19950115 Meeting With Bhaktivedanta Youth Service's Boys

Lecture Code: 19950115

https://archives.jayapatakaswami.com/courses/306577/lectures/5016107

15/JAN/1995

Meeting with Bhaktivedanta Youth Services Boys by

His Holiness Jayapatākā SvāmīMahārāja

in Madras(Chennai),India

The following is a reporting of a meeting with Bhaktivedanta Youth Services Boys from January 15th 1995 byHis Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī Mahārāja in Madras(Chennai),India

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca

  sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devam

sri-radha-Kṛṣṇa-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: This kind of a study program to go side by side for those who are interested in going deeply into the philosophy, that’s also a good program. Then, I know that my….. said…Food for Life program. Sometimes some of the youth like to be involved with the Food for Life, that also gives a nice outlook. In some places they are organizing seminars or debates over a particular topic for the more intellectual type. They might discuss maybe vegetarianism or maybe spiritual yoga in the modern world or personality development or any number of themes and then they get a panel of people to discuss and have a very strong Kṛṣṇa conscious influence to that. So that way the students and the participants and all kinds of teachers themselves get inspired when they hear all these things being discussed. Because generally people have a very narrow way of looking at things and then when you discuss with a KC viewpoint then naturally their vision gets broadened. So those are some of the activities that some of the youth programs are doing. There’s lot of programs that could be done. You’ll probably get more ideas from Bhakti Purushottam Swāmī, from Bhakti Raghav Maharaj and from others who are also dealing in that area of preaching. 

One thing they are doing in Bengal is some of the students are going out to the High School and they have got a little folder, just about 1 book 1 page for sure which gives a synopsis of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s life. They get the permission from the teachers and they go and give to all the High School students and then they say that they are going to have a competition. After a week they are going to come back and take..give…take an exam after school hours. So then just after a week they have, being able to read up, then they have, give a test out. They have already the test ready and right now they are doing another program outside with the small children having, what, drawing competition. But for a little bit older, just, pre-University, they are also looking for where they are headed in life. So just taking that exam on Prabhupāda, lots of people, lot of students have got good inspiration. Now, after taking the exam on Prabhupāda, from each school the best students from that exam, they go in a district level or a little wider area, they give a slightly bigger book that’s called Yuga Acharya Srila Prabhupāda – that…Guru for the Modern Age. And that gives more details about Prabhupāda’s life, and they give to those successful students, and they take…they study that and they take another exam and then they go on to the state level. So that competition is something which…you see, in Mayapur we have lot of brahmacharis who are basically all youth. But here in Madras you don’t have that many brahmacharis in the temple but the youth services could probably help in this type of program amongst the High School kids to get them into the competition. In this way the ...Prabhupāda Tattva gets spread, and that could also be expanded both for Prabhupāda, as well as Caitanya Mahaprabhu as well as…

In Karnataka they are doing an annual Kṛṣṇa test for Janmashtami. So the whole secret of Kṛṣṇa test is that for one or two months before the test, people who know the philosophy go and give coaching classes. So all the students who want to get a good result in the exam, then they come for the coaching classes. So that time they get a lot of opportunity to hear about Kṛṣṇa and it gives a good opportunity for someone to preach. So usually the congregational members go and give these coaching classes, but it could be both young or old. Anyone who could explain a little bit about Kṛṣṇa, it gives a very good chance to give coaching classes for the High School students. Now even Christian schools in Bangalore and Mysore they’re also participating in the Kṛṣṇa test. And it’s a very heavy competition, they give a trophy for the school that wins, rolling shields, as well as medallions and book presentations. So like this, this type of competitions give other alternatives. 

Anyway, I think you are doing very nice and I wanted to thank all of you for the services you are doing and …this should also inspire you in the heart. Lot of times as you are doing something, you get an idea how to expand the service more and that is even more valuable way of developing. That’s why we wanted to hear from you because the soldiers in the front line of the preaching, they get also lot of ideas and that way it goes throughout the world.

Why doesn’t everyone come this way, we face the camera for a minute. Because they’re only seeing the back, they cannot see your effulgent faces. You can take a scan.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa! 

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: Hare Kṛṣṇa! 

