20210905 Addressing JSSS Worldwide Online Retreat

The following is an Address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja via Zoom on September 5th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The Address was given at the JSSS world wide virtual retreat day 2

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Marīcī Dāsa, Host: If you can say something to us, caring is a natural gift for you gurudeva. First question is how we can develop this wonderful gift, and will follow the second question, because it is also about caring. Guru Mahārāja for many years we know you wanted to take care of your disciples. Now you have created JPS Care and you have also created JPS E-Care, and now we have JSSS groups all over the world, we would like you to explain how these areas will help you in the service of taking care of the disciples.? How these can be integrated and how we as disciples can contribute? We want the big picture from you of these three areas.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Marīcī dasa, you are a very dear disciple. As Jagannātha Kīrtanānanda explained, you have touched the hearts of many people. Devamādhava prabhu, he has also given his idea that by giving care to the young people, reminds me of what Śrīdhara Swami Mahārāja, he had instructed us. If you want money from the donors, they will give you advice. If you ask them for advice, they will give money. It is interesting! He is saying that if you give care for the people they will give their life. If you want their life they won’t give you anything. Something like that. Of course, they have in Māyāpur every Thursday a JSSS program. So I heard that about 2000 people attend. But somehow, the global JSSS says they have 952 members. I don’t know whether that is accurate. But whatever it is, they are also helping to connect the disciples with me. And by disciples helping the disciples, telling their experiences that Śabda Hari mentioned, reading the posts on the social media that Jānakī Rāmacandra dāsa maintains or by being part of the Jayapatākā Swami App which His Grace Satyamedha Gaurāṇga maintains. All these things are meant to help fulfil Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission. Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me or instructed to me to make many disciples. But then I realized that making disciples is one thing, as Kasturi Mañjarī Krupā Devī Dāsī mentioned, retaining them is another thing. And we want to retain the disciples. Sometime we hear that disciples like give up their chanting, and they think, well, there is still suffering in the material world, they have some false expectations. Somehow by being a devotee the material world is going to become a nectar. The material world is a material world, And by Krsna’s mercy maybe you are saved from the worst part of it. We think that whatever suffering I am enduring is much less that what I deserve.

So we want people to participate in the JPS Care, we want people to join the JSSS and we are thankful for the JSSS worldwide, to coordinate their efforts. Actually, we can see that technically, they are very well organized. Some disciple came and commented that Śabda Hari Dāsa and others are very well organized. I am very grateful, somehow or another we want the devotees to be attached to this Vaiṣṇava association. I mentioned that in the JPS Care we want to care for the aspiring, sheltered, initiated, śikṣā and well-wishing disciples or devotees. But right now, I don’t know, 20% max of the contacts are up to date. Mostly they bounce back. And people they change their email, when they change their situation. And they don’t notify us. So that way, the JSSS may help us in different ways.

So everyday whatever I do, I give on the Jayapatākā Swami App. Two days I missed maṇgala-āratī because of my cellulitis, but today I attended maṇgala-āratī and uploaded it to the app. I visited some temples, not as many as usual, only about 9 or 10, not the usual 20 or so! And like that I will also update my presence in the JSSS virtual retreat. So I would like to do as much, I mean, I am open to any ideas. I want to take care of all these disciples. I want to see that they go back to Godhead. Please help me! Śrīla Prabhupāda said we have to have tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions of gurus. So, in my lifetime, I may not see that tens of millions of gurus. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that one should know the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Know the teachings of Lord Caitanya. So at least if devotees had the Bhaktivedānta degree, then I would be somewhat convinced that they can disseminate the message. I don’t know if the JSSS can help in instructing the devotees. But that is – Atul Krsna told me that those who are senior devotees, or who have read the śāstra many times, have Śrīla Prabhupāda books many times, they don’t have to go through the course, just take the exam and get the degree. So I think that the devotees even they take the course or they are well-versed in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, and they go through the exams, in this way I would like to, in my lifetime promote say 500 disciples as gurus. Right now we only have a 100. Let us say after 50 years all of them are old and we don’t know how long they live. So people should study Śrīla Prabhupāda books, take their exams, get their degrees. Instead some people they don’t chant, they don’t care, have gone out of contact with the devotees. So we should see how by the JPS Care, by the JPS E care, or by the JSSSS worldwide different groups, to get people involved, get them inspired, get them to chant and practice Krsna consciousness. What to speak of the gurus, many are not even devotees, they are devotees at heart but they are not practicing much. What do you think?

Marīcī Dāsa: Very touched by your words. You said it all. missing we do In Malaysia i want to give an example. The temple management in Kuala Lumpur they did a research of all your disciples who left their body until today. The total number is 75. So what they did in Jagannātha Mandir, we offer one lamp to Nrsimhadeva for each person. A plate with 75 lamps twice a year – once on Nṛsimha Caturdasi and one more time on an Ekādaśī day in Dāmodara month and we informed their families. And everybody wa so touched by this. Not only for the departed souls, but one more plate for the sick devotees, especially now when many devotees are suffering from COVID, and one more for the congregation and for the sponsors and for the blessings for the yātrā. This is a simple example how we can care for devotees I am sure.

Jayapataka Swami:  That is a very interesting thing that they are doing in Malaysia. And I was being flooded by letters my uncle has passed away, my sister is sick with covid and asking me to pray for them. I asked them to give their address covid@jayapatakaswami.com and I prayed for them to Lord Nrsimhadeva. So all these things we do so they don’t feel left out. I ask them to write to covid@jayapatakaswami.com. Like that I can think of other ways but I think that Śabda Hari Dāsa, he has made various suggestions and they are certainly very practical. I don’t know what else to say right now.

Marīcī Dāsa: Thank you Gurudeva, Hare Kṛṣṇa! No words to express our gratitude to you.

Jayapataka Swami: So it Will also be nice to have more people join the JSSS groups. Hare Krsna! He is having a specific course in counseling, and this is one way of helping the devotees. Also Śabda Hari Dāsa, he has produced the book on how to give counseling.