How do we connect with ISKCON people who are connected with other religious organisations?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Now, regarding the question of people who belong to some other organizations, they come to Krishna consciousness, they participate in Krishna consciousness, but then they go away because of their past connections. Now, in general, people get connected to some organization because of various reasons. Some may be cultural, some may be familial, some may be intellectual, some may be social.
So, now we have to find, each of us is different. Intellectual means they like the philosophy, cultural means they like the atmosphere, social means they like the friend circle over there. Familial means that’s what they are doing in the family.
I was worshipping a lady in my hand, that’s why I can be worshipping her. So, these are some of the reasons. So, now when people, if you know that somebody is connected to some organization in the past, then we have to try to find out what is the nature of that connection.
Is it cultural, familial, social, intellectual? And see if it can provide something similar or superior within Krishna consciousness. Now, somebody who is connected to a particular organization will not be intellectual at all. And then we try to intellectually prove, you know, I like to go there, that is wrong, I will not go there, that does not convince him to go there.
And that does not convince him to do that. So, if that person is connected to that particular organization because of cultural affiliation, then we have to see how we can provide them cultural experiences. So, many times they go to Mayapur and see the culture over there, see how some people are following this culture.
That inspires them a lot. So, in general, philosophy is only one of the things that makes people go to a particular organization or go away from a particular organization. So, we have to see, is it connecting them? And see how we can provide them with that in Krishna consciousness.
And when we provide them that, then naturally they will come to the session. And in general, when they are in that conflict zone, they have to deal with it very carefully. One of the senior leaders of Bhagavad Gita, one of the counselors over there, he, his father’s family guru was a very famous Indian Bhagavata Thakur.
Not exactly a proper Bhagavata Thakur, it takes a lot of money. Otherwise, he is a principal Kathakar in his own way, but not exactly Krishna, Krishna like Maya. And he was their family guru.
He was the person who had thousands and thousands of disciples. And he used to come and stay at their house. And they used to, they were very close to him.
And all the other family members were like planning to take incident from him. And he became introduced to his father. So at that time, there was some accusation about some sex scandal raised against this particular guru.
Afterward, that accusation was proven to be false. But when that accusation was raised, and it came out, because it was mostly 18th century. So, now this person must come to the temple also.
It’s going to happen. So Radhanath Maharaj called all the devotees, let’s speak Brahmacharis, and told them, when you come to the temple, don’t speak anything about that scandal. Now, how are you going to see? You are following it? Just leave it out first.
Maharaj says, don’t speak anything about it. And this devotee, he was a very committed devotee, and he says, that for one month I was coming, and every day I was looking at my legs, and now they are going to criticize my family. And he says, the fact that they did not criticize, that was the main reason I came to this temple.
And then he said that, eventually he met his guru, that particular family guru, he told him that I am inspired by Swami, and initially he was opposed. But then afterwards he explained to me, and he also accepted. So he says, I see you like a path-production guru, who was culturally connected with me, and now I got on board on the course.
So basically, he was not so much attracted by the philosophy that the guru was giving. But just the primary connection was a familial sense of acceptance. You know, he is part of the family, and he values us, we value him.
When he got that familial sense of acceptance within the Krishna Conscious family, then he naturally came out of Krishna Consciousness. So basically, our process, as we say, is not a process of rejection, it’s a process of connection. And that applies not just to, say, material life, for the sake of coming to Krishna, but it also applies to one’s connection with some religiously rigid organizations.
Rather than asking them to reject, we try to see what is it that is making them connected over there, and try to offer a similar connection to them within the Krishna Conscious family.