20160525 Initiation Class Home of Sarvajaya

20160525 Initiation Class Home of Sarvajaya Dallas

Mukam karoti vacalam

Pangum langhyate girim

Yat kripa tamaham vande sri gurum dina tarinam

Paramananda madhavan

Sri Chaitanya ishvaram

Hari Om Tat Sat

Hari bol

Hari bol (everyone)

So on this very special occasion we would like to offer our best respects and regards and respects to Nityananda Prabhu and to all the namhatta devotees and the bhaktivriskha devotees present. All the well-wishers and friends who are present today. We are having a special ceremony of initiation, of being initiated to the disciplic succession and this is a very momentous and important occasion.
People have been practicing for many years, some 20 years, some 12 years, some two or three years, and that’s all been a practice.

Now taking the vows, and accepting the spiritual master in the disciplic succession is very  a big commitment. You have heard and read about chanting the holy name and the importance of initiation from his grace Nityananda Prabhu. We call the initiation as the spiritual birth and after the initiation the real growth, spiritual growth begins. And there are many unwanted things that we want to get purified from and also the illusory energy tests us because if we practice properly we can get out of this material bondage in one birth.

In the other yoga some people like to practice, like jnana yoga, asthanga hata yoga. We are practicing bhakti yoga. Jnana yogi’s sometimes known as the jnanis. Sankaracharya who is the principle guru of the jnana yogis, he said that to get liberation one has to be a sanyasi and in the Bhagavat Gita it is described, “bahunam janmanam ante jnavan mam prapadyante. By the process of jnana yoga after many many births one can understand me.”

So we want to directly give the understanding of Krishna, and so as a grihastha one can achieve success in one birth but illusory energy wants to text you.

“You want to go back in one birth, I will see you ! I will send you enjoyments, I will send you suffering, and I will see whether you are really fixed or not.”

But this are not worry to devotees because take shelter in Krishna, and because of this Krishna tells that , “Those who take shelter of me, I cross them over this material test.”

Daivi hi isa guna mayi

Mama maya durataya

Mam eva hi prapadyante

Mayam itam taranit te

So that this material energy is one of my potency. Those who surrender to me I cross them over this. So you only wonder why doesn’t everyone cross over because it is Krishna’s divine energy. Unless you surrender to Krishna you can’t do it. You try but the illusion is so great. Markayanda Rishi, he asked Krsihna, “I like to understand you illusion energy.”

He asked Krisna, “I like to understand you illusory energy.” If you personally saw Krishna is that what you would ask for, but some rishis have the desire to know, but it’s actually better to want Krishna Prema.

“So you want to know how this material energy works.” So Krishna smiled. “Whatever you want, that’s what you get.” (applause)

So his ashram filled up with water, it filled up even though he was in the Himalaya’s, and the whole world filled up with water. Very soon there was water everywhere, and he was barely keeping afloat and then all kinds of sea- animals were biting him and he was feeling great distress, then he saw Krishna floating on a big banyan leaf. He was sucking his toe. So my devotees say that my toe is sweet, it’s true that they are sweet, then he floated off. (laugh)

Then bhoom, he was back in his ashram in the himalayas mountains. So I don’t know what he learned (laugh) but… what do you want?

So Lord Caitanya, he is Krishna, he came 500 years ago because Krishna was worried that I enjoyed my pastimes in Vrindavan and Dwaraka, but how about those who didn’t get into this pastimes.

Everywhere people worship me with fear and respect. Actually to enjoy my sweetness be part of the Vraja pastimes, one of the intimate pastimes. So for that reason, for one of the reason he came again as Lord Caitanya and he took the disguised mood of his own devotee.

So it’s said that when he was a  small boy, with …16.00… three-four years old, he would go begging his blanket, and he pulled up the chaddar of his elder brother and told that, “Mother is calling you, it’s time for your lunch”, his mother was sitting in the class of Advaita Acharya and everybody was drawn to look over this young boy and the whole class …16.45-50… and so later in the purport it is said that just like the parents, the dearest thing they have is the child, but if the child leaves the body, in other word what we are saying death, then the child is put into the funeral or taken to the crematorium. Without the soul the body is not attractive anymore and everybody laments, “He is gone, he is gone.”

So like that the soul of our body is our self. The soul of all the souls is the supreme Lord. So when the Lord actually comes and he is actually present, he is all attractive, that’s why one of his names is Krishna, Krishna is all attractive, reservoir of pleasure. So just like little Caitanya, He was so attractive that everybody became speechless, focussed to see him. Why they were attracted, how many little children were running around, but everybody was attracted by this, everyone was attracted by Lord Caitanya’s presence.

How fortunate people were who could participate in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. When Sukadev Goswami was telling the pastimes of Lord Caitanya there was a place called           Madhyadwip in Nabadwip Dham. Then Lord Siva heard the pastimes of Lord Caitanya  being told by Sukhadev Goswami. He jumped on Nandi Prabhu, “Hurry up prabhu! Go, Go!” , Nandi was a bull, not so fast.

Then he went by Satyaloka, “Brahma, can I borrow your swan? I want to go now, I want to hear the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.”