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa! 

(Background noise, Youth services devotees discussing in Tamil)

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: 

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī leads the chanting and the Youth boys repeat:

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

Madras Bhaktivedanta Youth Service's ki Jai!

Madras Bhaktivedanta Youth Service's ki Jai!

Srila Prabhupāda ki Jai!

Srila Prabhupāda ki Jai!

Gaura Bhakta Ki!

Nitai Gaura Premanande, Hari Hari Bol!

Devotee: So, we are doing a service, somehow we feel like joining full time and we are facing a lot of problems with the parents, they want to …restrict what we should do, that causes a lot of disturbances in the family.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: This is a problem that sometime we are preaching in a college or university, if one student joins full-time then the parents close down the whole preaching. Also lot of times, out of enthusiasm someone likes to join full-time but, maybe they are almost ready to complete their university course. So Prabhupāda, he used to take the [Not clear : 08:15] for a year or two especially to finish, then he would encourage them to complete. It’s something that we have to deal with on an individual basis with the parents, with the youth concerned. I know one youth, one boy wanted to join full time as a preacher in the temple and the parents, they really opposed and everything and so somehow even though he didn’t join then. But then after about two years he also left the Youth Service, somehow got bad association and he started to associate with bad people and he became addicted to drugs and his whole life was spoilt. Then the parent are coming and begging us, please take my boy.

[Devotees : laughter] [Devotees :  Haribol]

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī:  But they said you know it’s not a question that…we’re.. our arms are open. But the point is even if he want to come, that…when he wanted to come you wouldn’t let him come. He was searching for something, he wasn’t satisfied. So, he was getting that from Kṛṣṇa, that would have given his life purpose. You wouldn’t let him take Kṛṣṇa, so then he went for tamas and now everything is spoilt and the parents are crying but what can we do. We can’t afford to someone who is drug addict. If he wants to come, then we don’t mind. We can rehabilitate him. But you know, people change their mind. So that way, I’ve seen all kinds of circumstances. We have to deal on a case by case situation. In some places the students find that they can do more preaching, like Madhu Pandit. He was in IIT and he could have left, but he had one more year to go. Instead he knew that a lot of the thing I’m studying, it really doesn’t matter. But I know what my career is going to be, I want to be a career devotee. So, but let me stay here and see how many devotees I can make. He made about 13 devotees in the final year - …Aishwarya Das, Jagat Chanda Das, Maha Sundar Das, lot of leaders in South India were made that year, he just gave all the effort. So and of course, Chanchalapati was going to the Institute of Science in Bangalore, he was valedictorian. Parents were very happy, he graduated, but then when he joined they were crying and everything, they thought, oh now they wanted to get a job and become, you know some Computer Programmer or this or that or something but now after some years they can appreciate that how big an institution he is running, how much valuable service he is doing for the community and society. Actually, this is something that we need to do as part of our social reformation program. People should appreciate that being a, being a preacher of religion, being a…this kind of a spiritual social worker is also a valid career. It’s not that you only have to be working as a clerk to be perfect in life. You know, there are many other occupations, this is one of the occupations. But that doesn’t mean that we’d also expect people who will go on with their normal occupation and in their part-time they will continue to help in preaching. That’s also something we expect to get a vast majority of our devotees in that program because we don’t expect there’ll be 1000s or even 100s of people in every center. That’s not practical, but we’d expect that people will be able to practice in their home. [Aside: Open the window so that…(indistinct)]. They could practice in their homes and in this way just as our Srinivasa is doing a house program and Sri..Sri…Sridhara and Ramakrishna and others. This type of program, as we said, we want to have a 100 such programs in Madras before the centennial. That way we can reach so many people. Now we do need some full time missionaries, and if somebody feels the call that this is really something I want to do, we’d like to facilitate them. This is something we’d have to deal with on a case by case basis. I think in the future, we might even find that, just like I mentioned that, in one of the classes, I think it was yesterday or day before, how the Mormons they have this program that for two years everyone becomes a missionary preacher and then they go back to College or go on to their married life. So that kind of a training is missing now and the youth, they are not getting an opportunity to taste the nectar of what it is to be very active in their spiritual life and to help other people out of their crisis, by giving them spiritual direction. So that, that would be a very wonderful training. Now when people are, many people if they go into grihasta ashram actually, they have big responsibility for their family and they may need to take a job and they may need to fulfil all those responsibilities. So, we want to see that they continue with their spiritual life through the whole phase of their grihasta ashram. We are trying to provide some services for some grihastas within the missionary full-time work of ISKCON. But not everyone will fit into those programs. So we have to see according to each individual, gradually develop programs like that for everyone. Should be a little sensitive, of course the bottom line is we don’t want to see anyone lose their spiritual life. That life and death situation if they feel, then we will take the sacrifice to make sure that someone doesn’t lose their spiritual life. But otherwise sometimes by being a little patient and by cultivating the parents or cultivating the grandparents and cultivating the other people then they can actually see that what you are doing is really for a good purpose and it is actually something that’s going to make the child happy. So, parents should see that the children are also happy and fulfilled, at the first time they are not, they are already, have so many of their own desires, they have so many images in their mind and they have to deal with all those things. So, I think because of having an active youth program so then everyone can keep an active spiritual life. It’s not like if you don’t join the temple full-time then it’s the end of everything. You can go on with the spiritual program and if someone feels that they can do and there is no, then they get the permission and everything from the concerned leaders and elders, then that is very auspicious. I know some parents, they want their children to take an active spiritual part. We’ve to deal with each case. Sometimes the parents they don’t give any facility and the only way they can practice is by actually joining an ashram. So, there’s all kinds…are all kinds of scenarios. If the parents know that if I facilitate my child in the house, if we also create that Kṛṣṇa Conscious environment, then the child won’t leave us so abruptly or anything. Then that also sometimes, we can use that as a weapon to get everyone in the house to start chanting, and when they start chanting and understanding then they also become more favorable and they can see things from a more informed viewpoint rather than just from a sentiment.

