. They are satisfied. The spirit of preaching forward—pāpī tāpī jata chilo, hari-nāme uddhārilo—that is stopped. So by hari-nāma, by chanting, by this way, to live little peacefully in the temple and eat and sleep, that much they have got. If that is the success, that success they have got. And this was condemned by my Guru Mahārāja, that "To earn some money by showing Deity in the temple and eat and sleep—better you become a sweeper in the street and earn your honest livelihood and live." This is cheating. This was condemned. To construct a temple . . . just like the Vṛndāvana gosvāmīs are doing. They thought that "This is our business. Some innocent people will come here and offer some . . . bās, that's our good income." According to the temple's popularity, they think, "This is our success." Therefore they are deteriorating. So that is not success. Success is he is who is pushing forward the preaching method. That is his success. And if we think that "By showing a temple Deity we get some money and rice and cloth and just peacefully live here. Don't bother about going to Fiji and all over . . ." (laughs) That much success they have got. But that is not Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma, sarvatra pracāra. (CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) What they are doing for that? That is point.

Gurukṛpā: What if sometimes a disciple, he may go to preach, but he's not preaching in the exact same spirit of his spiritual master?

Prabhupāda: Therefore he is not to be preached. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra (CC Adi 9.41): "Go to do good to others, first of all you do good to yourself." First of all you become really preacher. Then go to preach. Caitanya Mahāprabhu never sent neophyte to go to preach. For neophyte the preaching is not their business. For neophyte, one should stick to the worship of Deity in the temple. And those who have understood the philosophy, applied the philosophy in his life, he should go for preaching. Otherwise he'll preach wrongly, like . . . what is that? Charan das Babaji. And it will stop. He wanted to preach, but he did not know how to preach, and therefore, after his life, it is finished. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not say like that, that "You remain a rascal and go to preach." No. Janma sārthaka kari. "Your first business is that you make your life perfect. Then go to preach. 'Perfect' means you learn how to obey My orders." That is perfection. Āmāra ājñāya. So if you are actually, perfectly carrying out the orders of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then you are preaching. Otherwise you will do wrongly, mislead. Don't do that. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ (SB 7.5.31). If you remain blind, don't try to lead other blind men. That is misleading. First of all open your eyes. Everything is there. Nobody can do anything whimsically. If you do whimsically, concoctedly, that will be failure. It will not be effective.

Gurukṛpā: Even though one may get many followers, that is not . . .

Prabhupāda: Many? What you . . .? Many followers . . . the philosophy you present, it must be followed by everyone. That is wanted. You have got, say, ten thousand followers. That does not mean success. Everyone has got some followers. This . . . what is that? Guru-ji Maharaja. He has got also so-called followers. The T.M., he has got also some followers. Everyone has got some followers. But what kind of followers they have? That is quality. Everything has quality. Simply quantity is not. There are many Christians. Even up to date, some Christian fair or . . . many millions will come. What is the quality? Quality is all meat-eater. But Christian means he should not kill. Where is the Christian? So we have to test by the quality, followers. Not many followers; the quality of the followers. My Guru Mahārāja used to say like that, that "If I get at least one quality disciple, then all my labor will be success." He was saying like that: quality, not the quantity. By quantity if one is amazed, then he is also goru. By quality—what kind of followers? That is the . . . from the very beginning my strictures are there that, "You have to follow this"—quality. If I were . . . "No, you can do like Vivekananda. Yes, what you can, whatever you like," then I think quantity would have been very, very big. But I don't say. I make him promise before the fire, before the Deity, before guru.

Page Title:If you remain blind, don't try to lead other blind men. That is misleading. First of all open your eyes. Everything is there. Nobody can do anything whimsically. If you do whimsically, concoctedly, that will be failure. It will not be effective
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-12-10, 08:42:34
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1