20200628 Zoom Session with Japanese devotees

20200628 Jayapatākā Swami Guru Maharaj, Zoom Address to Devotees in Japan, Śrī Māyāpur Dham, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Īśvaram

Very happy to see all the devotees from Japan. Since I had a stroke in 2008, I haven’t been able to visit Japan. I sometimes transited Tokyo but there was never time to visit. So, recently due to this corona virus lockdown in India, I have been visiting different devotees by Zoom. I went to New Zealand, Australia, Europe, America, South America.

So, I said I would like to visit Japan, and the devotees there, I have many who visit, and the devotees there are doing great service. So, I am glad that I could come now and see all of you! I give a class every evening on the Caitanya pastimes. I combine all the books on Caitanya līlā. Unfortunately, although it is at 6.30 pm at night, it seems to be a bit late in Japan. I don’t know if you are able to attend.

So, it is like last night we read how one of the tailors of Śrīvāsa, he was a drunkard, and a meat-eater, a very fallen soul. But he came to the house of Śrīvāsa to sew some of his clothes. He saw Lord Caitanya dancing and then he was watching, it was so beautiful to see Lord Caitanya dancing. And then Lord Caitanya showed Him, His form as Kṛṣṇa. And the tailor became filled with ecstatic love. He jumped up and he started saying, I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE SEEN! And he started chanting and dancing in ecstasy.  He had so much happiness in chanting, he left all his bad habits, he gave up drinking, he gave up meat-eating. He was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, and dancing in ecstasy. He changed his whole life, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

So, like this Lord Caitanya, He gave out His mercy without considering who is qualified, who is unqualified. So, when I heard this pastime, I got some hope that although I am very fallen, by Lord Caitanya’s mercy, He can deliver anyone. So, by Lord Caitanya’s mercy, He will be able to deliver all the people in Japan. There is no doubt about this. Lord Caitanya has unlimited mercy.

 But now the world is under grips of this corona virus pandemic. And they are giving different prescriptions like wearing a mask, washing your hands, maintaining social distancing. But, no one is saying to pray or chant the name of the Lord.

Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned that because we break the laws of nature, the laws of God, therefore, there are sometimes pandemics, famines, wars, cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons. Even earth quakes. We should understand that this place, this material world is not our natural place. We should go back to the spiritual world. We should go back to the spiritual world. We should go to Kṛṣṇa loka, Vaikuṇṭha. So, people should also chant the holy names. Sintho religion apparently comes from Sanātana dharma. Lord Buddha Himself is an avatar.

But Śrīla Prabhupāda said if someone wants to chant the name of God mentioned in the Bible or Quran, they could also do that. Somehow or another, everyone should chant the holy names, and transfer themselves back to the spiritual world, please the Lord. The highest prayer is to chant the holy name. I don’t know what is the situation in Japan. In other places, people are more receptive, they are more eager to understand Bhagavad-gītā and spiritual subject matters. Recently in South India, they had a program, easy Bhagavad-gītā. They expected may be a 100 new people would enroll, but do you know how many people enrolled? 9,000. There was so much eagerness to know Bhagavad-gītā.

So, we hope that in Japan also, people want to find out about spiritual life. And you can use this opportunity to preach over the internet. I think that in Japan you are not having a lockdown, I don’t know. But this time people need to learn to practice bhakti yoga. And you have the secret of bhakti yoga with you. If you are practicing austerities, penances, sacrifices but not bhakti then it will not be successful. We have to try to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. And that is only possible by the process of bhakti. Some of the Japanese devotees have come to Māyāpur, we are very grateful that you came, and we have one festival of the disappearance day of Mādhavendra Purī. We go to Śāntipura and distribute prasādam.

Kavicandra Swami was one of the main people who would collect and sponsor this festival. So, Lord Caitanya said, that whoever takes prasādam at this place, on this day, he will get bhakti for Govinda!

How rare and how wonderful it is to have bhakti!

Kṛṣṇa can give material benediction, liberation into the impersonal brahman, but to give bhakti, He is Himself committed. Bhakti is a very rare thing. And just by taking prasādam in Śāntipura, on the Govinda Dvādaśī, the disappearance day of Mādhavendra Purī, Lord Caitanya said you get bhakti for Govinda. By Lord Caitanya’s mercy, one can get this bhakti yoga. So, we hope that all of you will get the mercy of Lord Nitāi Gaura, and have bhakti. I heard that many of you have questions already collected.

So, I will try to answer some of your questions. I am speaking to you here from Māyāpur dhāma! Is that the temple?

I love all the devotees of Japan very much! And somehow, I have not been able to visit, so I thought let me visit by Zoom.

