20170510 An Evening Talk

20170510 H.H.Jayapatākā Swami gave an evening talk in Dallas, Texas.

Gurumahārājā:  Yesterday was Nṛshiṁhā Caturdaśī, and today is the full moon or the dark moon?

So today is the pūrṇimā. Some observe Vaisākh month today and some much later. Lord Nṛsiṁhādev, He came and saved His devotee – Prahlād Mahārājā. In Ahobilam, Prahlād Mahārāj and also Hanumān appeared; nine different rups of Nṛsimhadev were present. 

So there, there is Hanumān , but one devotee he did not believe that this was Hanumān, and then Hanumān showed Lord Ram’s bows and arrows. So then the devotee was convinced that Lord Ram has come. So, when the Lord comes, he takes a particular mood, and He is addressed in that mood. So in Nṛsiṁha palli... Nṛsiṁha Ahobilam, He takes the mood of Narasimhadev. 

In Nabadwip dhām He takes the mood of Lord Caitanyā. In Ayodhyā He takes the mood of Hanumān and Lord Rām. In Ekāchakra the Lord plays out His pastimes. So He also played the Lords pastimes as Lord Ram. There Nitāi is Balarām. So in Rāmalila he was the younger brother. For him that’s too heavy. He is the expansion of Kṛṣṇa, but he had to play the part of a younger brother. So in every respect he was subjugated, but when Laxman was hit by the arrow of Indrajit, the son of Rāvaṇā – so Hanumān was told that he should get the Sanjivini herb. So he went to one village where the Mahānta was there, a vaiṣṇavā, and he asked Hanumān to stay for Prasādam. Hanumān said he couldn’t stay because he had to get this medicine.

So then Mahānta, he told him, “Please take some fruits.” 

“Alright.” – he accepted fruits. Then he said, “Please take a bath in the nearby lake. Freshen yourself up.” Hanumān went to the lake but there was an alligator, a crocodile in the lake who was trying to attack him. So how Hanumān had to kill that crocodile - when he came back the mahānta was gone, and he was dressed as the soldier of Rāvaṇā. Hanumān saw that the whole thing was a trick trying to delay him. He told, “You and your master are like dogs”, and then he went off. 

Eventually not to make to make mistake he took the whole mountain. So this is mentioned in the Caitanyā Bhāgavat, how Lord Nityānanda he would play the childhood pastimes of Lord Ram, Lord Kṛṣṇa, Visnutattvā. So he played all the pastimes. The parents were amazed. “How does this child know all the pastimes?” And He said, “Oh this are my pastimes. Naturally I know them.” They couldn’t understand what He was saying. So, Lord Caitanyā, Nityānanda – they enjoyed their childhood by remembering the pastimes of Vraja and different holy places. 

So I hear how you devotees are active in the Bhakti Vrikshā program , Bhagavad-gitā class and different temple activities. Bhakti Vinod Thākur, he was also very active in Namahattā, and he would regularly give classes. So Bhakti Vrikshā is an opportunity for Grihasthā’s to preach, to give the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa’ far and wide. 

Prabhupāda was saying how the sanyāsi’s and brahmachāri’s – we tend to give a hard cell, we say give up that is the system. So people are afraid, but the grihasthā’s they invite people over for prasādam, and then they feed them. People come and say, “Oh, he has a wife, he has a family. I could live like this. So this is considered to be the soft cell. Invite people over, have them feel, “You are loved, you are welcomed.” So in this way make friends with them. By being a part of the Bhakti Vrikshā you get the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. 

There are many different saṅgas, and it is recommended that one should regularly have the association of Vaiṣṇavās, and most of Lord Caitanya’s followers were grihasthās. So they asked, “What advice do you give for the grishasthā’s? And in Kaliyugā one can be delivered as a grihasthā or as a renounced order 

Sankaracharyā, he says you can only be delivered if you are a sanyasi, but by Bhakti yoga – grihe thāko, vane thāko – both can be liberated. So raising children, doing your grihasthā duties with the idea of pleasing Kṛṣṇa – that is the secret of success. In the śāstra it gives aspects of the varṇāśrama dharma. So in the Kali Yuga the system is to be a grihasthā, and we see how nice the young children are being brought up. So, Lord Caitanyā for 10,000 years – He predicted a golden age which would start about now – 10,000.....5000 years after the start of Kali Yuga, and would last for 10,000 years. But one as a grihasthā one should engage in Kṛṣṇa’ consciousness. So by giving regular class, giving prasādam, teaching your children, you can be engaged in Kṛṣṇa’’s service. 

The material world is a very dangerous place and it is very hard to cross over the material energy, but by surrendering to Kṛṣṇā it’s very easy, and that’s the prescribed process. 

yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa

So if you have written questions that’s better. But if takes people time to write we will take some oral questions. 

