20230509 Question and Answer Session

Question: Is getting initiated important in going to Kṛṣṇa?

Jayapatākā Swami: If Kṛṣṇa sends you a spiritual master and you accept then it is very useful. But if out of false ego you don’t accept it, it could be an obstacle. But if you don’t meet a bona fide spiritual master, you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then that is okay. How old are you? (Almost 10) So, people who are 8 years old up, they can take aspiring. When they are 11 years old up can take shelter and those who are 12 years up they can after taking shelter, they can take initiation. Because we don’t consider that till people are at least 12, they can understand the gravity of taking initiation.

Question: Whenever I hear some class or reading regularly, I do feel Kṛṣṇa conscious at that point but the consciousness is so flickering that whenever we are interacting with someone or in personal relationships we go in that mood so how do we have the determined consciousness to shift from egocentric to Kṛṣṇa centric?

Jayapatākā Swami: There are different relationships with Kṛṣṇa. Neutral, servitorship, friendship with respect, they are realized in Vaikuṇṭha with Nārāyaṇa. With Kṛṣṇa, there is familiar friendship, parental and conjugal. Our present body is not, we may have a man’s body, but our relationship may be as a gopī or mother, you may have a female body to be a friend or father. Our present body does not dictate what our relationship with Kṛṣṇa is. But from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, we get to know what all the different relationships are with Kṛṣṇa. And maybe we are attracted by one, maybe it takes time. But gradually, by listening, by practicing devotional service, we advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And we go from the vidhi-mārga to the rāgānuga-mārga. These things happen gradually and naturally. So, you don’t have to worry how I will achieve all these things. Rather, it happens naturally. But it takes time. If we have any kind of false ego, attachments, we should forget those. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170] - all kinds of designations which we identify with our body, you talked about ego, we purify those, this way our consciousness becomes pure and unless we achieve this pure consciousness, we cannot really appreciate Kṛṣṇa fully. We engage our senses to serve the Master of the senses Hṛṣīkeśa, and gradually this purifies our consciousness.

Question: I am preaching to a few of my non-devotee friends and I was wondering at what stage should I bring them into the temple because I don’t want them to fall in like making offences or something like that.

Jayapatākā Swami: You would know your friends better! When they are ready, maybe first bring them when there is no people there, just to see the Deities and explain things. Then, if someone is giving class but you know they would not say something that would likely burn them out. Like in Atlanta you have three house, the third house, the lower one, I think they have classes there. And that may be more, what to say, controlled atmosphere. What is your name? (Raṅgadevī) Thank you for coming here. And your friend? (My mother, Pallavī devī dāsī from Netherlands) Is that my Pallavī? (Yes) Hare Kṛṣṇa! Any other question?

Question: How to advance in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa?

Jayapatākā Swami: If you chant automatically you can advance. We chant and try to avoid offences. Have you heard the ten offences? We try to avoid those. Then naturally, you would advance. Also, because we don’t have so much taste to chant 24 hours a day, so as much as possible do the other practices. There are nine practices of devotional service. If you can, do the hearing and chanting, then do some other ones.

Question: You mentioned in the class today that some people go to Kṛṣṇa for material benefit. And the real benediction is love for Kṛṣṇa. How do we keep a balance asking Kṛṣṇa for material desires and love for Kṛṣṇa?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see asking Kṛṣṇa for material benefits is like doing business with Kṛṣṇa. I have done so much service for You, now give me something! So we don’t want to do business with Kṛṣṇa. We want to serve Kṛṣṇa. Bhakti-yoga means service to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa told Prahlāda, you can ask anything you want. He said, I am not here to do business with You. Why do You tempt me? But if I have to ask something, please have mercy on my father. So like that we don’t want to ask Kṛṣṇa for material things. He gives us anyway. All the things we have are given by Him. Now we want to repay Him, do something for Him. And that way, I mean, it is just like you have children, they come to you and say, father, can we do something for you? You would think, what do they want? Ha! Actually, you don’t want anything, you want to love Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa may test you. He will test you. Either directly or through Māyā. But if we understand that Kṛṣṇa is in my heart, He knows every thought, we cannot fool Kṛṣṇa. And by serving Kṛṣṇa we can be with Him eternally in the spiritual world. If we want to be in the material world, we want nice facility, we want this we want that, then Kṛṣṇa gives that already. Actually, we should be attached to Kṛṣṇa, not attached to these material things.