20030712 || Addressing Devotees || New Orleans, Louisiana, USA #JayapatakaSwamiArchives

So many kinds of contamination which cause us suffering. By doing these kinds of services. We can offer the sacrifice of giving our intelligence by studying the teachings of Ka or using our body in the service of Ka, using our tongue by healing prasad for Ka or using the tongue for speaking about Ka. So Lord Chaitanya, 500 years ago he appeared and when he described that this was the easiest way for us to spiritually awaken is to spread the glory to Ka. I was just in the Middle east for the end of Ramadan. They had the EID and we have many programs there in Persian Gal in different countries. So clearly many expatriates are working from Indian community and from other communities there. We found that so many people are very enlivened to spread this message of Ka to the other people of their community. They may be busy working. They don't work 9 to 5, 7 to 2, 7 to 1 and 4 to 7 midday they take lunch and siesta, most of them. So but even after seven, a couple days a week they go out and preach. Or sometimes they the housewives, when the kids are at school, they think of ways to engage themselves in spreading the message of Krishna. And not as some kind of duty that they don't do anything like duty. No, they're doing it because they love it. It's fun, right? Well, it's fun. It's really enjoyable. So that's what Chaitanya Mahu used to engage the people. 500 years ago. Most of his followers were married people, family people. But he engaged them. Of course. When we left him, there was less of a rat race. There wasn't a big industrialization. But in any case, the principle was that married people, they always have so many things they can do for maintaining a family. But they all dedicated some time for spreading their message about what Gita. An atomic bomb is not even minutely as powerful as the Bible gift message. Bibles wipe our bodies. They then take rebirth and stand down wherever they were. But the Bible again liberates people right out of the material world. Sends them back to the spiritual existence. So it's so much more powerful than can't begin to imagine. But instead of harming people, it's actually delivering them. So since I know here, the devotees have been very active in book distribution and community development and Prashantam distribution because of our long relationship. I wanted to before the year was over, have some of your association. I'm also glad to see so many new people. When Lord Chaitanya once went to South India, he was Andhra Pradesh. He was anybody here from Andhra Pradesh. Bhavanara. So that time he was at a place called Kormandesh which is about 2, 3 hours drive from Visakhapatnam. And there he was staying with one Brahmin family. And the Brahmin told him that I have, you know, lots of land and money and big family and position society. But I'm not feeling happy with all these things. So I want to give up everything and I want to be join you and just travel. I'll let Chaitanya verbatim it. I want to hear these kind of words from you because you're not happy materially. You want to give up all your responsibility. This is like a monkey renunciation monkey looks imams in the forest. But he just. He's not enough monkey. He may look like some kind of yogi or ascetic living in the forest. But monkeys are not very sense controlled. They're not ascetic. So don't think like that. You stay in your family. You do your responsibilities as a family man. But you preach to everybody. You meet the glories of Ka Jariko Tari Kohu, Krishna Upadesh, Amaranti, Guru Bhaya Taimadesh. On my order, you become a guru and you deliver your land here. That's what we've been finding in our congregational preaching that men and women both have taken very leading roles. And one of the. The head of one of the. Well you can say the head of the Namahathas in Moscow is Revati Devi Sri Sri said, Lord Chaitanya told us that we should be gurus so we can be gurus in different ways. We can preach and help people in different ways. So through the Namah, through the Bhakti Rikshas is swam groups. There's an opportunity to give personal care and attention to the bodies and to help them