20230407 Initiation Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Today we are making a special offering to Rukmiṇī Dvārakādīśa, Nitāi Gaura, Jagannātha Baladeva Subhadrā. There are many types of nivedanas. Food nivedana, puṣpa-nivedana, fire sacrifice nivedana, so today some devotees are surrendering themselves – ātma-nivedana. Doesn’t mean sannyāsa but it means offering all your services to Kṛṣṇa. To Rukmiṇī Dvārakādīśa, Rādhā Kṛṣṇa, Nitāi Gaura. Actually, normally people think that they are the body. But actually, we are the living force within the body and when the living force leaves the body, the body is useless. It is like a vehicle without the driver. Of course, today they are having automated vehicles. But after all it is still only a machine. So the body of a human being is conscious, it is living because of the presence of the spirit soul. The spirit soul is what makes the body attractive, good looking. A dead body is not very interesting. Śrīla Prabhupāda was in some village in Bengal and he was giving a very simple example. The grandfather has died and everyone is lamenting. My husband is dead, has gone away. My grandfather has gone away, my father has gone away. In this way everyone was lamenting that their loved one has gone away and then Śrīla Prabhupāda was asking what has gone? The body is still there, the arms are the legs are there. Who has gone, what has gone? You see the living force, the jīvātmā has gone and the body is not the active principle. Bhagavad-gītā says yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [Bg 18.61].  It is a machine made of material energy. It is there from the time of conception in the womb, and then it takes birth and continues to grow. But when the living force leaves the body, we say the person has gone. Śrīla Prabhupāda was asking who has gone? What has gone? That way we can understand that we are not the body, we are the living force within the body. So if we understand that properly then we can under the living force is the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’. [Cc. Madhya 20.108]).

The child is very interesting, walking around because he has the living force. And so that we should understand that we are part of Kṛṣṇa and that our purpose is to serve Kṛṣṇa. By serving Kṛṣṇa we realize great transcendental bliss. Actually, there is so much happiness, material happiness is actually not touching the soul. Therefore, one never feels completely satisfied. But some happiness is there, and some distress is there. Just like the same body which gives us happiness also gives us distress. This morning we met one doctor, she was a cancer specialist. And nobody wants cancer; but it happens. Like this, there is birth, death, old age and disease, and this is part of the material world. Actually, when we think of the wonderful pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and Nitāi Gaura, so much happiness is there. And there is no mix of distress. So, while we are in the material world, we are subject to this duality of happiness and distress. But we really need, we want to experience transcendental happiness. The simple services we do to the Deities for instance, or hearing chanting, remembering, doing service, offering prayers and obeisances, arcana, worship of the Deities and thinking oneself as a servant of Kṛṣṇa, thinking of Kṛṣṇa as one’s best friend and ātma-nivedana, offering everything to Kṛṣṇa, doing everything as an offering to Kṛṣṇa. The nine practices of devotional service are actually giving unlimited spiritual satisfaction.

