20080509 Initiation Lecture

The following is an initiation lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 9, 2008 in Balarāmadeśa.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in this auspicious day, in this holy month of Vaiśākha, we are celebrating initiation ceremonies which are the entrance, acceptance into the guru-paramparā formally. Already informally, as under shelter, they have been connected as aspiring devotees. Now they are being formally accepted into the guru-paramparā of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda and all the previous ācāryas. So, all the devotees who already are many, are already initiated, you give your blessings to the new candidates so they can be successful in their spiritual life. Once Śrīla Prabhupāda called us all to be present and asked us in Māyāpur to give blessings to Ghanaśyāma. Ghanaśyāma was going to do book distribution behind the Iron curtain in the Soviet Union at that time we thought, “Who are we to give blessings? You are there, Śrīla Prabhupāda.”

But, Prabhupāda said that, “All the devotees are heard by Kṛṣṇa, so that every devotee also has the power to bless and he wanted the maximum blessings to go to Ghanaśyāma dāsa, so he asked everyone to give him blessings. Ghanaśyāma dāsa later became Bhakti Tīrtha Swami Mahārāja, and he has many wonderful services for ISKCON, for Śrīla Prabhupāda. So, give your blessings. Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Śrīla Prabhupāda explains here that the formal initiation processes are necessary for those who are expected to reach the stage of complete liberation. But Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī was already in that status by the grace of his father. As a young boy, he was expected to be properly dressed, but he went about naked and was uninterested in social customs. He was neglected by the general populace, and inquisitive boys and girls surrounded him as if he were a madman. He thus appeared on the scene while traveling on the earth of his own accord. So, the normal process is to reach liberation. But Śukadeva Gosvāmī, since he was already liberated, he didn’t need to go through the formalities. I think everybody here still wants to be liberated. If you are already liberated, you don’t need a spiritual master. Even then, Śukadeva Gosvāmī was taught by his father Vyāsadeva and taught by Kṛṣṇa.

Someone not taking initiation, this means they may think they are already liberated. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam text thirty-eight, chapter five, canto one, it explains that the transcendental form of eternal bliss and knowledge can be experienced by original spiritual senses, which can be revived by chanting of the holy mantras or transcendental sound representations. Such sound should be received from the transparent agency of the bona-fide spiritual master. And the chanting may be practiced under the direction of the spiritual master, that will gradually lead us near to the Lord.

The method of worship is recommended in the pāñcarātrika system, which is both recognized and authorized. The pāñcarātrika system has the most authorized codes for transcendental devotional service. Without the help of such codes, one cannot approach the Lord, certainly not by dry philosophical speculation. The pāñcarātrika system is both practical and suitable for this age of quarrel. The Pāñcarātra is more important than the Vedānta for this modern age. So, some of our devotees here are taking the second initiation, that is the pāñcarātrika system. You see, it is essential if we want to approach the Lord more or less. An introduction to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam page no. 13–14) explains about the pastime of the deliverance of Jagāi and Mādhāi.

There are a number of instructive points to be observed in this incident of the two brothers. In this Kali-yuga, practically all the people are from the quality of Jagāi and Mādhāi. If they want to be delivered, relieved from the reactions of their misdeeds, they must take shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and, after spiritual initiation, thus refrain from those things which are prohibited in the śāstra. The prohibitory rules are dealt with in the Lord’s teachings to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, so that we get the deliverance by accepting the vows and the restrictions. We accept a spiritual master. Even Lord Kṛṣṇa, He took a spiritual master — who was Kṛṣṇa’s guru? Sāndīpani Muni at Ujjain. The disciplic succession is followed by the spiritual master. That is why we respect him as the representative of Vyāsadeva.

The conditioned souls are reclaimed by the Lord in two ways. One is by the process of punishment by the external energy of the Lord and by Himself as the spiritual master within and without. Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself is the Supersoul, or Paramātmā becomes the spiritual master or caitya-guru and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shapes of the scripture, saints, and the initiating spiritual master. This is still more explicitly explained in the next śloka: sādhu, śāstra and guru. So by taking initiation, you now will have an initiating spiritual master. So, like this, Vyāsadeva gave us the śāstras so we can understand about Kṛṣṇa, the lives of great saints that guide us to follow in their footsteps, and the spiritual master clarifies things when there seems to be contradiction and gives us spiritual guidance. This is the system.

