If a devotee repeatedly struggles in different services how can we engage that devotee?

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Transcript

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And accordingly at that time we can see them also. Thank you.
So if we entrust some service to some devotee and that devotee is not able to do it, we feel irritated. But when the devotee clarifies why they were not able to do it, then we feel a little pacified. But then again after that, the same thing happens with some other service.
And this happens repeatedly. Then what to do? We again and again become irritated. Yes.
There are different devotees with different capacities. The shoe that fits one leg bites another leg. Because different legs are of different sizes.
So similarly, the service in which one person flourishes, the service by which one person flourishes, that service may actually cause another person to choke. So we, if we are in a position where we have to allot services to people, then we have the responsibility to get things done. At the same time, we are devotees of volunteers.
We can’t force anyone to do anything. So we have to find out the balance between what a person can do and what needs to be done. If something is really very urgent and important service, then we have to find out some devotee who is trustworthy, who has a track record of having done services properly and enters that service too, that devotee.
Other services that are not so important. From a transcendental perspective, we can say every service is important because every service is for Krishna. That is true.
But from practical perspective, there are differences. If there is somebody doing kirtan for a small group of say 10-15 people, that is different from somebody doing kirtan at a big festival where thousands of people are there. So we have to see priority of services from practical perspective and make sure that the important services are done by trustworthy people.
But trustworthy, we are not talking about the character. We are talking about the competence of it. In terms of whether they have the competence to do that service.
Some devotees may have the desire to do that service, but they just don’t have the capacity. So what we have to do is, if some devotee finds it difficult to do any service at all, then we just have to wait for that devotee to grow. So sometimes we find that, just by being in the association of inspiring devotees, that devotee himself will feel.
Others are doing so much, I want to do something. And rather than they being pressured from outside, we can push people a little bit, but there is a limit to how much we can push. The door to personal change has a key that can open only from inside.
Unless the person wants to change, nobody can make them change. You can tell them, do this, do this, do this, and they will say yes, yes, yes, and they will not do it. So you have to understand that different devotees have different competencies, different devotees have different level of commitment in spiritual life also.
Somebody can’t do it, but you can learn it and then you can do it. Somebody may not have the desire to learn also. So basically, we have to see at what level a devotee is in terms of competence and in terms of commitment.
If somebody is not really very committed, then yeh tha maam prapann kundi. That means, you know, as Krishna says, as all people surrender to me, I reciprocate accordingly. So we don’t have to spend too much time with them, we don’t have to invest too much of our energy in them.
Some people just are comfortable at a particular level. Please come to the temple, have darshan, hear classes and go back. They are not really comfortable about doing these services.
So that’s the level. Yes, they may take a lot of time to make spiritual advancement. And it’s okay.
It’s not that, you know, we want very serious devotees. It’s true. Yes, we want serious devotees, but we don’t want to kick out non-serious people.
You know, if you don’t want to be here, just get out. I’ll kick you out. Not like that.
You know, we could see that people can get connected with Krishna at different levels. So if we conceive of a pyramid, those at the top of the pyramid are totally committed. They are purely devoted.
Those somewhere in the middle of the pyramid, they are also devoted, but they may not be so purely devoted. They also have some lower desires. Those near the bottom of the pyramid, they have, it’s like a very big circle.
They have very little commitment. They just want to do something for Krishna. Well, they just want to come to program and here, that’s good enough.
That’s the level that they are at. So we can inspire people to rise to a higher level, but if they are not interested in rising, then we don’t have to see it as our failure or as their failure. It’s just that in their spiritual evolution right now, they are at a level where they can’t take more steps forward.
So each one of us is at a different stage in our spiritual evolution, which has been happening over many lifetimes and which may keep happening over many lifetimes. So we just have to encourage people to take steps forward. Now what’s paid, how much steps they can take, all that will be up to them.
So if somebody is not interested in doing services or not capable of doing services, not inclined to learn, just let them do what they can and we don’t extend too much time or facility for them. Let them just come and do whatever level they can connect with Krishna.