The ontological conception of Vrindavan

Through service we live, and through renunciation and exploitation we die. That is our innate nature. We must adjust ourselves with that principle, and then we will be invincible.

An audio file and full transcript of this talk can be found here.
Our Guru Mahārāj used to say often in his last days, “Religion is proper adjustment.”
I always quote Hegel’s maxim, “Die to live.” We shall try to adjust, to realise, to understand this. Die to live: this is Vaikuṇṭha. Death is finished in this world, but in the eternal world where death is absent, there ‘Die to live’ means that by sacrifice we can become great. Here also partially, if one gives up money, he may get a life of fame. So ‘Die to live’, and, ‘Everything is for Himself.’ We are to adjust with this, that He is the enjoyer, and we are the suppliers of His enjoyment. That is our natural position and we can thrive only in that plane, in that attitude. By giving to Him we can thrive. We are to accommodate ourselves with this tendency. Through service we live, and through renunciation and exploitation we die. That is our innate nature. We must adjust ourselves with that principle, and then we will be invincible. None, nothing in the world can take away from this principle of life; if we can adjust properly with what is service, what is dedication, what is surrender, and how helpful that is to us, especially when we are in the midst of gross exploitation, and if not so, then renunciation of any type.
Renunciation and exploitation are the two general enemies of the devotees. If we can cross these two enemy lands, then there is Vaikuṇṭha, and the highest position is that of the automatic, spontaneous surrendering love of Kṛṣṇaloka. We are mainly to be acquainted with what is what in these few planes. Then we can maintain our consciousness in the plane of Kṛṣṇaloka, Goloka Vṛndāvan. What is Vṛndāvana, in the ontological conception? We must have such idea. And if we can adjust with this we can be invincible.
And we will be bold enough to announce to the world, to so many, to all the souls we find:
yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa,
āmāra ājñāya [guru hañā tāra ei deśa

kabhu nā vādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga,
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga]
(Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 7.128-9)
[“Instruct whoever you meet in the science of Kṛṣṇa. Teach them the instructions of Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā, and the teachings about Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way, on My order, become a Guru and liberate everyone in the land. If you follow this instruction, the waves of materialism within this world will not affect you. Indeed, if you follow My order, you will soon attain My association.”]
Quite confident, strongly established in such position, to anyone I see I shall say, “Oh, what are you doing? Save yourself. Come in contact with Kṛṣṇaloka. You will be saved and prosper beyond your conception. Why do you lose your capital, investing in this mundane and filthy world of exploitation? Everyone is trying to exploit the vitiated world. Why do you put your energy, capital, in this filthy and mundane world? Go. Come. And put your investment, whatever little you have got, in such a bank; deposit in this invulnerable bank. It will come to you in time of need and immensely, beyond your expectation, you will have profit there.” In this way we are to approach one and all, whatever they may be.
Spoken by our Param Gurudev Srila B.R. Sridhar Deva-Goswami in Sri Nabadwip Dham, on 9 January 1982.