Lava-Mātra: A Moment with Jayapatākā Swami by His Grace Rukmiṇī Ramaṇa Dāsa #JayapatakaSwamiArchives

Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Guru Maharaj Pataka Swami. My name is Rukmini Ramana Das. My family name is Ricardo San Clemente. I was born in Colombia, South America. Since I can remember my childhood, I was very inquisitive to. To what is life about more than just the normal stereotype of lifestyle. When I finished school, my father sent me to university. And I am. I enter only one, one. Not even one year. I stayed there, I met a friend and we started to travel around South America like. Let's say, like hippie style. The idea was to go to inquire about mysticism and the purpose of life. So I wanted to go to the. I went to the native people. Indigenous and olders, grandfathers who live in the countryside. Peru, Ecuador. Then I was 18 years old by that time. After nine years. Nine months. Sorry, nine months traveling around South America. My family was concerned about me. They didn't want me to live like a hippie. So they sent me to Denmark, in Europe, because I have family there. My grandfather is Danish. I have uncles, cousins. So they make the arrangements. I go to Denmark, Copenhagen, and they give me apartment. I got a job. I went to school to learn Danish. Nice clothes, clean. In Denmark. There is a place in Copenhagen called Christiania. It's like a hippie area. Basically the Mecca of the hippies in all Europe. There's something that my family wouldn't expect. I didn't even expect that either. When I went to Cristiana, I saw all these houses, like fairy tale constructions and all kind of people with dreads and colors and psychedelics and intoxications. It was kind of perfect for. For me. I was 19, 19 years. So I started to live there, in Cristiania. I left my home, I left my job, I left everything. So my family was again like upset with my decisions. Anyway, I tried to experience psychoelics and expand my awareness of consciousness. It was good experiences somehow. But also my level of frustration was increasing because it didn't make sense for me. The normal stereotype lifestyle, having a job, paying rent, enjoying. I don't know, it didn't fit to me. So I was not even materialist, I was not spiritualist. I was completely lost. At one point I was collapsing with my hand. Life. Basically I wanted to die. Basically. I remember there was a preaching center in Copenhagen. Krishna preaching center. Very small room, a small house. They have a very nice small altar of gorangitai. And they give free food, prashada I went there probably three times every six months, probably I went there to eat. The third time, when I was really bad depressive. I said, I'm going there to eat before I end my life, I go in there to eat. And the devotee who was in charge of this preaching center, his name is Mahaprabhu Das from Bosnia. He remembered me all this time. He said, oh, Ricardo, you came back amazing. Please sit down, take a plate. And it was ki tree with papadam. I think it's my favorite preparation until now. I love it. Kitchri and papadam. And I remember I sat there and this smell of incense and the quiet atmosphere. I was feeling like in a oasis. And then I told this devotee, I feel very bad. I don't understand life anymore. I'm very depressed. Too much intoxications. I cannot give up. Basically, I tell everything. Then he showed me the japa mala. He said, take this and chant Hare Krishna for some time and see how you feel. It was just that I was the only preaching. They didn't talk to me about Karma or Bhagavad Gita or Krishna leaf. Nothing about material life or Maya. Just chant this mantra and say, okay, I took the job. I went to my place and I stand to chant. I didn't have anything to lose because anyway I was really thinking, I want to die, kill myself and my life somehow. So I said, okay, I will chant anyway, one more try of my existence. I think I remember I took even with my left hand the japa. When I started to chant for about two hours in a slow rhythm. Because I didn't for the first time, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. When I stopped chanting, basically after two hours, something like that, I experienced ecstasy. My hair literally stand and stand. I start shaking, I start crying. And I feel like someone was taken out of my chest. Like a big sore out, big pain was coming out. And I just started to feel love. And I remember I was feeling like somebody was hugging me all the time. I would feel like comfort. And I was crying. I couldn't believe what was going on. This is amazing. I was thinking, this is incredible. This is incredible. What is this? What is this? Then I went back to the temple. I took my bike and my bicycle. I have even more strength. I was with my legs really fast. I went to the preaching center and I told the devotee, this is amazing. I wanted to know more about it. And I was very skeptical to religion. So spiritual leaders. But this was so substantial. For me, for my feeling, I must think because I was using intoxications every day. And as soon as I chant that day, I stopped my desires for intoxication. I stopped smoking ganja, I stopped smoking cigarettes. I even left my girlfriend at that time. She was very pretty, amazing person. But I was