So Brahma said, “Alright, let’s return him.”

He jumped up on the swan and Lord Brahma looked down on the Nabadwip dham and all of the rishis stood up and saw the swan of Brahma, said, “O brahma is coming.”, and when it landed Lord Siva came out. (laught).

So this deity of Lord Siva and the Swan called the Hamsa-Vahana, that deity is still worshipped today, and Lord Brahma after he had stolen the cows of the cowheard boy and after one year he was defeated and humbled by Lord Krishna.  So he went to Nabadwip Dham and meditated on Lord Caitanya, chanting the holy names, “Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga!”, and then Lord Caitanya appeared to Lord Brahma and he asked why are you calling me, and then he said, “already half of my life is over, I have committed so many offences, I want to… I heard you are coming in this Kaliyuga and I want to be present as one of your associates and I want to be forgiven for all my offences and so that I don’t commit any more offence and that pure love of Krishna is awakened in the heart.” So Lord Gauranga said, “Tathasthu, so by it, you will come but you will be born in a non-Hindu family, this will teach you humility and you will chant everyday 300,000 names of Krishna, and you will be known as the namacharya, spiritual master of the holy name. You will be my associate, you will be knows as Haridas. So get ready in a …24.05…5000 years nothing for Brahma” (laugh)

So then Parvati, she one day saw her husband chanting “Gauranga, Gauranga, Gauranga”, and she asked him what this was this chanting. He told him the glories of Lord Gauranga. I want to see him, how can I see him, he is eternally existing in Nabadwip dham. So then she went to Nabadwip dham, she started to chant, “Gauranga, Gauranga, Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga!”

So Lord Gauranga appeared to Parvati and said, “why are you calling me?”

She said, “My Lord! I heard that you are giving up really the love of Krishna, I am so deprived, the devotees don’t associate with me, they call me the witch- Maya, how will get your mercy.”

So Lord Caitanya said, “Well! You will realize here your non-difference from Radharani, you are my spiritual energy, and although you normally have the task to keep the conditioned soul bound in the material world, you are the… you are non-different from Radharani, you will be known as the prodha-maya, the protector of the holy dham. Then she took the dust from the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya, and put it on the crown of her hair which is known as the simanta, the resident of Laxmi. One of the nine islands of Nabadwip is known as the Simanta Dwip. There Simantini is worshipped by the devotees.

So like the from all over the universe people came to join Lord Caiatanya.  There were so many different pastimes..28.15-18. I just mentioned a few people who came from different parts of the universe like Brihaspati, he came as Sarvavauma Bhattacharjee, Narada Muni, he came as Srivas and so many others, and Murari Gupta, he was Hanuman and you see the Caitanya Caritamrita, all the associates of Lord Caitanya the had some position in Krishan lila, in the previous lilas, or they were some great devas. So I got to wonder, as such an insect where would I fit in that? Then I realized that how fortunate I am, that Lord Caitanya predicted that he would send a devotee who would preach all over the world after 500 years. Then I thought this is also mentioned by Krishna in the Brahma Baivarta Purana. So we get the opportunity of serving Prabhupada and helping him to spread this movement all over the world.

I asked in a Sunday feast, how many of you would like to help Srila Prabhupada?, how many?

Haribol (by all the devotees)

So Bhakti Siddhantha Saraswati Thakur wrote him a letter and told him that those who help you will also get special mercy. So you can all help Prabhupada, as a grihastha or a brahmachari or whatever by practicing and by propagating this method of chanting Hare Krishna, studying the books of Lord Krishna mainly the Gita, Bhagavat Puran and by practicing the practices of the bhakti yoga.

So those of you are taking initiation tonight, we hope that all you get the special blessings and help them… to help to help them in their progress. Step by step as we go on. I asked some devotees what realization they had. Some say, “OH! Prasad is so nice!” , some say they like kirtan, some say they like reading, and some say they like serving.

So we are very grateful to Nityananda Prabhu for giving service to us or to our disciples  because by this service we can cross over all the obstacles of materal life. So you now coming to the country, those who are Indians but those who are here already, you should see, help people to understand how they are truly eternal. Like one of our book distributors in the airport who are normally not so well appreciated, “Today I have no time, no time, today is the worst day of my life.”

“We are here to help those who are having the worst day in their life.” (laughter)

“Why is it the worst day ?”                              

“Why I went to the school, why I studied to get a degree, why I got married, why everything I did was to please my mother and she died, and she is dead.”

I said, “NO, your mother is not dead.”

“What do you mean?”

“look here in the Bhagavat Gita it is said that the soul never dies, just change of body”

“really! I never knew that, do you have that book?”

“ O sure, take one”

“How much?”

“O whatever you like to give.”

…35.10-20…

“whatever you like”

You are now very happy.

People don’t know the basic A,B,C’s of spiritual life even though America may be a super power, on this one point they may not know and they will be very grateful if you tell them.

Taking initiation also means you have this responsibility to help Lord Caianya, to help Srila Prabhupada to distribute this transcendental knowledge to everyone. 

Thank you very much

Hare Krishna.

Transcribed by Sadahananda Krishnaprem Das

Mayapur