 Devotee: To please Kṛṣṇa we must please guru maharaj, so how can we please guru maharaj you?

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: This is the secret of bhakti to preach Kṛṣṇa. I am very pleased by devotees practicing their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, chanting their 16 rounds minimum and following the regulative principles, and doing some devotional service for the temple, distributing books or doing congregational preaching, or helping me in some way to fulfill the mission of Śrīla Prabhupāda. I am quite a simple person and it doesn’t take much to please me! If you can help other people to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, I will be very pleased! If you can keep yourself Kṛṣṇa conscious, that will also please me. But if you help others, that will please me more. So, it is a team effort. Some people worship the deity, some people give class, some people cook prasādam, some people serve prasādam. I still remember nice prasādam in Tokyo! I am used to eat with chopsticks, now my right hand is affected by a stroke. Anyway, these things come to mind. Last time I was there, you were delivering milk. And you were giving milk in the temple and serving in the temple in the afternoon. I don’t know what you are doing now. All those who are interested they can write me, tell me what they are doing.

Next question.

 Devotee: Hare Kṛṣṇa PAMRO. From LA. How do I preach to people who are already have their own tradition like Buddhism, Shintoism, because when I talk to my mother, she is really understanding of me but she doesn’t really get deeper from that, of course she understands what I am doing, and she likes the photos of Rukmiṇī Dwarakadish and everything but I find it sometimes hard to preach to her, because she already has her own belief in Shintoism and Buddhism?

So, I was wondering how to preach to people like that, I think there are a lot of people like that in Japan?

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: I understand. You know, I am part of the World Hindu Federation and some delegates from Japan came on behalf of the Sintu religion and said they were part of the Vedic tradition. I think it helps to know the tradition, to know the Vedas, and then one can present the things. I know a little about Buddhism, because I used to practice Buddhism before I became a devotee. So then, in Buddhism, they practice vipasana. Vipasana means meditation. I was talking to the Sankarat in Thailand the top Buddhist. He said, that chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa was alright for the Buddhists. They don’t particularly think that one mantra is better than another, but one should meditate on some mantra. But actually, if a Buddhist chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, they can experience a higher bliss. There is nothing against Buddhism to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, if you know a little bit about the religion then you can also preach to them. I was once at the border of Arangapatit and all the refugees came from Cambodia. They had been persecuted by the Pol Pot regime. So, I went there to the camp and they had a Buddhist camp, so they were very nice. They greeted me and said, you are the Buddha to me, that was how they would greet fellow monks! And I told them about the vipasana, the meditation of chanting the holy names. And they asked me, could I demonstrate?

I said alright. Then I was chanting and they were all watching. I said, this is not a spectators’ sport! Everyone needs to chant with me. I had 3,500 Buddhists all chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa with me. At that time there were two leaders who wanted to speak about distributing prasādam at one time Rupnagar and they were surprised to see 500 Buddhists, all chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! Just that people have a tradition, if you know about their tradition, I don’t know much about Shintoism, but Buddhism, that’s no problem!

You know what Buddhism is, you know what Kṛṣṇa consciousness is, you can bridge the gap. What is your name?

Madurika!

Nice to meet you! Sitting with you is my disciple, Bhagavatkrpa das. Thank you Madurika!

 Question: Not audible.

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: Gaṅgā devī dāsī.   That your name? The Upadeśāmṛta says we should avoid association with non-devotees, and it also recommends we should have the association of devotees. So, if you live far away from the devotees, that is difficult situation. If you live too close with the non-devotees, you may get distracted. I don’t know if there are any devotees nearby you. But now there is the possibility of the internet to associate with devotees, like the last person I talked to was in Los Angeles.

So, using this internet, we can contact, we can see and talk to devotees anywhere in the world. You can see the Māyāpur maṅgala ārati, it is 4.30 am in India, what time will it be in Japan? 3-4 hours difference. So maybe like 8 o clock in Japan. Somehow, you should always remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget Him. By reading, by listening to classes, by seeing the different spiritual programs. Los Angeles temple also has their programs broadcasted. Somewhere there is maṅgala ārati going on all the time.

So, one way to keep yourself Kṛṣṇa conscious is to have regular spiritual programs. You have deities in your house?

Can you show me your deities, Gaṅgā devī?

In Los Angeles it must be like midnight now. How many more questions?

Can I see your deities Gaṅgā devī?

You have nice pictures on your wall. You have deities? You have an altar? Are They awake or they sleeping?

Are there more questions?

 Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa maharaj, PAMHO. I have a daughter who is 9 years old and I am running a company. I have lot of things to do service. Sometimes my daughter gets angry. As a grihasta how to make balance between grihasta life and services?

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: Ānanda mūrti devī dāsī. You seem to be doing a lot of sevā. You are managing a restaurant, you are doing some translation work, at the same time you have a daughter. You said your daughter is 9 years old. Somehow you have to give some quality time to your daughter. 9 years old means that probably she goes to school. When she comes back from school, you or your husband can give some time to your daughter. Also taking care of your daughter, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, that is also a devotional service.

Śrīla Prabhupāda said they are Vaikuṇṭha kids that have been sent to you to make them Kṛṣṇa conscious! To be born in the family of devotees is the highest birth! So somehow you have to do the time management. Give some time to your daughter, at the same time give time to your other services. Since your daughter probably goes to school, at that time you can do some other things. But the daughter should know that she has some dedicated time.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he had to work as a judge, as a magistrate. But he gave two hours a day to his family. And he was writing books, preaching, chanting his japa. But he gave time every day for his family. So somehow you have to balance out, you have to take care of your daughter as one of your services. If she becomes a devotee, that would be to your credit. She should not say that because, my mother was a devotee, she did not take care of me. It seems you are doing a lot of service.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: Kairava devī dāsī. Please accept my blessings. Krsner matir astu. Mahavisnu Swami is my sannyāsī disciple. We work together in Nepal and different places. Tell me what is your question?

 Devotee: When we preaching how do we count people? What should we not do and how should we preach? Please tell us.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: You see, Lord Caitanya, He was always very eloquent, very careful when He spoke. So, He would speak very respectfully, even Keshava Kashmiri, the Digvijay, the great pandit, he was speaking to Lord Caitanya in a negative way. He said I heard about You, Nimāi Pandit, you are a teacher of grammar to the kids. He was portraying Lord Caitanya very small. But Lord Caitanya He kept talking, that I heard you are a great pandit. Could you please compose verses on the Gaṅgā?

Keshava Kashmiri he began to compose Sanskrit verses on the Ganges. One after another, after another, after another, a hundred verses. Two hours he went on, bom bom bom! Lord Caitanya praised him, and said you are the greatest pandit. Who has such ability like you! Could you tell me what are the good aspects and defects in your poetry? Me, defects! MY POETRY HAS NO DEFECTS! Lord Caitanya, He said, please tell me the good and the bad in your poetry. Can you give me an example, Keshava Kashmiri said.

Lord Caitanya said, in your verse 57, you said the following and He quoted the verse word by word as it was. He was surprised, how do you know? I quoted all the verses so quickly, how did You memorize? Lord Caitanya said, just as God has blessed you with a great ability to compile poetry, He has blessed Me with a memory. Anyway, the pastime was on. You see, although Keshava Kashmiri was speaking very roughly to Lord Caitanya, Lord Caitanya was talking to him very respectfully and defeating him, HA! HA! But with great respect! Ha! Ha! Anyway, when you preach, you want to speak nicely to people. Even if they speak in a rough way. I met one person and he started yelling at me. He said, I don’t believe in any of this, you people are cheaters. And he went on and on and on, saying negative things. I said no sir, we are actually doing good work. I showed him pictures, we are feed the poor, we are doing this and that service. Then that man said, I was just testing you. I thought I would bully you out and you would leave. But you are still here! Tell me how much donation should I give you! Ha! So, when you preach, you have to keep your intelligence and always be very respectful. Lord Caitanya said offer respect to others, but don’t expect any respect for yourself. So, I will try to answer questions more quickly.

Devotee: Is it appropriate for ISKCON devotees to charge money from audience by teaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy and kīrtana, and maintain their household life from that income. I am asking this because usually we do everything free in the temple but when some new people meet devotees, who charge money for teaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy and kīrtan, the new people get confused thinking that maybe they are going after money.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: Generally, we give classes in the temple free of charge. I am trying to think. Sometimes like for instance in Vṛndāvana or Māyāpur, they teach Bhakti Śāstrī or Bhakti Vaibhava. So, they charge something. But you take the course and it is understood that they are charging something. There is a teacher, for three months, he has dedicated himself to teach you. So, if there is a particular special course, they are offering a certain degree, diploma or something, then they may charge it but then people know that this course is long, I have to pay this much and I will get this degree. Unless some people think that these degrees should be given for free. Then someone should finance the teachers. Normally if we are giving class or something, we don’t charge unless there is some program to get some degree.

Alright?

So, if I can visit the devotees. Very nice temple room. Here I am seeing various devotees. Yogeswara, he is a bit low in hearing.