If bhakti practice and devotee association agitates our mind, can we practice bhakti in isolation?

Transcript

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So, some devotees feel that after coming to bhakti, their mind is becoming more agitated because we have to work with many different kinds of people and they bring their own mental issues on us or they behave in ways that disturb us. So, can we just practice bhakti alone in isolation without mixing with others? Well, I think there are three different components here.
One is, does bhakti cause the increased agitation of the mind? The second is the kind of variety of people we have in the devotee community and the third is how one can best do service. So, let’s address each of these separately. First is, it’s not that bhakti itself causes agitation of the mind.
It may be that sometimes we may become extremist in a particular aspect of practice of bhakti and that may agitate our mind. If I become a perfectionist with respect to chanting, this is Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, don’t say Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, and then anybody says Krishna, don’t say Krishna, and I will just become disturbed with everyone. I’ll be disturbed with everyone and I’ll disturb everyone.
So, it is not… So, then, it may be that we are… See, in bhakti there are principles and there are preferences. So, chanting the Mahamantra is a principle. How exactly we chant the mantra, whether we chant it what volume we chant, what speed we chant, what… That is a matter of preference.
When we make a matter of preference into a matter of principle, we become fanatical. And when we become fanatical, we agitate our minds and we agitate others’ minds. So, it’s not that bhakti practice makes our mind more agitated.
Rather, fanaticism in the practice of bhakti can make our and others’ mind agitated or others’ fanaticism can make our mind agitated also. So, it’s not bhakti practice that makes our mind agitated. And additionally, it could also be that just as sometimes by past karma we get some physical diseases.
So, that’s a time when physical pain is more. Sometimes it may also be that by past karma we may get some mental issues, mental distress may be more for us. So, now with respect to, this is the first issue.
So, it’s just as past karma, it’s not because of bhakti practice, it’s just because of past karmic reaction playing out. Now, with respect to devotees often causing agitation to us, well, yeah, it’s possible because, again, different devotees have different conceptions of bhakti, different conceptions of what is important bhakti, of how bhakti is to be practiced. And one disadvantage we have is that because we are trying to follow some standards, we often become judgmental.
And we think that we are being spiritual by being judgmental. Actually, I’m helping you by telling you that you’re wrong. It may be, it may not be.
So, the problem with being judgmental is that we often dismiss people’s sentiments as sentimentality. And we also think that we are in a superior position to correct others. So, it creates a lot of psychological issues when we become judgmental.
And also, just the sheer variety of people whom we have to work with, that can be difficult. So, we have to recognize that within devotee association, there are many different kinds of devotees. There’s a senior Prabhupada disciple who told me that, he said that, devotees, the way more you practice bhakti in ISKCON, you discover that devotees can be more wonderful than you can imagine, and devotees can be more dreadful than you can imagine.
So, it is both ways. Sometimes, we see the dedication of some devotees, say, how can even be so dedicated? How can somebody so inspired, so inspiring to others? Somebody else may say, they may just criticize so harshly. How can somebody do that and still be a devotee? So, we will get both extremes.
So, we shouldn’t reduce devotee association to any one extreme. Most of us are in between, and we’ll have both extremes also. So, rather than reducing devotee association to only negative experiences, or rather than idealizing devotee association by looking at only positive extremes, we need to be realistic, and look for that devotee association that inspires us.
Within devotee association, if you find that some devotees I can’t get along, then keep a respectful distance. Bhaktivinoda Thakur says that we need to work with like-minded devotees. Sajati, Asha, Bhagwat, Bhakta Sangha, that is the principle that Swami’s Bhakta Sangha was into also.
So, sometimes I feel that that principle is not adequately emphasized in our emphasis on association. Association of devotees is very important. Yes, but a devotee who is completely into book distribution will not be able to appreciate another devotee who is spending hours in studying Shastra and conducting Bhakti Shastri and Bhakti Vaibhav courses.
So, then if we associate with devotees whose definition of success in Bhakti is reduced to only one particular activity, then they will create insecurity within us about what we are doing. And that we can’t, we need to keep a distance from them. I remember, I am a writer, I always wanted to write.
So, in India at that time, the biggest newspaper is Times of India. And in Times of India, there is a spiritual column called Speaking Tree. So, I used to read that when I was a child, when I was a student.
And I used to like, ideally dream one day I will write about it. And then, I started practicing Bhakti, I became a Vrindachari, I started writing articles. And one day, I just, I sent an article, I got the Speaking Tree email address, I sent an article, and a few days later, that article was published.
I was so delighted, a dream come true. So, I came to the ashram and told devotees, my article is published in Speaking Tree. One devotee, how does a tree speak? So, they just couldn’t understand at all.
And even when other devotees, who are well read, okay, why are you so excited about it? But, it was then a few, maybe a few weeks later, Jaya Doit Maharaj came from Pune. And then I had already published in some small local Indian newspapers, in Pune-based newspapers. This was my publication in a national newspaper.
So, then I made a comparison of all my articles. I showed it to Jaya Doit Maharaj, and he was so happy. He said, Prabhupada has blessed you, Krishna has blessed you, keep writing.
He said, others can manage, others can counsel, you focus on writing. And he was very profusely encouraging, so much so that when I asked him, how can I improve writing, he gave me a long list of books. At that time, there was not much internet in India, Amazon was not there.
I asked Maharaj, how will I get this? These are not Indian author books, how will I get it? So, actually, Maharaj went to America, and then he personally went to a book shop, purchased all the books, and through different devotees coming to India, he sent the books to me. So, the Chowpatty Temple President, he told me, he phoned me and he said that Jaydev Maharaj gave me some books. Another devotee was a senior devotee in Juhu Temple, he told me Jaydev Maharaj gave me some books.
So, I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of reciprocation I got from him. So, that was the time I realized that, you know, I need like-minded association. Devotees are not into writing, they will not appreciate it.
But devotees are writing, they will profusely appreciate it. So, we do need like-minded association. And when you find that, then you will be able to move forward.
And the third part about wanting to do service in isolation, I think all of us have our natures. Some of us are more introvert, some of us are more extrovert. So, some people need more space.
And overall, our moment is an extrovert moment. Go out and do kirtans, go out and do Harinaam, go out and do this. So, it’s an overall extrovert moment.
And often introversion is considered to be Maya. You don’t want to associate devotees, you want to be alone. Now, it can be Maya.
Of course, when we are alone, we are alone with our mind. And the mind can get us into trouble. But it’s not necessary that it is Maya.
As a modern philosopher was asked, he was atheist, so he asked, what is your conception of hell? So he said, hell means other people. So, some people were just so averse. So, if somebody is an introvert or somebody feels the need for their own space, then it’s not that that is wrong.
Then they need some kind of service. And, of course, one cannot be completely disconnected. We will need some association.
We will need some guidance of some devotees who will give us space and at the same time monitor us within that space in a way that introvert, as an extrovert nature, but simply burned by devotee association and then tries to be an introvert, that will not work. So, then it’s best that they try to find like-minded association and connect with that and serve that. But, if some devotee wants to serve a little bit at a distance, then they can find a service where they can serve sustainably.
That is perfectly fine.