20200106 Evening Darśana

The following is the evening class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 6^th, 2020 at New Panihati Dham, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpāṁ tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī-caitanya-īśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Question: Please accept my respectful obeisances. 

Jayapātākā Swami: Accepted. 

Question: You have the desire to do western preaching, we have tried with University of Minnesota, it somehow did not take off. How do we do that? 

Jayapātākā Swami: Find out who is expert in western university preaching. And consult them what system they use. Usually, the westerners have difficulty with Sanskrit. You need to present things in a very simple way in a language they can understand. But usually the westerners like prasāda, as everybody does! So if you give prasāda out at the end of the program, you will find that people come! But others, tips, I preach mainly preach to Indians, to Indian students in India. So those who are, Kālāsudha or Deva Mādhava, they are expert in western preaching, they can give you some tips. you can consult with them, and those who are expert in college preaching.

Question: Guru Mahārāja 

Jayapātākā Swami: yes! 

Question: Daṇḍavat, just by saying Gaurāṅga, one will be delivered from more sins than one can commit. Please help us understand this. Your spiritual son, Sarvajaya Mādhava dāsa. 

Jayapātākā Swami: You see, the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is non-different from Kṛṣṇa Himself. So if one chants the holy name offenselessly, there is no limit to how much sin can be nullified. And Lord Caitanya is the most merciful form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But if one commits an offence like sinning on the strength of chanting, then it will not have an effect. If one thinks I can do some sin, later I will chant and get rid of the sin, they kind of cheat Kṛṣṇa, it won’t work! 

Question: How can we bring our friends in māyā into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without losing their goodwill? Thank you Guru Mahārāja. Your spiritual daughter, Surabhi.

Jayapātākā Swami: If you bring your friend into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, why would you lose your friend’s goodwill? Won’t your friend appreciate? If you try to bring your friend in and fail, then it may have a different result. But that is why it is not an easy thing to make a devotee. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “it takes Buckets of blood! ha! ha! ha! To make one devotee!” So if your friend is a real friend, then you can figure out some way to share with your friend something about Kṛṣṇa. 

Question: Guru Mahārāja 

Jayapātākā Swami: Yes. 

Question: Is wearing a black dress, shirt, jacket, not good and why? 

Jayapātākā Swami: In the Nectar of Devotion, there are certain sevā-aparādhas. So, wearing certain cloth in front of the deities is offensive. As far as I remember, red, black is offensive. But someone can refer to the sevā-aparādhas mentioned in the Nectar of Devotion. Black is generally considered in the mode of ignorance and red is in the mode of passion. So somehow red and black are not recommended. But you can read the Nectar of Devotion about the different sevā-aparādhas like, when your feet are towards the deities, when you talk prajalpa in front of the deities. It doesn’t say using your mobile phone! But if you are speaking prajalpa on your mobile phone, it will count! If you are telling someone, I am in front of Kṛṣṇa, He is so beautiful, oh Kṛṣṇa is wonderful! I feel so fortunate to be in front of Kṛṣṇa. Then you may be excused!

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa gurudev! 

Jayapātākā Swami: Hare Kṛṣṇa! 

Question: Sometimes I feel like chanting becomes a burden. You always share how the bliss experienced from chanting is endless. When does chanting change from being a burden? 

Jayapātākā Swami: If you are committing a lot of offenses then the chanting may be somewhat of a burden. And when you chant offenselessly, or you are clearing your offences away, then you start to taste different degrees of bliss. You don’t believe me? Ha! So, if we can, someone told me I don’t feel bliss. I said, how long have you been chanting? Since yesterday! How much do you chant? I chant twice, I don’t feel any ecstasy! So I don’t know, how many times you have been chanting? How long you have been chanting? How many offenses you are doing? Obviously it takes more than two days, or twice to get taste in chanting. You have to chant and keep on chanting. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, it took him twenty years to achieve perfection. Normally it takes many, many births to achieve liberation, by any other process. bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate – after many, many births, one who is knowledgeable, he surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. But by following the process of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then the whole thing can happen much faster! And you can get a taste. I once saw there was a mother and father, they came to see their son in Montreal. And they put their arms around their son and talking to him. And they caught him and said, Come with us, leave this place! Pulled him! He grabbed the handle of the doorway, the parents were pulling his feet and he was pulling the handle. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, he has developed attachment! Ha! Ha! Normally, if the parents call like, you would surrender, but he did not want to leave! The child would succumb but he had developed a lot of attachment. Similarly, I was one time solicited to play a devotee in a TV show. It was a fairly easy role for me. At that time, they agreed to pay me something like 245 dollars or something. So it was a show where the village leader, he and a band of psychologists, three people, I forgot who, they heard out a dispute and gave their verdict. So the father wanted to give me a bicycle or something. But he decided not to do it because he was afraid, I would use it for Kṛṣṇa. And then so, there was this debate where I had to say why he should give it and he tried to explain, why he shouldn’t give it! So after we both presented our part, they had a commercial break! The panel, they started talking amongst themselves. He really believes in what he thinks; I mean he really believes! One of them said, I don’t believe in anything in my whole life, how would you like to believe in something? What would it be like to have belief in something? So, that was an eye opener for me. Of course they were actors but, they didn’t believe in anything! Anyway, I won the argument! [Haribol] Next question.

