20190127 Question and Answer Session

Come join us as His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja reads from the new Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book on January 27th, 2019 in Chennai, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Because we are starting very late today and because this is a Sunday. So we will have today questions and answers. And we will start the Caitanya Book compilation tomorrow. So, if you have any questions, philosophical, then you can present them. Also, those who are on internet can send their questions by internet. If you have any trouble understanding anything I am saying; then please send the same up and we will have the voice therapist train me how to say those words better. This morning I didn’t have physical therapy. So we had a meeting of TOVP Exhibition and Planetarium wing. And that went up to 10’O clock. People were participating from the USA, UK, India, Australia, people in England it was 2 am. For the people in the USA it was night, but still reasonable and in Australia it was afternoon. In India it was morning. So then this evening I had my voice therapist Dr. Prakash came by and he dedicated extra time to stay till 1.30 pm. This afternoon I cycled 905 cycles! That is our record, So you have Any questions?

Question: When we feel that Kṛṣṇa or the devotees are telling us something how can we be sure it is not our mind? Thank you very much.

Jayapatākā Swami: While the guru is present, you shouldn’t feel any doubt. You can always ask the guru if your idea is correct or not. I asked Prabhupāda several times about different things like this and somethings he said, they are sent by Kṛṣṇa, somethings not. To be sure, that is why we have a guru, because we cannot connect directly with Kṛṣṇa in our conditioned state. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Thank you Vijaya Rādhā devī dāsī.

—Vijaya Rādhā devī dāsī

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Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, how to overcome attachment, fear and anger?

—Haridhvani devī dāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: Attachment, fear, and anger, how to overcome? There is a verse of this in the Bhagavad-gītā and some advice is given there. But in a nutshell, we want to dovetail everything with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Instead of being attached to the material world, we are more attached to Kṛṣṇa and His service. An anger instead of being angry because our ego is pinched or because someone is not giving us the sense gratification we want, or because someone is criticizing us unnecessarily, unconstructively, then if we get angry that is material. But if someone offends a devotee or Kṛṣṇa; if we get angry that’s Kṛṣṇa conscious. So anger, we try to use it for the right reason and anger for the wrong reason, we renounce. And since Kṛṣṇa promises He will protect His devotees, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati [Bg 9.31] My devotee will never be destroyed. So why should we have any fear? Fear is the part of the material world, and fear means that we take it as a caution. But we don’t actually fear absolutely because we can depend on the mercy and protection of Kṛṣṇa. But if He tells us in our mind, that going to this place is dangerous now, we take that also as a warning by Kṛṣṇa. 

Just like now, I saw the news that in Louisiana some people were killed in Baton Rouge. So if you live on the border of Louisiana, she does, she lives in New Tālavana (which is on the border of Louisiana) in Mississippi, in Picayune, so if Kṛṣṇa warns that you should not go to Baton Rouge, maybe thats because people are shooting there. 

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Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, how to develop tolerance towards everything?

—Rādhā Śrī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Rādhā Śrī! How to develop tolerance for everything? It is very hard to tolerate the absence of Kṛṣṇa and the absence of Prabhupāda. So that is called vipralambha-bhāva or feeling separation. That is something we don’t have to tolerate. We can cry. But all these false ego things I was talking about before, we tolerate those, because we know that they are not constructive. So unless we can do something for Kṛṣṇa, we tolerate it and we don’t do it. So as we develop more attachment for Kṛṣṇa, it is easier to tolerate material things. So what we should do as a human being is learn more about Kṛṣṇa. And to develop our affection and attraction for Kṛṣṇa. And then it is very easy to tolerate all the other things.

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Quecstion: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, how do we draw the line between constructive criticism and fault finding. Even if we are clear in our mind that we are giving constructive feedback the person might not view it that way and because of that we often refrain from saying anything. What should be the right approach?

—Mathurā Lileśvarī devī dāsī, Gītā Nagarī

Jayapatākā Swami: It means… Frist of all constructive means that you are telling the person, how they can improve. But just telling the person how they are wrong it is not constructive. The rule of thumb is that we don’t tender any advice constructive, otherwise to the senior devotees. Rather [to a] senior devotee, we ask a question. But we always have a right to ask a question; and you can get your point across, even though it is put as a question. Say that somebody is a senior devotee, is not behaving the way what you think is correct, and we say that, “Prabhu, I look to you as an example to follow and you have always told us we should do like this. But I saw that you are doing like that. So there must be some reason why you are doing, so can you illuminate me?” And if the person illuminates you or if they don’t that means you caught them doing something wrong. And if they are broadminded, then they will apologize and say that, that activity is not something to follow. 

Prabhupāda once went to see Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura’s brother, and since he was the brother of his guru, he accepted him as a senior devotee, and had the good fortune of being with him at that time. He had previously discussed about developing the birthplace of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. But this time he refused. So Prabhupāda asked a question, “Isn’t it sinful, if somebody cannot develop the birthplace of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and someone who can, is not given a chance? Isn’t it sinful?” So technically that is a question, “Isn’t it sinful?” But he got the idea across. So technically even he may not have liked it, it was not an offence because he asked it as a question. So that is the principle, we should ask as a question, if someone who is senior to us. If someone is under our care, then we can offer them constructive criticism or someone is a peer, equal, depending on your relationship, you can offer a constructive criticism or you could ask a question. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

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Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, please accept my humble obeisances. If a devotee shares about what he doesn’t like about another devotee, highlights few shortcomings of the devotee, is that an offence on the part of the speaker or listener?

—Mādhurī Mamatāmayī devī dāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: It can be an offence. If it is presented in such a way that we respectfully say that this particular thing should not be followed, the devotee is otherwise is very good, but this particular habit is something that we do not follow. It is presented in a very constructive way like Prabhupāda in the 12th chapter of Ādi-līlā Cc. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta) has given the details of the Gauḍīya Maṭhas break up, and failure to maintain the instructions of the founder. So Prabhupāda gave those details to warn us, that we should not do the same thing. So some of the Gauḍīya Maṭha leaders asked us to take out the 12th chapter. But we said that we don’t have the right to take out Prabhupāda’s writings. So depending on how you do it, if it is to warn someone, not to follow this example; then it maybe alright. You see Prabhupāda was talking about his godbrothers. If one is a junior devotee is talking about someone who is very advanced or more senior; it maybe, what you call mariyāda-laṅgana, the transgression of seniority.

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Last Question.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, please accept my humble obeisances. How to tolerate pains from the body, at the same time do devotional service enthusiastically?

—Sureśvara Nimāi dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, if you can do that, it is a sign of being very advanced. Usually when we are suffering, it is hard to render devotional service enthusiastically. But some devotees are able to do so; and that depends on how grateful you are to the guru, or how you are attached to Gaurāṅga or Kṛṣṇa. Also, how bad is the material suffering you are going through? So, I want to thank all the devotees on internet, who have come tonight. Thank you!