20160408 A Talk to the SMIS students

20160408 His. Holiness. Jayapatākā Swāmi gives a talk to the SMIS students in Māyāpur. [360p]

Gurumaharaja: All his followers were seen with ecstasies. They just chanted

Haribol………………………………………..[Haribol]

Haribol………………………………………..[Haribol]

Haribol………………………………………..[Haribol]

So, after they spend some days together, they didn’t know day and night they are just talking about Krishna, they didn’t realize how many days went by. It seemed just like a moment. Then Nitāi went to Rameshwaram where he saw where Ram crossed the ocean to go to Laṅkā, and Mādhavendra Purī, he had gone to some other place. Then Lord Nityānanda went after visiting some holy places… he went to Vṛndāvana and all the forests of Vraja, and he was waiting for Lord Caitanya to manifest his glories. In the whole trip he didn’t give up the holy name, he didn’t give out mercy, he was waiting to get the order from Lord Caitanya, and then when Lord Caitanya would give the order, he would give out the mercy. So, he was waiting, “When will Lord Caitanya manifest his glories and start the sankirtan movement?” And when that would happen, he would go and meet Lord Caitanya and join him. 

The Caitanya Bhagavad says that anyone who hears Lord Nitaynanda’s visiting of the holy places, they will surely get love of Krishna…. [Haribol] 

So, that’s why this school is so important. That’s why you are so important, because being in this holy Dham it’s very easy for you to get love of Krishna and to be empowered as preachers. So, we would like to somehow see that you get a nice service, get some opportunities; and from your side if know that Kali, he wants to try to stop you from getting your love of Krishna; because one should have that extreme ecstasy, that just by seeing you people will also get affected, they will get… also be inspired. So, Kali doesn’t want that, and it’s very easy to take this material world as the permanent reality. But I met one scientist. His wife was a member of our Bhakti Vṛksha in Delhi. So, he introduces him, “O he is a scientist.” So, I said, “What is your subject of investigation?” He said, “I study pain.” 

“Umm… that’s interesting, but what have you realized?”

I have realized that suffering or pain is everywhere. There is emotional pain, physical pain, mental pain, psychological pain. All the men raised their hand. They said, “Financial pain. How to maintain a family?” So, then I said, “Why you are studying this pain?” He said, “I am financed by a pharmaceutical company. They make pain-killers. It is a billion-dollar business. People want relief from pain. I said in the Bhagavad-gītā calls this material world as a Dukhālayam… Dukhālayam asāswatam. This is a temporary world of suffering. So, we should know side by side the material world and the spiritual eternal reality. So, Kali wants us to think that there is only material world, and when you are young you think, “O I can enjoy.” But then I have been in the hospital recently, and you know there are a lot of people in the hospital from different ages; mainly middle and old age, but even children; even they have child doctors. What they call them? [Pediatricians] so, everyone in the material world they suffer disease, old age and death. They take birth again. So, this Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda came to give us the process, to give us the goal, “We should know about Krishna” and the process to reach him the Hari Nam sankirtan. So, bhakti yoga, harinām and reach Krishna. Side by side the material world and the spiritual reality. So, you are all very special children because you have this opportunity to love Caintanya, love Lord Nityananada. And so, one should… like Krishna says in the glories of the Puruṣottama month that one can have a happy, peaceful material life and go back to Goloka Vṛndāvana by the observance of the Puruṣottama month. So, like this we want to do things in a way which is pleasing Krishna, and materialistic people they don’t know how much bliss, how much fun there is in Krishna consciousness. 

Rūpa Goswami said, “How much happiness is there in two syllables, Kṛṣ na. There is no limit. So, thank you very much for being here in the Dham, try to give each other good association. Thanks to all the teachers for giving their positive association and education. If there is any question or anything I can help, tell me. 

Hare Kṛṣṇa……………………………………….. [Hare Kṛṣṇa] 

Hare Kṛṣṇa……………………………………….. [Hare Kṛṣṇa]

Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa ………………………………………..[Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa]

Hare Hare……………………………………………[Hare Hare]

Hare Rāma………………………………………….. [Hare Rāma]

Hare Rāma………………………………………….. [Hare Rāma]

Rāma Rāma…………………………………………..[Rāma Rāma]

Hare Hare ……………………………………………..[Hare Hare]

Question: How do we stop lying?