Question: How do I know the Absolute Truth? Kṛṣṇa says, learn the truth from someone who has seen the truth. 

Jayapātākā Swami: There are three ways to know the truth. Śāstra, sādhu and guru. So, one thing is the śāstra says, what is the Absolute Truth. A guru confirms and explains what the śāstra says. The sādhus live by the śāstra, and they give their personal example. So, through this triple check – sādhu, śāstra, guru – we can understand the Absolute Truth. One can, you see the guru, he may have seen the Absolute Truth through the teachings of his guru, that is the guru-paramparā. And the guru may also, by following the teachings of his guru, he may have realized the Absolute Truth. So you should have a guru who is dependable, who has understood the Absolute Truth. One who has realized the Absolute Truth. So we have sādhus like Prahlāda Mahārāja and Dhruva and others who teach by their examples. So that is also considered as a type of evidence or pramāṇa. Next question. 

Question: How does one conquer fear of a subtle entity that is attacking and also deal with the bodily stress, anxiety caused by them? 

Jayapātākā Swami: Sometimes when one is sleeping or they don’t wash themselves before taking rest, and they feel like choked up by a subtle entity. But if they wash their feet and hands before resting, and if they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or some mantras before resting, or when they chant while being attacked, then usually the subtle entities, they cannot withstand the mantras. Hare Kṛṣṇa! How many more questions?

Question: How to develop pure love for Kṛṣṇa? 

Jayapātākā Swami: What are we here for? Ha! The whole process of bhakti-yoga is to develop pure love of Kṛṣṇa! It is a gradual process. We go step by step. There are different ways explained. In one way, it is explained that there are eight steps. First step, śraddhā, then sat-saṅga, first faith, just listen. Then next step is association with devotees. sādhu-saṅga. Then bhajana-kriyā, start to practice the japa and different processes of bhakti-yoga. Usually at this stage, one takes shelter of a guru. Maybe initiation. Then anartha-nivṛtti, one gets rid of the unwanted habits. Then one achieves niṣṭhāwhich is very fixed devotional service. And then after niṣṭhā comes ruci or taste. One may have glimpses of ruci before, but at the stage of ruci one consistently having taste. And then one becomes very attached to that transcendental bliss. So that is the level of āsakti. From there one reaches the level of ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. That is called bhāva. And then from the stage of bhāva, one reaches prema, which is pure love. That is especially by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa or Lord Caitanya. That is one way it is explained, step by step. Another way is three steps. The path of rules and regulations which has two sub steps. Then there is ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa, which has four levels. And then pure love of Kṛṣṇa, which has many levels. So, this whole process of bhakti-yoga or Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to gradually take you to pure love. But we can reach systematically up to the level of ecstatic love. But to reach pure love, we need special mercy. 

Question: Part 2. 

Jayapātākā Swami: Part 2. 

Question: Preaching is very dear to you. 

Jayapātākā Swami: yes. 

Question: That means it is very dear to Śrīla Prabhupāda and Kṛṣṇa. 

Jayapātākā Swami: yes. 

Question: Then why do we get obstacles in preaching? 

Jayapātākā Swami: yes. 

Jayapātākā Swami: That is fine. Why do you think that if something is dear to Kṛṣṇa, you will have no obstacles? You are in kali-yuga, in the material world, anything dear to Kṛṣṇa, there will be more obstacles. But if you tolerate those obstacles and engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then how much more dear you are to Kṛṣṇa?! When they give, like the President of the United States or top generals, give some award or some medal to the soldiers who take extreme risk and save, do some miraculous thing. So if you take some difficulty and tolerate it and try to please Kṛṣṇa, then He will be more grateful to you! So it is a special opportunity! We should be thankful that Kṛṣṇa is giving us these obstacles to prove that we are dedicate to Him! I mean, He may give or may be given by Māyā. And so, Māyā is in charge of this prison house. So she wants to test, to make sure you are ready to leave! And if you are not, she may give, a test may be dangle of fruit before you, or different kinds of tests. So, look at the tests that Prahlāda went through, or Dhruva went through. See those tests. We get relatively light tests! Anyway, Prahlāda was thrown down mountains, put in snake pits, horrible things! But he survived all those! Usually the obstacles we have are not so difficult. But we try to do Kṛṣṇa’s service, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s service, in spite of whatever difficulties there are. And then we naturally develop more of a taste for serving Kṛṣṇa. 

Thank you very much for your questions and for your being here and hope you have a safe journey home, or wherever you are going. Flying, driving, whatever, walking! Ha! Okay!