How can we practically understand humility and surrender?

Transcript

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How can we practically understand humility and surrender? I put it that humility means to not let our ego come in the way of our purpose.
We have a purpose of serving Krishna in our life and I won’t let my ego come in the way. So, that means if to do the service, if I have to accept disrespect or humiliation, I am ready to accept that also. But that doesn’t mean that I will always be like a push around.
If my purpose, if my service requires that I take a strong stand, then I am ready to take that also. Prabhupada at one level, he was, when he was in India, he was respected as a pious sadhu. When he went to the west, nobody cared for him.
He was just an old man and his early disciples, early followers, they didn’t even have the courtesy to, they would just eat food and go away and he would have to wash their plates. So, in a sense, Prabhupada was respected much more in India than in America. But Prabhupada came to America because his service was there.
That was his service. His purpose was to share Krishna. He found these people were more genuinely hungry, genuinely eager.
But when Prabhupada came back to India, he established the Krishna Conscious Movement. He, at one time, there was a program and in Jaipur, the devotees had arranged a pandal program and they had made posters, Bhakti Ganan Swami was his foreign disciple. And Prabhupada said, why foreign disciples? Write American and British disciples.
And they said, why American and British? Because Indians are enamored by them. So, Prabhupada wanted, when that honor or praise or respect or prestige, whatever you want to say, if that would make people take his message more seriously, then Prabhupada wanted that to be used. So, there he was ready to, you could say, promote himself.
So, humility means that sometimes if our service calls for it, then we have to take a strong stand. Let us take a strong position and that doesn’t, if it is done in the intention of service, then it is not contrary to the principles of humility. So, humility basically means to stay fixed in the purpose of our service without letting our ego come in the way.
But the service requires that we seek a certain level of respect or a certain level of, we need a certain level of authority, then seeking that is not against the principles of humility. And as far as surrender is concerned, there can be two broad models of surrender. One is Zoroastrian surrender, where she just raises her hands, Krishna, I surrender to you.
The Bhagavad Gita at the end also tells Arjuna, surrender to me. But then, how does Arjuna surrender? It is not by raising his hands up. It is by lifting his bow up to fight.
So, that is also, that is Arjuna’s surrender. So, that means, if you consider that there are in our life certain situations which are in our control and certain situations which are not in our control. And the magnitude of what is in our control and what is not out of our control also keeps changing in different situations.
So, for that which is not in our control, we surrender in the mood of Draupadi. It is dependence on Krishna. And for that which is in our control, we surrender in the mood of Arjuna.
That is, diligence for Krishna. So, dependence for Krishna, dependence on Krishna and diligence for Krishna, both are ways of surrender. And in different situations, the, sometimes the diligence role may have to be taken up very much.
Say, if we are, if I am giving a class, then I have to properly prepare for the class. I cannot say I am dependent on Krishna. During the preparation phase, my surrender is through diligence for Krishna.
And after that, diligence means doing responsibly, diligent, being responsible, being committed, doing things properly. And afterwards, once we have, say, after I have given a class, the question and answer session comes up. I don’t know what question who is going to ask.
So, I have to depend on Krishna at that time. I say, oh, you know, before questions come up, I will not take Krishna answer session only. That will not be good at that time.
So, both dependence and diligence comprise surrender together.