Lect LA 1968-12-19 Initiation--Avoiding the Ten Offenses
ANNOUNCER: Next is an initiation lecture,
given by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda,
recorded on December 19th, 1968, in Los Angeles.
PRABHUPĀDA: I am not criticizing, but it is, I mean to say, a human consideration.
Suppose if you have committed some wrong thing
within our jurisdiction and you come to me,
“Swamijī, I have committed this.”
So I say, “All right. Don’t do it again. Excused.”
Now, second day you come again, [and] you say, “I have committed this.”
All right. Second day I can also excuse.
Third day also, I can excuse, but fourth day I’ll not excuse.
Don’t make it official business.
Just like go to the church every week and confess and…
Confessing your sinful activities before Lord Jesus Christ or his representative,
surely your sinful activities are squared up.
But does it mean, very nice, that every week,
the whole week you shall commit sinful activities,
and at the end of the week you shall go and confess?
Does it look very well?
You are not ashamed…
that “Every week I commit these sinful activities,
and on the seventh day I confess”?
This process should not be adopted,
that because God’s name,
God’s remembrance actually squares up all of our sinful activities.
That’s a fact.
But how it is that we shall go on committing sinful activities
and square it up by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa or by confessing? No.
This is the particular point.
One should carefully note.
Just like Jagāi-Mādhāi.
Jagāi-Mādhāi:
They were the greatest sinful men during Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s time.
So, when they surrendered to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu with confession,
“My Lord, we have committed so many sinful activities.
Please save us.”
Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked them that, “Yes, I will accept you and I’ll save you,
provided you promise that no more you shall commit such sinful activities.”
So they agreed,
“Yes. Whatever we have done, that’s all. No more we are going to do it.”
Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted them,
and they became great devotees and their life was successful.
The same process is here also.
This initiation means that you should,
everyone should remember
that whatever sinful activities one might have done in his past life,
that is now account closed.
Debit and credit closed.
Now, from this day, no more sinful activities.
What are those sinful activities?
That is simple.
We have mentioned.
You should take it note.
No illicit sex life.
Beyond marriage, there is no sex life.
No intoxication.
Even drinking tea, coffee, they are also intoxication—cigarette smoking.
No intoxication.
No meat-eating.
Simple.
Only Kṛṣṇa prasādam.
Whatever… If you remain in the temple you will get Kṛṣṇa prasādam,
and if not, outside you prepare your chapati, dahl, offer to Kṛṣṇa and take.
Don’t take anything except Kṛṣṇa prasāda.
The third…
And no gambling or unnecessary sporting.
People are wasting time.
So many sportings they have invented:
sporting balls, this ball, that ball.
You see?
Human life is very short.
We do not know when we shall die.
Before that, we must prepare ourself for the next life.
Next life means directly going back to Kṛṣṇa, highest perfection.
As you’ll find in the Bhagavad-gītā:
yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ [Bg. 9.25]
There are innumerable varieties of planet.
The higher planetary system, they are resided by demigods, very powerful.
They are also human beings, but they are very beautiful; they are very powerful.
So you can go there.
The moon planet, sun planet—that is clearly stated—if you act accordingly,
as they are prescribed, that “If you want to go to the moon planet,
you have to do like this,” then after leaving this body, you can go there.
Similarly, you can go any planet.
Similarly, you can go to the planet of Kṛṣṇa.
Subtitles by Pratyatoṣa Dāsa, Causelessmercy.com