I was discussing, sometimes devotees think that the devas, the demigods are something bad. But actually, that is not true. They are all Vaiṣṇavas, they are devotees of the Lord. They understand that the Lord is Supreme Protector of the devotees. So the devas are different from the asuras. The asuras are those who are atheistic, they don’t accept the supremacy of the Lord. In Navadvīpa for instance, the first island is called Sīmantadvīpa. What does that mean? Pārvatī, she came down after her husband was chanting, the name Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga. Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga! He was dancing in ecstasy. There were earthquakes, tsunamis, all over the universe. She came back quickly to Kailāsa. At that time, it was not the time of the final destruction, annihilation of the world. And she called out, “Svāmī, Svāmī! Husband!” And he stopped. I was feeling so much ecstasy, “Why did you stop me?” He asked. She said, “I am very sorry, but your ecstatic dancing was causing like annihilation of different areas. And it is not the time for the annihilation of the universe. Alright!” So Lord Śiva is known as Āśutoṣa and he is also the protector of Navadvīpa dhāma, he is the protector of Vṛndāvana dhāma. So he is known as Āśutoṣa, easily satisfied. Then Pārvatī asked, “Why are you feeling so much ecstasy today? You were chanting Gaurāṅga Gaurāṅga, what is that? Gaurāṅga! Why, what is that?” He said, “He is the most merciful avatāra of Kṛṣṇa. And He gives out freely love of Kṛṣṇa.” “Can I also get,” Pārvatī asked. “Why not? He gives out mercy to everyone. Where can I find him? He is always in Navadvīpa dhāma, either in His manifested form or unmanifested form.” Then she went to Navadvīpa dhāma and she started to chant, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga! And He appeared to her. “What do you want?” She said, “My Lord, You have put me in charge of this material world. And I am supposed to keep the people here until they have complete devotion. Like this, devotees they don’t like to associate with me. They call me the witch Māyā, all kinds of names. I don’t get any association of Your pure devotees except Lord Śiva. So I heard that You give out love of Godhead, kṛṣṇa-prema. Can I get that?” He said, “Tathastaḥ! So be it,” said Lord Caitanya. Actually, “You are my ādhya-śakti and in one sense you are non-different from Rādhārāṇī. So here in Navadvīpa dhāma you can realize your non-difference from Rādhārāṇī, and you can have pure kṛṣṇa-prema. So, Pārvatī Devī took the dust from Lord Gaurāṅga’s lotus feet and put in on the part of the hair where ladies wear kuṅkuma, that is sīmanta, that is the place where Lakṣmī stays. She is known as Sīmantinī Devī and the first island, island of śravaṇa, it is non-different from the process of śravaṇa, hearing. But the name is Sīmantadvīpa. After the putting of the dust of Lord Caitanya on the part of her hair, the sīmanta.

Actually, if we want to enter Navadvīpa dhāma, we need get the blessing from Vṛddha Śiva and Prauḍa Māyā. The devas, they are subordinate to Kṛṣṇa. But they are greater than we are. And so we respect them and we offer them our Vaiṣṇava praṇāmas. So this is the situation.

So today, people are taking their commitment, you have taken your vows, raise your right hand if you have taken your vows. Okay. And those who are taking second initiation, they reconfirm their vows of the first initiation. Okay. So according to the ten offences you should avoid breaking the offences including the offence to the holy name. Offensive chanting, clearing chanting and offenseless chanting. Even offensive chanting is better than no chanting. The clearing chanting is better, where we are trying to avoid offence. Like Ajāmila, he was calling his son Nārāyaṇa and he said, “Nārāyaṇa, come with me for a walk, Nārāyaṇa come and sit with me. Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa!” He was chanting all day along. So somehow because of being born as a brāhmaṇa, although he was living with a prostitute and gave up his sat karma, somehow, he named his son Nārāyaṇa and out of great affection he was chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa all the time. At the time of death, the Yamadūtas came and he called his son “Nārāyaṇa!” What did he call? Immediately the Viṣṇudūtas appeared. Because he called, “Nārāyaṇa!” So we always chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

So this will help us, I mean I have a real story. This is a true fact. I have a family of disciples in North Kolkata, called Lake Town. There the wife, the children are all initiated. But the husband, he was not interested. And although we preached to him, we tried to convince him, it did not work. We have some devotes in Los Angeles, in California, they have similar problem. Maybe their spouses are not fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. Anyway, he was diagnosed, this person in Kolkata, with cancer, fourth stage, final stage. And he was bed ridden. And through the walls came the Yamadūtas, with muscles big body, fangs, leather ropes and they approached him. Fierce looking eyes. He said, no no no! He said, “Hare Kṛṣṇa!” and they disappeared. He called his wife give me neck beads, give me japa beads, give Bhagavad-gītā, I want to read Bhagavad-gītā. What we tried for years to convince him, the Yamadūtas took hardly a minute! And he became a devotee! Out of fear. Anyway, we are trying to help everyone to be happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to avoid all these miseries of life. To taste the eternal happiness. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

So there is aspiring and shelter.

Two of them, are you brother and sister?

Chant the mantra. Chant the praṇāma mantras. Shelter are those who are chanting 16 rounds for six months or more and follow the four regulative principles.

Those who took aspiring should give their names and fill the form.

Two devotees for shelter.

Next is Harināma initiation. You have to ask please give me initiation.

Dakṣiṇā to be given to the pūjārīs. Those who have taken initiation you have to beg at least from 5 people to teach you humility, to give you a hard time!