like, that was revolution. This is amazing. I wanted to be like that, feel like that constantly. Then I started going every day to this preaching center. And then they sent me to the temple in Denmark. It's 45 minutes away. The city like a farm. The name was New Shrivasangam. That was in the year 98, about 98. Then to do the Bhakta program for three months. But of course, I love it. That was the best time in my life. The treasure of my life was. Was living with the Hare Krishna devotees. For first time in the ashram in Denmark, many, many gurus started to visit. Harikesh Swami, Kadambakanana Swami, Smithakrishna Swami, Suhotra Swami. I remember I loved him. Basically all of all the swamis and gurus who were visiting the temple, I loved them. I was like. I was like. I was feeling like totally in love with all of them. Like, wow, amazing personalities. Then I was about, I don't know, six months, eight months in the temple. Was already Brahmachari really into it. Then Jayapataka Swami came to visit. When I saw him, Jaipattaka Swami, I was. I was very impressed. For me, was. For me, because he was very big and tall and these big blue eyes. For me was like to see him like a king. Someone very, very. From a royal family. Very, very. I don't know, kind of refined. Like when you see an elephant sometime when it's coming, that you see is very big and strong, but very elegant and soft like a petal. But very, very impotent. That was my. How I could describe when I saw Jayapatta Kaswami. He had his baston, his whole stick, very, very strong. And of course, in Denmark, the Yatra is small, so we could have a lot of association. Very intimate, personal association. In one moment, I was sitting in the temple room and then he came to me to ask me, how are you? Who are you? Then I was on the floor sitting then. So my name is Ricardo. I'm from Colombia. Even the temple I like so much. This Hare Krishna is amazing. Maharaj, I like you so much. I feel so attractive to you. I was thinking, I was considering. It's possible I could be your disciple. I want to do my start. My Spiritual life seriously. And he went down because I was sitting down and he hugged me and he stood up and he pulled me up from the ground and he just did that. He just hugged me and then he said, come to me. And we went to the other room because he was going to have darshan and the devotees were going to have darshan from him. So he passed me the big tray of cookies. He stayed next to me. So he started to distribute the cookies and I was holding the tray. So that was my first service to him. Then of course he gave me a garland and some flowers. I think I remember this garland, sometimes blue flowers. And he took my kurta, the pocket, under the pocket. He started to scratch the flower into my pocket. And I said, do you think this make this paint? It was blue. I said, yeah, but I was so happy. Then he left. I was staying in the temple normally doing my service, my sadhana. And after a few months, maybe six months, I don't remember exactly after I received a letter in my email. In that time, emails was kind of the beginning. It was not really like now this Hotmail account, I got a letter, I have it here with me from Guru Maharaj. And in that letter I will read it says hotmail date Tuesday 9th of February of 1999. Even the time is like three in the morning. So I think they were using calm. My Dear spiritual son, Dr. Ricardo, please accept my blessings. I was very happy to see you my last visit to Denmark. I am glad I could inspire you in some extent in your spiritual life. Since you mentioned that you are aspiring to take initiation from me. I am responsible for you as my spiritual son. Please remember that you are very important to me and I want you to help you advance in your spiritual life. If you become fully Ka consciousness, that would be a wonderful thing to me. For me, I pray through Sri Sri Radha Madhava to shower upon you their merciful blessings so you can make quickly advance in Ka consciousness. I hope this finds you healthy and blissful in Krishna consciousness. Your well wisher forever. Y Pataka Swami. I think that was the best email I have received all in all my life until now. So I showed this to the temple president, to the devotees. Everyone was so happy. Then Jaipata Kamara came back to Denmark and now I was ready for the initiation. So I took the first initiation about in July 1999. He gave me the name. Your name is Rukmini Ramana Das. And that was it. That was the beginning of my spiritual life. I remember he was giving me the beats I took the beads. He was holding the beads like he was not committing yet. I was like, maybe he knows that I'm so foreign. Maybe I don't deserve. But then I got the beats. And then Rukmini Ramana means the servant of the husband of Rukmini. I don't know how this name came out, but I love it. I love that name. Since that time, I called myself Rukmini to my friends also even in the streets, to people, my name is Rukmini. Colombia, South America or Europe, it's okay. I mean, in India, if you say my name is Rukmini, that's something. People look strange. So I have to say Rukmini Ramana. But here everyone's Rukmini. That's funny, because sometimes when I was with Guru Maharaj in the room. Where is Guru Maharaj? No, he's