There are many devotees that are guiding us — counselors, śikṣā-gurus, guides, spiritual authorities. We should be grateful to them because they also are very much responsible for helping us. Although we accept our dīkṣā-guru as the primary spiritual authority or guide, but at the same time we respect the others who are helping him, who are guiding us in how to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. So, in the human form of life, we are meant to go back to Godhead, and we take initiation so we can get liberated. If one has a spiritual master, he is considered to be protected, they are sanātha, with a protector. If they don’t have a spiritual master, then they are considered like anātha, no protector. So, in this way everybody needs a spiritual protector.

Once you are connected to disciplic succession, then Prabhupāda said, the secret of success is to serve not only your own guru, but the previous ācāryas and to do the things that they want us to do to please them. So Prabhupāda, whatever he did, he tried to do in order to please his spiritual master and the previous ācāryas. We can also follow in his footsteps and try to please Śrīla Prabhupāda and the previous ācāryas. Taking initiation here in Balarāmadeśa, you are getting a lot of support, a lot of good association but when you go back to your homeland, you have to also maintain; you may not have as good association. Many people have different standards, different sampradāyas, different ideas. But to be initiated means you accept the sādhu, śāstra and guru.

One time there was someone who was talking to Prabhupāda and saying in a class, giving him a talk, giving him a lecture, “You should do like this, do like that.” Prabhupāda said, “I don’t have to listen to you. You are not my guru.” So when somebody tells you conflicting things, tries to change your priorities, you don’t have to listen. How you want to deal with it, that is according to your etiquette, social customs. But the ultimate thing is you should listen to your guru, the scriptures, the previous ācāryas, and the sādhus. Not that we get bewildered because somebody says something. Many material relatives always think devotees are too religious, that they should wait till they are about ready to die. Just when the last breath comes, then they should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa (laughter), something like that.

They don’t understand that serving Kṛṣṇa — Lord Caitanya taught us — is a great blissful activity, sat-cid-ānanda — the sense gratification on it’s own is very dry. But if we use all of our activities in Kṛṣṇa’s service, then we become happier. We hope that you can turn around your relatives and your friends and not get turned around by them. (laughter)

So today we have the four levels, right? Blessings to aspirants, shelter blessings, first initiations and second initiations. No fifth stage. So, the first aspiring means they are not fully ready to take shelter. They are aspiring to take shelter or guru-āśraya and initiation in the future. So, they get a blessing to be accepted aspiring disciples. And those who are taking shelter, a dress rehearsal, a trial practice, just like being an initiated devotee. But there are no vows, there are no offenses, trying to practice the best they can.

Then those who took shelter in our experience, now they see they can do it. They see they feel blissful by practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then they take first initiation and then the second initiation, for those who have been initiated for some time and who have demonstrated some maturity in their devotional service, they can take the second. Prabhupāda said we should be very strict for the second, a little lenient for the first. (laughter) Didn’t really check all the fine print. For the second, but they seem to have done well in their tests for the most part. But they have to be more careful. They should be more strict. Because when you take second initiation, the reactions also come back more heavily. First initiation is like a newborn baby.

Prabhupāda used to say, if a newborn baby makes a mess in the mother’s lap, the father’s lap, it is not unexpected. They are going to make some mistake. But the second initiation is like a 12-year-old boy — for example’s sake. If he were to make a mess like that on the mother’s lap, it would be a serious problem. They are expected to act more responsibly. It is not a status symbol. It is a responsibility, an opportunity to do more service. So, you also have to chant seven mantras, ten times, three times a day. That is 210 extra mantras. So in case after reflecting, you don’t know if you can chant these extra mantras and take the extra responsibility, this is the last chance to run out from here. (laughter) You can walk out. (laughter)

Who is here for the second initiation? And who is here for the first? So, the ones for the first are also determined. You want to go forward. How many want to go forward? If you don’t, there is also a chance to back out. I close my eyes. I give you – ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. How many went? All right then. We go forward now with all the ceremonies. Priest, everything is ready? The devotees have taken their purification mantras, chanted the Brahma-saṁhitā, heard the ten offenses, installed the maṅgala-ghaṭa. Not installed yet? You can do that at any time while then. [Aside: I need the ācamana.] [audio abruptly ends]