Gurumahārāja: Tell the truth. (laughter) 

You see, earth doesn’t like liars, and if you don’t do… there is… of course Sukrāchārya who is the guru of the demons… but he was trying to convince Bali that under certain circumstance you can lie, but Bali had given his word to Vamanadev. So, he didn’t want to lie to Vamanadev. Sukrāchārya was afraid that he would lose his gurudakshina if Bali kept his word to Vāmadeva. Vamanadev would come and take everything. So, Bali, he refused to lie and so Vamanadev, he expanded himself as Trivikram. He took the whole world, the whole universe in two steps, and then he asked, “Where do I put my third step?” Bali said, “Put here. I am yours.” So, then he put Bali in the Sutala, but he became his gate-keeper, and so thus Bali would be protected. And after three Manu’s he told Bali that you could be the legitimate Indra – the king of the three worlds. So, sometimes you tell the truth. Looks like it may cause some suffering, but in the end, one is better off by it. Of course, there were some devotees like in Russia when there was the Soviet Union. They didn’t exactly lie but the K.G.B asked, “Do you have books here?” they had books but somehow, they…. they somehow avoided the question. So, sometimes we may have to like say something, but if it is for Krishna, then it alright. But if it is for your sense-gratification, it’s not. So, we should be very clear with Krishna. 

Question: How can we make our Bhakti latā grow?

Gurumahārāja: How do plants grow?

They need sunlight and water and fertilizer. So, you are in a place… the audārya Dhām, the holy place of Nabadwipa. So, there is lots of spiritual fertilizer in the ground, and the sun is like the mercy of Krishna and guru, and then the water is another mercy that we get by chanting the holy names. So, naturally by being in Māyāpur, you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, by serving guru and Kṛṣṇa, naturally your Bhakti latā will grow.

Question: What is the month of Purosottama?

Gurumahārāja: That’s the month… the extra month that comes once every approximately three years. In the lunar calendar there is approximately 355 days; that’s ten days shorter than the solar calendar. So, after three years, there is about thirty days. So, one extra month is put in the calendar. That brings things in line with the solar calendar. That month is called the Purosottama month because she had no name and no protector. So, she went to Lord Krishna and said, “I am cursed.” So, he told her, “I will give you my shelter and from this day onwards you will be known as the Purosottama month.” And it is not good for material puṇya karma but is very good for spiritual sukriti. 

Do you know the difference between puṇya and sukriti? [No] You see there is puṇya and pap, good karma and bad karma. From Puṇya you get good education, money, freedom from disease, freedom from legal problems; that’s puṇya. And pap is the opposite; legal problems, bad birth, poverty, all those. So, sukriti is spiritual eternal credit. So, if you have enough sukriti you can go back to Goloka Vṛndāvana. If we have a lot of puṇya you can go to heavenly planets. But that is not enough to take you to the spiritual world. But people with lots of puṇya get a chance to serve Krishna. If they take that chance, they get sukriti. When we commit offences to the Vaiṣṇavas, to guru, to Krishna, to the Dhām; that’s called aparādha. Aparādha can destroy sukriti, but pap does not destroy sukriti. So, you have your puṇya account and your pap account. You have sukriti account and aparadh. Aparādh nullifies sukriti. So, you got to avoid aparādh. Aparādh also nullifies puṇya.

Question: What is the reaction of lying?

Gurumahārāja: It depends on what you lie, who you lied to. Say you said you will call home at three o clock and you call at 3:15. So, technically that is lie. Maybe it is not so serious. But there could be some very serious lies. Say that someone is mistreating you and your parents or teacher wants to know that someone is mistreating you and you say “No, no.” But actually, you have been abused. You should tell, otherwise how can you be protected. So, that type of lie is more serious. 

Question: What if you had material desire to pass exam?

