You have to understand and practice three things.
Number one is humility.
Number two is Roopdhyan.
Number three is chanting the names, qualities and pastimes of Radha Krishn.
You all practice one of these. Out of these three, you practice one, chanting of Shyama Shyam's names, qualities and pastimes. But you do not practice the other two things. Just chanting the name of God without those two, is like the body without life - a dead body.
The more humble you are, the closer you will get to God. Write this down in golden letters. You all think that we do kirtan but tears do not come. Chanting without tears is not true chanting; it's only a parrot's recital. God gives results of only those actions where the mind is involved. God does not take into account any physical work. So, humility and tolerance come first. They make up the first lesson in the subject of devotion.
There was a Muslim Saint in the Arabian country. He used to beg for alms in front of an idol. People asked him, " Why do you beg in front of an idol that you are hungry and want some bread?" The saint replied, "The reason I do this is so that when I beg in the world and no one offers me any alms, I would not feel bad as I would have practiced it here." So, humbleness is the very first lesson.
Roopdhyan follows as number two. In your mind, bring God in front of you and then sing the kirtan. The more humble you become, the closer you will get to God. The more Roopdhyan of God you do, the closer you will get to Him and God will also come closer to you. Anyone walking on the spiritual path should think of himself to be below everyone. He should think that everyone else is better than him. One should have such feelings of humility.
Give respect to everyone. Do not expect respect from others. Bring in such humility. Desire to sit behind everyone. We sit in the front thinking - People will see that I am a leader, I am a millionaire. What are you thinking? Do not think like this. Think that you are below everyone. The Vedas declare the Shri Krishna is within everyone. Realize this. Do not have ill- feelings towards others, such as considering some inferior, finding faults in others, and feelings of disrespect or hatred. Otherwise God will be unhappy with you and Guru will be even more sad. The Guru will be sad - I tried so hard and explained so much, still this individual has feelings of attachment and hatred in him. Whether you have attachment or hatred towards the world, whether you have favorable thoughts or unfavorable thoughts, the moment you think of the world, your mind gets polluted and you have to purify your mind. By making the mind even more impure, what Sadhana are you practicing? You are adding even more dirt to the soiled cloth (the mind). You need to wash the soiled cloth in pure water, and pure water means you should attach your mind to God and Guru. These two personalities are pure and will purify the mind. Do not look down on anyone. Someone may be really deplorable, but do not think about his faults. Do not think reprovingly even against some deplorable as it will make your mind impure. He will always remain bad.
Let's say a person is a dacoit, he is vicious. If you think about his wrongdoings, your mind will then be filled with delinquent thoughts; your mind will become more impure. How can you then have the goal of God-realization?
Hence, do not have any desire for position, appreciation, prestige, fame or the desire for the world to praise you. In other words, do not desire to become a leader. Leave all those feelings. The more humble you become, the dearer you become to God and Guru. Memorize this point. It will help you till God-realization. Otherwise, this Maya is very dangerous. This desire of becoming popular within people around you has caused the downfall of even great ascetics.
"Let people praise me and worship me." This leadership quality is okay in the world since their goal is different. But for the one who is on the spiritual path, if he behaves like a worldly person, then he will deviate from his goal. So practice Roopdhyan with your mind and cry out to God with tears. Crying out to God in the main Sadhana and this will happen only with humility. Without humility, one cannot shed tears. So when you go to sleep, think, "Where all did I become arrogant today? Where all did I desire prestige today? This foolish mind has made me wander in 8.4 million life forms and it's doing the same thing again. Humility, politeness and tolerance are Divine qualities Tulsidas Ji says,”Aangan Kuti chhawaye” (verse) Keep your critic in your courtyard so that he may criticize you every day and you practice not to feel bad about it. Why do you feel bad? "Are you under Maya?" "Yes." "Do you know what Maya does?" "Yes." Lust, anger, greed, jealousy- these are all vices of Maya. Do you have all these vices in you? Be honest! "Yes, I do have these vices." Then? Anyone will criticize you only about these vices. "You are lustful, you are bad tempered, you are greedy, you are a rouge, you are a thug. This is all one can tell you. Isn't he right in saying this? We have all these vices. What else do we do all day and night? Are we saints? Are we like Tulsidas, Soordas, Meera, or Kabir?
"No we are not like them." We have lust, anger, greed and other such vices. If someone humiliates us with these words, He is our well wisher. He is pointing out our vices and asking us to rectify them. So, do not ever have any ill feelings against anyone. And always have humble feelings for yourself. Think- "I am fallen, destitute, sinful. I am not able to shed tears even while chanting God's names. God is omnipresent and is sitting in everyone's heart but I am not able to realize it. I am an atheist.” Bring these humbling feelings and realization again and again. Then see how you progress day by day.
Pride is your biggest enemy; beware of it. Do your Sadhana like this. Then Kripalu will come here again and again without even being invited and serve you. The most important thing is to wipe out the ill feelings you have developed against anyone. If you have developed any ill feelings against someone, go to them, ask for forgiveness and be nice to them. Behave in such a way that he or she feels humbled. This quality should be developed. You have to practice this.
Three important things to be done in the path of devotion (Hindi audio)