Question: A lot of people like to worship Ganesh. Is Ganesh worship bhakti yoga?

Gurumahārāja: Ganesh is supposed to be an eternal deva. He removes obstacle. In the material world he appears as Ganesh. In the Viṣṇuloka he appears as Viswaksena. So in the Śrī Sampradaya and many Vaiṣṇavas they worship Viswaksena, and in the material world they worship him as Ganesha. 

Question: We have a bhakti vriksha program and there are about 20 families and no one wants to start the next program. Everyone comes to one program, and the excuse typically is that, “I am not qualified to host a program separately.” How would you please answer this.....  

Gurumahārāj:  Appoint someone as the Bhakti Vrikshā intern, and you can also divide up within your place into groups. The group leader facilitates and then one time the intern facilitates. One half. So eventually he can use that as an excuse. Once a month all the groups get together. Three times a month they meet separately. So, you have more exchange if you have smaller groups. This problem was faced by a Christian organization in Columbia. So, they had groups of 12 people. Some people make multiple groups up. You said you have 30 or 20 groups in many families. So that means 40 people. That means that if we have three groups, and by preaching – how our goal is to make new devotees and give people a chance to serve. So the older devotees get a chance to serve, and the younger devotees get a chance to join. 

So we don’t want to be lost in our comfort zone. We want to see the family of Lord Caitanyā ever expanding. So you have one group leader, and he picks out through a system leader. Eventually by systematically training them, then they can make three groups, and that group leader becomes a sector leader and he visits one of the groups every month. That’s three weeks, plus one week they all meet together. So each trainee servant leader would have to lead two times a month. Not so bad. We want them to be experienced. 

Question: How can one successfully stay away from materialistic pleasures in a practical way?

Gurumahārāj: In the pastime of Kashyapā Muni, he glorifies his wife for helping him to control his senses. After getting married and having children one is naturally more controlled than an unmarried bachelor, and by executing the grihasthā rules the person also achieves success in devotional service. 

Lord Caitanyā as a grihasthā, he would invite sanyasis and guests to his house, and he would feed everyday 10 and 20 sanyāsi’s. He would give poor people Prasad. So this way Lord Caitanyā, He was showing how to be an ideal grihasthā, and most of his followers were grihasthās.

Question: In our group mostly either husband or wife only comes. How we can encourage both wife and husband can come to  BV?

Gurumahārāj: Talk to them. Find out why only one of them is coming. Maybe other one is helping the children with some homework. I have some experience. So maybe the day can be rescheduled or there can be activities particularly for the children. 

But what age ... some children like to have their own Bhakti Vrikshā group. Some like memorizing ślokas. Some like playing games, some like doing dramas. We have to see what age group. 

Question: I am currently a student and hence it is difficult for me to keep up with 16 rounds of chanting. Is there a suggestion for me? What is the perfect age and time for shelter and initiation?

Gurumahārāja: There are different levels. Śraddhā is one round, the Gaurā Sevak is 4 rounds, Kṛṣṇa sadhak is 8 rounds, and then Guru Ashray is 16. Prabhupāda gave some youth’s initiation at the age of 12. But they have to be very serious. If you think it is too difficult, you can take aspiring which doesn’t rely on chanting. Whatever you chant is alright. That means that you want help, but in the future you want to take initiation from this guru. You are aspiring for this guru.

Question: If someone is afraid of spiritual relationships and thinks of them as material how to encourage them?

Gurumahārāj: Because I don’t know who you want to make friends with. Making friend with ladies may be delicate. There is saying in Bengali – “They call them mother, then they call them sister and then .... “ (laughter) So we have to be a bit careful. It’s said that you should see every lady as your mother except for your wife, but amongst men and amongst woman we should give Kṛṣṇa’ conscious association. No prajalpā. No loose talk. Talk about the Lord, about Kṛṣṇa. Talk about His practical service. The practical service to Kṛṣṇa.

Question: I have read in Bhagavad-gītā if someone is involved in bad and nudity stuff he gets a life of a tree with least chetanā. So should we not grow trees? Trees are our life lines. What is the secret here?

Guramahraj: It’s alright - you should grow a tree, but don’t be a tree. (applause) I mean you don’t want to be a tree even in Golokā Vrindāvan, but if you have to be that is alright, because they are conscious. But we want to serve the Lord. So at least service – friendship, parental, conjugal. These the devotee’s always hanker for. But here in the material world things are not conscious or they have minimal consciousness. In the spiritual world all the living entities are spiritual They have no bodies. That’s is their actual form. That they are trees or animals or servants, servitors, friends, parents, wives, gopī’s ...