Any other question anyone has.

Devotee: What are the requirements for the acceptance of service (indistinct) because we see some of them they just do it artificially just because it is given, they don’t do it with that responsibility?

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: Well, why we do service? Anyone can say why we do service? (audience answers) very good, one reason is to please Kṛṣṇa, that we discussed in the class this morning. The pleasure of Kṛṣṇa should be the…our real happiness. When He’s happy that should be our happiness. 

Whats the other reason? To purify ourselves, we want to purify ourselves. We’ve got so many contaminations. We are identifying ourselves with the bodies we’ve got, with their mental and physical body. We’ve got so many conditionings from millions of births, so how to get purified from that. That we can do by doing Kṛṣṇa’s seva. So of course, even if someone does Kṛṣṇa’s seva without full consciousness, they still get the blessings. They still get benefit. But if they do it with a more developed consciousness, with a desire for their own upliftment and purification. Even while you are cleaning the subjis, you are also cleaning your heart. When you are sweeping the floor, you are also sweeping your…cleaning your heart, cleaning the consciousness. This is the way of purification by occupying ourselves in Kṛṣṇa’s seva. You see Kṛṣṇa’s seva is Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, by engaging ourselves in that service, that means that that time we are not doing any karma. We are actually using our body in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Now if we can bring the mind along with that, then there’ll be mind and body, so both will be engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service. So, some are doing mechanically, maybe he is thinking something else. So, only the body is being engaged. If he can also engage the mind as well, then it will be more complete. So, for us, this type of service is a type of meditation. So, they should take it as a meditation for our purification, for bringing us closer to Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa!

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: Thank you very much. Any of you want to see some of the preaching video I have, from the congregational preaching.

Devotees: (Indistinct reply) I’ll bring the video player…

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī: Yes, Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotee: Śrīla Acaryapada ki

Devotees: Jaya!

Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda ki

Devotees: Jaya!

Devotee: ISKCON Namahatta Program ki

Devotees: Jaya!

Devotee: Nitai Gaura Premanande, 

Devotees: Hari Hari Bol!

Transcribed By: Indu Latha Mataji

Transcribed On: 23-sep-2020

Proof Reading By: Amrita Padma Devi Dasi

On 09/10/2020

Proof Reading By:  Chaitanya prabhu on 02nd Dec 2020