spiritually develop. Which is really what a guru is supposed to do. So they're helping their guru and taking care of the bodies like that. I noticed also in the yearly report here we all said sachet, we have a program like that here every Wednesday. I think this Bhakti Vishal work time. I think seven. Who is a member of the Black conviction group. Only one, two Mike. Okay. It's about how many people count for that. Anything else? They have different suburbs. Wherever there's some senior devotee, any person that has some spiritual knowledge, they can man, woman, all of the initiated devotees we're having crises in. I just went in Malaysia and they inaugurated the 60th Bhakti Bhiksha group in Penang. They started four years ago with zero Bhakti Biksha groups. And now they have the 60th and the 60th group was the Chinese group which was very nice that the Chinese community there is getting more and more involved. Mainly Indians that have involved in Malaysia, but now the Chinese also. The head of the group is a motorcycle seller, shop owner, dealer, distributors in. So we went to his shop, he had hundreds of motorcycles in front of it and went on the lift up to the fourth floor where he had his Va Kirisha meeting room. And they're all very nice people. So part of our development that because the small groups we can take better care of the devotees. And that also gives an opportunity for our our devotees to express their leadership, their management. Not management leadership reaching and caring ability. It's not like management problem, no money, none of those kind of problems. In advantage rickshaw meaning it's part of your leaving and caring. Explaining Ka taking some responsibility to help others. We take some responsibility for ka. That's a way of expressing our own devotional dedication. Just like people who have risked their lives or who have done heroic things during the war. Our military here from America, they're decorated and they're recognized by the country. But don't think that somebody is going out putting themselves out and trying to liberate people, save people in this war against the illusion against Maya to bring them out from this situation. They're definitely recognized by Krishna and appreciate it. So to give more devotees and opportunity, we have a book distribution marathon like this month of Gita chanting. We have this bhakta rickshaw program so people can take some responsibility to help others. In some places they have other programs like counselor groups where somebody gives a counselor for counseling the younger devotees. There's many programs like that now in iskcon we're seeing that those devotees who take theirselves responsibility to help the others, they're always very blissful and happy devotees who are getting a lot of mercy because they're acting as an instrument name of Krishna and Prabhupada and our gurus for university. So I want to thank all of you for participating in the program and for helping. I'm very interested because I was connected here as GBC for over 20 years. So I'm very concerned about the development of Ka consciousness in Southeast usa, Louisiana, Mississippi. So that's why I always try to find some time somehow. Maybe it's not as much time as I wanted, but because of the situation, please find some time to encourage Everyone here and to keep in touch. So thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Any questions or comments? If you have another new Bhagavad Gita distribution pastime, you can share it. Second question. Devotee or person who's interested in Krishna consciousness may have the dilemma at a certain point in his life of like parents are faced with their children about whether he wants to become a Hare Krishna or go to college and develop his material life. And there seems to be some kind of actual disparity between those two to a certain degree. How would this, how would this verse apply to that disparity that occurs when one is young and his time is meant for education but in terms of so later he doesn't have a degree. How could one say that there's no loss if you don't have the degree in hand but you spent your youth in developing spiritual life. No. You want to answer his question?