Gurumahārāja: You see, Lord Caitanya advised us to have… to use yukta vairāgya. That means that, say the ordinary things that we do in the material world: exams, eating, marrying… use those in the service of Krishna. That… sometime people come up to me and ask for blessings. I got a letter today, “Please bless my wife that she can be cured of her cancer by taking the cameo therapy.” Now there is nothing Kṛṣṇa conscious there. But he had said, “Please cure my wife so that she can do more service, so she can live and do some service to Kṛṣṇa….” At least that is connected with Kṛṣṇa. So, like… if we pray that the spiritual master is allowed to get healthy… “Kṛṣṇa, if it so pleases you, please allow the spiritual master or parent, whatever to be healthy so that I can be guided in the rest of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We should connect the thing with Kṛṣṇa. So, if you want to do good in exams, think, “If I pass with good marks how will I use this to advance in Kṛṣṇa’s service?” That is called Yukta vairāgya. Lord Caitanya is not saying, “Don’t have these desires.” … but connect them with Kṛṣṇa. It is natural we have desires. It’s like someone wants to eat. So, you cook, you offer it to Kṛṣṇa, then you can take prasad. It is natural that someone wants to get married. So, then we may pray to Kṛṣṇa, “Please give me a Kṛṣṇa conscious compatible spouse so that I can serve you with someone that… is… will help me in my service.” So, like this being devotees we should try to connect everything with Kṛṣṇa. It’s a practical and it works. See what is the difference between sākaṁ devotee and niskām devotee. Sākaṁ devotee has desires, just worships Kṛṣṇa like a business deal, “I worship you, give me this. I offered you eleven lamps, thirteen fruits, I want now a nice car.” Rather than giving our worship to Kṛṣṇa… and if there is something that we could use in Kṛṣṇa’s service we may think that, “Kṛṣṇa, he knows what we need, but if we want we can also ask it, but then we should connect it, how I will use it in his service. So, if I do good in my exam, I can get a placement in a nice university, and then I can use that education in Kṛṣṇa’s service, I can become a teacher in the SMIS school, I can be an architect and design temples or I can be doctor in the… in a… can make a lot of money and give some donation to you, to Krishna, and I can also be doctor not only of the body but also of the soul.” So, like that we should somehow connect with what our desires are with Kṛṣṇa.

Question: How can we be not lazy and complacent?

Gurumahārāja: Interesting question. If one knows that there is an emergency, that there is flood coming… then the announced goes, “Everyone should lift all the things to the second floor because the ground floor may flood.” So, there is no time for laziness or complacency. So, like that we should see that Kali is attacking and that now you have the opportunity to build up your spiritual life. If you don’t take this time, later there will be so many other things: family, kids. Now you are maintained by your parents and you don’t have to maintain yourselves. Later you have to maintain yourselves… or yourselves. So, if you think that, “O, why trouble?” Isn’t that like being asleep? Like the ostrich put his head in the hole when the dengue dogs are coming. They go, “No dog.” But dog is there… and jumps on it. So, now it is good chance. You can build up your spiritual life. I joined when I was nineteen. I didn’t look back but I thought, “Oh, the first nineteen years of my life was a total waste. If I had only been born in a family of devotees.” When I see so many devotees, so many young people born in a family of devotees… they don’t take it so seriously. So, it is a good question. I think we should… I would like to have inputs how not to feel complacent or lazy because… I don’t… you know Prabhupāda told us, “We should think that any moment we could die and we should live each day as if this is our last day.” And I guess for young people that is a hard thing; but it is true. I know one life-member in Siliguri. His teenage son was riding on a two-wheeler and you know he was reckless like most people and he got hit by a truck and was killed instantly, and he was a young person, sixteen or seventeen. So, his father gave us a big piece of land, he was very sad, “He is my son, he died untimely.” So, we want that every devotee, every young people, whatever age they live, whether they live long time or short time, that they be ready to go back to Lord Caitanya, ready to go to Goloka Vṛndāvana. So, “How not be lazy or complacent?” that’s a good question. 

Maybe some teachers would like to say something.

Ok, associate with devotees who are enthusiastic, read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, avoid listening to the mind. The mind is always with us. Kṛṣṇa says that if the mind is controlled it would be your best friend. If it is uncontrolled it is your worst enemy. So, how many of you have your mind as your friend?......... [sometimes friend]

And how many of you have mind sometimes enemy? So, you have to reprogram your mind. That’s why you have regularly chant and read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Thank you for your very nice questions. [applause]