I wrote the following on October 5, 2009, when Jayapataka Swami was in Kuala Lumpur. This was the first time I could be close to him since he had his stroke. For those who don't know, this stroke would normally have finished anyone's life, but within three days he opened his eyes, to see where he could enlighten others about love for Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At this time he revealed the first time he chanted japa.
For the past several days we have be treated to the chance to hear His
Holiness Jayapataka Swami's talks here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His
mood is jovial, cheerful and ecstatic. He is staying in a house rented
by Marici Prabhu, next door to his own house. There are many rooms and
plenty of space for his assistants. Sometimes he speaks there at
night, sometimes at Lord Jagannath's temple.
On Sunday he gave initiation to 125 devotees (92 first, 33 second).Today
he gave give initiations to devotees who arrived from a nearbycountry.
One day during his talk he mentioned the first time he chanted japa. A
devotee gave him beads and he went to a nearby park. He used to do
hatha yoga so he sat in an asana position and chanted 32 rounds. He
was feeling some ectasy from chanted which amazed him. After the
thirty two rounds he went back to the temple. The devotee who gave him
beads to chant on said he made a mistake. He had given him Srila
Prabhupada's beads by mistake, and took them back, giving him new
beads.
Another time he mentioned that Srila Prabhupada told him he was a
devotee in his previous life. Jayapataka Swami replied, "But
Prabhupada, how could I have been a devotee? I am so fallen!" Srila
Prabhupada admonished him, "You are doubting the words of your
spiritual master?" Then Jayapataka Swami didn't say anymore about it.
He accepted Srila Prabhupada's instruction. "Ok, if Prabhuapda says I
was a devotee, I was a devotee."
One day He said he doesn't mind to give permission to his disciples
who want to become the Siksha disciple of another guru. He said that,
for example, several of Bhakti Caru Swami's disciples take Siksha from
him, and several of his disciples take Siksha from Bhakti Caru Swami.
He said he just wants all his disciples to feel well situated. "But
please stay within ISKCON," he said.
At a Bhagavad-gita class he mentioned a story Lord Siva told to
Parvati about a householder couple. They were travelling and the
husband said there is no value to travelling. You just do the same
eating, sleeping, mating and defending in a different place. There
were sitting under a hangman's tree, full of ghosts. The ghosts were
all waiting for night to fall so they could posess the couple. The
wife knew half of a verse of the Gita (8.1) kim tad brahma kim
adhyatmam, kim karma purushottama. Because they heard this the ghosts
were immediately taken to Vaikuntha. Afterwards Lord Vishnu sent for
the couple as well. Maharaj had us all blissfully chanting the verse
Another night he described how Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda met
for the first time. Gauranga asked the devotees to search all over
Navadvip for Nityananda. They couldn't find him. One householder had
devotees at his door three times asking for Nityananda. Then Gouranga
took a sankirtan party out chanting Hare Krishna. This brought out
Lord Nityananda. They saw each other and Gouranga cried out
"Nityananda!" He cried out "Gouranga!" and we were all shouting out
the same over and over with Maharaj.
Maharaj walks into the temple. There is a ramp but instead he ascends
the steps, about six steps. This requires assistance from his
disciples. He takes careful gradual steps, working to recondition his
body.
He preaches in the evening after a full day of therapy.
Daily he takes hyperbaric oxygen therapy 1 hour a specialized clinic.
Also he goes for speech therapy 1 hour, occupational therapy 1 hour,
and physiotherapy 1 hour. This is at a stroke rehabilitation center
run by a Buddhist association at nearby Puchong--a charitable
institution. They have state-of-art facilities and quite quite
efficient and personal.
The next course of treatment will involve a teadmill machine called a
Lokomat. It retrains people to walk with proper balancing. Presently
KL does not have one.
All of his talks are broadcast live on the internet--www.jpsvani.com,
and afterwards they are saved. You can go there to listen to them. The
live lectures are usually at about 9pm Kuala Lumpur time, which is GMT
+8. (He is here until October 6th). Check jpsvani.com for
announcements. You can also send questions to Maharaj, which he likes
to answer after the talk. Some nights are set aside just for questions
and answers. He will broadcast from India after the 6th.
It has been a moving experience to see Jayapataka Swami powering on,
jovial and ectatic, and to hear his enthusing talks.
Amogha das