in the room with Rukmini. And people like, wow, how cool. I was Rukmini Ramana Das. So in Denmark, every time he was visiting, I have the opportunity to do personal service. Offering the food, serving the food, a little massage in his feet. I remember always his feet. Very big, strong, heavy, and little massage in the shoulders. Then we start to travel Guru Maharaj left. And with the devotees in Denmark, we start to go to India for Gura Purnima Darshan. Then I saw him in India. It's also another thing because in India there are so many disciples, so many people, visitors. So it's more. I was thinking, more difficult to have access to him somehow. We do these morning walks in the morning. Like six o' clock in the morning, going around Mayapur, around Mayapur. And then we do Guru Poya in this Prasha hall, big Bresha hall, next to the main street. I remember I make a hat, woolen hat for him in crochet with orange color. So I did that. I knit it and I give to him. And he put it immediately, the Guru Puya. And somehow I was going with him to his room, the roof. He had this big stick. Remember that? You have to go to the stairs, up. So he pulled the stick so the devotees. In that case, it was me. I was holding his stick and so I was pulling up to go to the room. It was so funny because he put all his weight. So we were like pushing with his stick up and going on. It was very, very funny. That's my impression of Guru Maharaj. A very joyful person. Very joyful. He finds fun in all activities. Then of course, we are in Kanga Safari. More close association with Guru Maharaj in the Pariklamas in Mayapur, holding his umbrella or holding his sticks. I was always trying to be next to him, somehow sneaking in. Even though I was not have the proper standard or proper etiquette, still I was somehow sneaking in to try to be next to him somehow. Some programs in Bengal with the Sankirtan programs. So that was a nice way to have intimate association with him in his room, being next to him. In the year 2000, 2001, Gwangorapur Nima. I took the second initiation. So we did this big fire sacrifice where the Vedic Planetarium is now. Before it was this kind of part. They make a pandal there and many devotees from also other gurus. We took first and second initiation. And then I went to the room upstairs. Guru Maharaj when he in a small room, he recite to the Gayamitri Mantra and put the threads. The threads and he put our. And then I chant the first Gayatri Mantra. I think was the last one six in the evening in front looking towards the Ganga. I always had very good memories. Then I went to South India, to Coimbatore. They were opening a temple. So I was helping for a few months there. He came to Saudi India. So I have the opportunity to be with him in Saudi India going to these big temples. I don't remember the names, but one good thing that I remember is at that time they were making the deities for Panchatarva, for big ditties. So that day, that was the day where they were going to make Lornityananda. So there was this big fire. It had to be at night time because it was too hot when they put all this metal, liquid metal into the casting. So that night we were there with Guru Maharaj and we were just singing, chanting. And then next day Guru Maharaj was going to travel outside India again like international tour. And they asked me if I could go with Guru Maharaj because one of the secretaries was not available. But I couldn't because I left my passport in Mayapur. I don't know why I did that. So that was. I still regret until the day of today that I couldn't travel with Guru Maharaj. So I couldn't. And that was my opportunity. But maybe Krishna didn't allow. After some time I went to Colombia. They asked me to go to Colombia to try to preach something for Krishna here for ISKCON in the year 2010, about 2009, 2010, I came back to Colombia. And then of course South America is very far from India, very far from Europe, far from association of devotees. Here Colombia is more like by yourself. You have to be your devotee by your own, basically, somehow. And then Guru Maharaj came to Colombia. And it was already after his stroke. He came back in his wheelchair. Devotees for me was like amazing. If I could not see him, how he was able to come to see me or see the devotees, that was really amazing. The most farest places in the world. He was there. And I could imagine he did that everywhere in the world. Where you never expected you would see Guru Maharaj. And then after a few years again he came. He came. He went to Ecuador like three years ago. Of course, the first thing was to go and see him. And the same thing, the same. He's laughing about his condition. Even though it's painful. His legs are painful, his back. Still he's laughing and took things very light. Even this material, material pains was completely most important is Krishna consciousness. It's funny because I myself always lamenting of my situation, material situation. But if I compare my material situation with Guru Maharaj, physical situation is nothing. This is actually what more now impressed me about Guru Maharaj. His determination, his strength. If I will define Guru Maharash in one word, I will say unstoppable. It's unstoppable. It's like a train without breaks.