The following is an excerpt from a morning walk conversation with Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Badger, California, on June 22, 2007, published in Walking with a Saint – Morning Walks and Conversations 2007
Aniruddha dāsa: While you were giving class yesterday, my godbrother Harernāmānanda prabhu 
(Spanish) prayed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, “I want to have a close relationship with Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja.” Then, when you were leaving the temple, you approached him and asked, “Who are you?”
He was amazed and startled, thinking, “How did he know?” He is taking that as a sign of the beginning of his establishing a closer relationship with you. He is a very serious disciple of Prabhupāda. He wants to have a closer relationship and serve you, but he wants to know how.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: (To Harernāmānanda dāsa) Hear from me for four more days, and our relation will strengthen automatically.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: He wants to know how he can serve you more.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: He can serve in any way he thinks best.
Śivānanda dāsa: One or two years ago, in Venice, I was on a morning walk with Śrīla Gurudeva, Vrajanātha prabhu, and Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja. I was a little bit upset with some of the activities of ISKCON, and I asked Śrīla Gurudeva, “Are these people offenders or asuras (demons)?” Śrīla Gurudeva said, “They are my children.”
…
Gokula dāsa: It always seems that some persons are there to persecute others, and sometimes I think that this is Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement to teach us to be more tolerant.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: No, this is not Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement. He never likes things like this. He is very merciful and kind.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: This is the arrangement of Kali (the personification of this age of quarrel and hypocrisy).
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Those who are selfish are simply cheaters.
(To Aniruddha dāsa) Don’t criticise ISKCON, as you have done. The ISKCON devotees are also my 
children. Don’t speak about them with such anger. Be calm and quiet, and perform bhajana. Don’t see anyone’s faults. See your own faults. Do you understand?
Aniruddha dāsa: But if we keep a humble attitude…
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Try to follow these principles of humility and respect for all. These are not my words. Rather, śāstra is telling this, and Kṛṣṇa is telling this. Whoever criticises others will see that he has absorbed all the bad qualities he is criticising. He will see that those bad qualities have entered his own being.
The following is an excerpt from a morning walk conversation with Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Houston, Texas, on May 31, 2008, published in Walking with a Saint – Morning Walks and Conversations 2008
Jaya Ṛṣi: (To the guest) You don’t have to change your religion to come to Gurudeva.
Śrīla Gurudeva, Bhakta Mathew was asked to leave the ISKCON temple. He is a sincere young man, and he wants to ask if you can help clarify the situation.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: You can happily come to me. I will help you. I am the abode of love for all, without consideration of caste and creed. My door is open to all. All those who are being rejected can come to me. Those leaders who reject others for coming to me are unknowingly cutting off their own feet.
Mathew: How do we associate with those who are creating this division? How is it possible to associate while this division is going on?
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: At the time of their gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, who is renowned throughout the world as Prabhupāda, everything was okay. Everyone was following his instructions. However, after his disappearance many persons gave up that submission to him, and now they want to control everyone. Simply desiring money, such persons think, “If devotees go to Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja, all money will go to him as well, and he will enjoy.”
In reality, I do not want anyone for money or facilities. I am satisfied with whatever devotees easily 
offer as praṇāmī (any monetary contribution given to sādhus or Deities). Without any self-interest, I want to give my wealth for the benefit of the entire world.
Śrīpāda Bhāgavata Mahārāja: If they do not allow Śrīla Gurudeva to come to their temples, then we ourselves should not go there.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: It is better not to discuss this topic. It is better to discuss only kṛṣṇa-bhakti. If there is any question about bhakti or anything transcendental, you can inquire about that from me. Try to forget this other topic.
They should do what they want to do. I always think of them as my children. I know that they are doing these things out of ignorance. I excuse them. I have been helping them since the early 1980s, and I want to continue helping them.
Source: Purebhakti.com
Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in, Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo and / or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)