I want to just put something in.

You want to ask another question?

Well, it has to do with his.

One question at a time. I mean it's obvious that one doesn't preclude another. You can also avoid college or Christian. I have many disciples who go into college and they're still very active to avoid. I have one disciple in South Africa and Cape Town. I was chairperson for the Black Diola Club at the University of Cape town. They're the second largest student organization in university with 600 students members. They're one of the oldest student organizations since they've been around for more than 10 years or something. University has given them a room so that they can have a permanent room that people can go on and her father is a member is a minister in the federal government of South Africa. So it's like that. The thing is a little bit going to the college necessarily means that you're leaving for Srikantha. I think there's a lot of devotees that right now in our Oxford project many devotees are going to University of Iceberg and setting up project over there including Krishna Kshetra Prabhupu Seguru. He's writing his thesis for his PhD in Madison at least in the last six months of could also be done. It doesn't necessarily mean that I think that's the end of the world. Someone's from university, maybe that's a good thing. Utilize that. What's their career going to be? We're not saying everybody has to be a career Hare Ka Sannyasi picture they can be businessmen and professionals and whatever your occupation they want to be. But while they're in university they can still go on with various Krishna Kanthas activities, maybe helping in forming or participating in an existing club for students. The point is that when someone does these different things that they don't give up their Ka consciousness and whatever amount of time or energy they gave for Krishna. The point is that's not lost. Even you get a PhD doesn't mean next time, next birth, you take a birthday, you'll be born even as a human being. So just a material education may help you to get a job. In some places, even if you have an education, it doesn't help you get a job. I learned it in Dhaka in Bangladesh and a taxi driver was speaking perfect English with Mercantile Taxi. And I would speak English. How is it you speak so nice English? He said, oh, I have a master's degree. But there's no jobs here for people with master's degrees. So we have formed a guild and we now drive taxi because at least we're like self employed, we have some dignity. So in some places they pump out all kinds of degree holders, but the most efficient job. In some places they have a surplus of doctors. Everybody wants to be a doctor, but they have a shortage of nurses. There's a big crisis in the world now for nurses. They're putting in advertisements in India for nurses to come and be a nurse in America, UK and Australia they're not asking for doctors, nurses, all kinds of things, how the education will be used, all those kind of factors. That's the thing. You have to talk with the parent, talk with the child, see really what their nature is. We have to guide them to act according to their nature, to be able to figure out a proper situation. We do have our Mayapur Brahminical school and there are some students and some parents who want their children to just be given a Vedic education. But there's a very small minority. Most of the parents want their children to go through the normal curriculum and get their high school degree and then go on to university and like that. That's the. But there are some people that they're happy if their child has this virtual education and the children are also interested in. So maybe I'm concerned that we should get career for that kind of person also. We kind of want to go one extreme or the other. We should have career opportunities for people who want to be praised, just like we have the priests and other religions. We should have a Brahminical facility also for our Brahmins. They can serve the community that should be there. But that doesn't mean that I Expect everybody to do that. It's a small percentage of people might do that. Absolutely right. Pragmatic and practical.

Going to the local school or the university, preaching to the teachers and other students. She just got a whole course on cultural anthropology.

You're telling me now actually that so many of the. At one point, I don't know now, but at one point many of the. The kids were in the local soccer team of the school. And so when they would have the matches, then the other parents of the other boys that were in the team, you know, they come up and cheer the team. So some of the devotees, children in the. They had names like Ubinda and Krishna. So then the girls would go, go, go in again cheering and shouting go in. So they were getting some also mercy for children. And at the end they would give vegetarian snacks because they knew that the Hare Krishna gives. So that there was like integrating in the community more. That's also a positive. We find now the way that congregational development is growing in many places just through friendship. People in their workplace with my friends, their neighbors, the different clubs and things. And then through friendship then once people have established a friendship with someone, then if they talk about. They ask questions about what's your beliefs or something, but they can accept it because they accept you as a person. I think if they don't know that person, they might just write it off and okay, it's crazy, but if you know the person, you accept he's an intelligent person, he or she is very thoughtful and good person and maybe have these beliefs. So maybe it can't be all wrong. Yes, yes. I just want to let you know that in the Arab Sid Staestler we approve.

Krishna consciousness.

Give it a thumbs up. Now we know we have safer coasts, spiritual coasts. That's it. I want to keep you from. I have also brought here for you a gift which is Narsino oil. This is special fragrant oil which was. Here's a demonstration. And you hold your hand on the oil on your hand and then you can put it on your hand.

It's really easy to do what's classified as medium, books on high taste, book works and divine nature. And I've done several of those. But I hadn't done any Bhagavad Gita distributed. So I stood on the street corner and in my heart and my mind I prayed to Srila Gavta, please send me someone that will appreciate the Bhagavad Gita. And the very next person that I talked to was a lady about my Age with two teenage kids. And so I stopped her and was speaking with her. And when I took off the body, I needed to. To give her. To show her and give her. Her hands started trembling as she took the book in her hands and she looked at me and she said, I've been waiting to read Bhagavad Gita for so long.

Wow.

And I said, well. I asked her, what is your name? I said, well, you must be a really special person that the Lord sent because I just stood on that street corner and I couldn't read all the.

They're like.

