If we can’t accept people where they are, what can we do?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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understand it fully. Thank you.
So, if we do not have the acceptance of people where they are going to. Broadly, there are two kinds of people. Now, actually speaking, this terminology does not really apply to this council much.
Because even the most liberal respondents are more conservative than the most conservative Christians or other liberals. Now, who is following more liberal principles? Who is Chinese extremists? So, we could say that our liberal is also very conservative. But to some extent, broadly speaking, the people who are conservative, they are more concerned about structures, about hierarchies, about processes.
People who are more liberal are concerned more about people. Now, both are important. I gave a class last Sunday on North Carolina on this topic.
Let us suppose somebody is a doctor. Now, somebody is a doctor. They follow the process if they want to treat the person.
Okay, cut that vein from this part and remove this. Very carefully they have to follow. So, processes are not unimportant.
Processes, standards, protocols, they are not unimportant. But suppose that particular patient has some other complication, then the standard protocol just cannot work. So, you cannot just say I followed the process and the patient had certain particular background, particular problems.
That is not my fault. Then what you will have is operation successful, patient dead. So, that is what happens sometimes.
Operation teaching successful, student, yet got the one and you are done. Goes away, never to come back. Not to Krishna, but away from Krishna.
So, processes are important. But people are also important. So, what integrates process and people, the importance of process and people is purpose.
The purpose is not just to please the people. The purpose is not just to follow the process. The purpose is to get people to come closer to Krishna.
To bring proximity to Krishna. The purpose is what unifies. So, if we have a focus on purpose, then we will be able to, yes, naturally we may gravitate towards, some people will gravitate towards process, some people will gravitate towards people.
That is more important. And to some extent, it may be that that is the way we are wired. All of us have a particular kind of body and mind.
And it may well be that it is not so easy for people who are conservative to become liberal or for liberal to become conservative. But what can happen is, we can see that we both have a common purpose. And we can be united based on purpose.
And then I may be conservative and I may preach and practice in a conservative way. That’s fine. But as long as I don’t say that, my way is the only way.
And the liberals won’t say, oh, these conservative people are tolerant, they are so tolerant, they are so chastening and all. Okay, this is the way I practice Krishna consciousness. This is what inspires me.
This is what has worked for me. That’s why I’m practicing this way. If somebody else wants to practice in some other way, that’s up to them.
So, if we see the commonality, the purpose, and we don’t, we don’t need people who practice in a different way, then that’s good enough. And one last thing I’ll say is that, if especially we hear from, hear from people, hear them, then we can understand where they are coming from. So, when I came from India, I came from India and in India, in our classes, we have offered them a lot of sarcastic jokes about how attached people are to their dogs.
When I came to America, I was quite shocked that many devotees also had dogs as pets. And then I was spending time. Now, when we say, somebody called Prabhupada, Prabhupada, I mean Prabhupada said that also, but if you don’t love God, you don’t love dog.
Something like that. Now, actually speaking in today’s world, for people, for most people, there are many psychological studies I actually present. I do a lot of presenting on philosophical psychology.
So, many psychological studies say that for people who are depressed, who are lonely, who are addicted, having a pet is a big step forward. Now, I’m not recommending pets in any way. The point I’m exploring is that we may say that, oh, people are loving dogs instead of dogs.
But in people’s manual life, God is not even an option. So, for them, a dog is competing with drugs. A dog is competing with maybe indiscriminate net surfing, maybe constant video gaming, social media obsession.
Now, compared to all these, a dog is a big step up for them. And so, if we hear from people, we understand where they’re coming from. Yesterday, I was at Mirveski in Rwanda, so in Wisconsin, and I was talking about how philosophical psychology can help us deal with difficulties.
So, what are the difficult situations you have recently gone through? And I guess I’m trying to figure out how you do it. So, one of the moments she spoke over there, and then she said that, oh, I had a dog for 21 years and he was very sick and I had to put him down. Put him down, basically, just to sedate him so that he dies, because he was in great pain.
So, what she said is such a traumatic incident. And as you’re speaking, there is a certain kind of trauma. Now, if somebody’s coming from that background and you say that my dogs are terrible, it doesn’t work.
So, if we understand people, where they’re coming from, then that itself generates some empathy. So, I think those three things, not see the common purpose. Acknowledge that there are different processes to that purpose, different parts of that purpose.
And understanding where people are coming from, that can increase that acceptance.