So she went down Bourbon street with her hand just like completely shining.

What if people need to be invited to. Don't ask.

Could I ask a brief question?

Yes.

I think it's on.

As.

As you were talking, I realized it was on my phone. I went out of my way to send my son to very prestigious schools. And this America is unfortunately.

A great.

Amount of people that I need. Money is more important than anything.

So.

And having been born in a family of political people, judges and senators and lawyers and teachers, I somehow had it in me that I had to get. And my husband as well. The same kind of family, but even more prestigious. I somehow felt I needed to get him to become very prestigious and he was smarter than me. I tried to get him into this ultra prestigious school. He had a scholarship and he said, I can't go there. They're really too snobby. And the thing about it is the very wealthy, especially the old wealth and the prestigious people, people, it's very, very hard to reach them. It's almost impossible. And it's all my fault. And I just.

I saw.

I see my dilemma now.

As I said, you're born again. Said an aristocratic family. But then they said it's hard to reach them. Isn't anybody proud?

Well, yeah, they think they're better than everyone else, you know, but somehow Ambaresh.

Prabhu, Amoresh Prabhu, who's the grandson of. Very great grandson of Henry Ford, he's in such a family. He came in contact. He was going to Chile. Here he saw the devotees on Harinam. You never know. So don't. Don't write him all on.

Don't you think it's rare rather than.

I don't know, I don't have the statistics. There's those called rules. Definitely get the person at the right time. You can never tell. It's not that aristocratic people are not just.

Well, not necessarily aristocratic, just people. It's old money. Speaking about it and people who.

This is a question. We thank you for sharing with us that situation. Thank you. Obviously.

I hope that he does realize there's a God because he has a lot of trouble with that. And he got married in October and they didn't even mention God in his way. I had a question. You were speaking in your class about how whatever activities that we're doing, it's the consciousness that you're in while you're performing those activities, that's really the important thing. And I was wondering, what if you are performing some devotional activity, like something directly devotional activity, yet your consciousness isn't really focused on what you're doing? What would the result of that sort of action be?

Reverse. Well, there are some people that offer devotional service for some mundane reason. That's why in that verse it says. The verse. How does it start anyway? It says Anu Korean and Krishna. It should be favorable and should be following Krishna. How does it. How does it slow Krishna Free from other hands of desires. If one renders devotional service in the favorable way, then that is considered to be topmost bhakti. So obviously somebody is illattented. Well, that's like notched down, you know, some notches down. If it's completely for another more, then it becomes devotion mixed with fruit of desire. That's called karma mashita bhakti. Or if they just want liberation, they not really care about pleasing Krishna. They may be doing some devotion, but they only focus on their own liberation. Then that's considered gerama sikabh. It's mixed. So they're not going to be the same kind of satisfaction. If you please Krishna, try to please Krishna, then Ka pleases you. But if you're trying to please yourself and using the emotional service in a material sense, an external sense, so you're not going to get the same spiritual satisfaction. But because this devotional service, you still get some benefit. That's the advantage of doing something great. So we encourage people, even if they want some result for their devotion, better they do something devotional because they'll get some purification and they'll get also what they want, but they'll get some spiritual development as well. So other questions like I'll be hanging around and I'll go around and socialize and be present while you're all taking asylums, you can ask the questions of your dance. We don't want to make everyone else wait unnecessarily. And for others it there. Sam, this is. He remembers everything. No, he told. He asked P.J. what's your name? I didn't ask your name.

No, the reminder.

This is on film. Be truthful. This is being recorded forever and ever. It's there to prove a conditioned soul. Sa.

How easy to reach you.

I'm late for a while.

It's been fine.

Sometimes I need some almonds or something like that. It's the mercy. Get a Sadi to translate. Get the Russian parts for body. No, he's not interested. Building like freely available to those who are fortunate enough to hear.

Sam.

It Sam. Thank you for watching our videos. Be sure to subscribe to our channel. We publish new videos every day. And don't forget to like and share our channel.