How can one avoid defying authority in the name of serving according to svabhava?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
The question is that sometimes because of the mode of passion we may want to avoid troublesome services or something which we don’t like or sometimes we just want to reject authority out of the mode of passion and then that will not lead to future advancement. So when there is a structured program it is an initial place for the devotees to grow.
So how can one ensure that one is not just trying to avoid authority but is actually trying to serve Krishna sincerely and discover one’s nature of service in serving Krishna. Yes. In principle the devotees who come to the ashram it is that they come I have come here to serve Krishna.
It is not that I have come here to serve Krishna and this, this, this way. They are coming with preconditions that are not exactly in the mode of Brahmacharya. So generally our primary mode is I want to serve Krishna.
So that basic understanding should be there that whatever way I am told I will engage. I will engage myself in that service. But along with that if a devotee is voluntarily and happily engaged in a service that is a burden of the authority.
How is it? Many ways. First of all the devotee doesn’t have to be the authority doesn’t have to be worried whether the devotee is going to do the service or not. And another thing is when the devotee is not happily engaged the devotee may the mind may drag one to do wrong things also.
And one has to have lot of vigilance on that person. And then further one has to worry if the devotee will be able to continue because there are so many problems going on. So in one sense rather than seeing the authority and the devotees in an adversarial relationship that authority wants the devotee to do something and devotee wants to do something else.
We can re-imagine this as a partnership. But both of them are trying to find out how best can this devotee engage in Krishna’s service. So now there are broadly three possibilities.
One is that say the particular center or the particular authority has a particular focus. And the devotee who has come in new that devotee can just generate or harmonize with that focus. Say for example a particular temple has a lovely distribution.
And some devotee also feels very inspired. And the flasher wants to go out and meet people and persuade people to distribute books. Such a devotee will to a large extent effortlessly grow within that system.
Because the devotee’s individual nature is vibing generally with the particular institutional focus. Now this is one possibility. The other extreme would be that the devotee feels that I just can’t do what is being done.
That’s not my nature. And this is not necessarily wrong. It’s not necessarily wrong.
But that devotee strongly feels I still want to do something different. Then if one wants to do something different from what is the particular forum’s focus then one has to know that most of the time I will have to engage in it. I cannot expect the institution to give up its focus and start assisting me in whatever I want to do.
Then I will have to do that on my own. So for example if I want to write and then I want to distribute my writing. Now of course with the internet things are very easy.
But if I decide I want to write and I want to run a magazine then I will have to find out how I will get the magazine published. How I will distribute the magazine. If it’s my desire to write the authorities may not stop me.
But I cannot expect the authorities to stop what they are doing and allocate resources for helping me in doing what I do. Is it clear? So if something means my own desire it’s not necessarily divisible. If it’s within the purview of devotional service and I strongly believe it as my calling then I can do it.
But then I have to know that I will have to take initiative. And it is not easy. It requires a lot of determination to be able to do this.
And the third is where most devotees will lie. That is we are able to accept partially what the authorities tell us and then let’s parse in something which is of our interest and we pursue that also. So for example say if a particular temple’s focus is say a college preaching but then some devotee wants to do lot of Shastra study.
So now the devotee can do some amount of college preaching and take a significant amount of time also for Shastra study. And then gradually what will happen is that by doing this the devotee will be doing something which the institution also wants and along with that the devotee will also be developing one’s own skills and as one becomes more learned in Shastra then one’s own role may evolve and one may be able to make a specific contribution over there. So in general the devotee should come in the mode of being ready to do whatever service I want but then rather than the devotee thinking that the authority wants to fit me and force me in a service which I can’t do like you know something square in a circle or something like that.
It’s not that way. Nor should the in general if some devotee is dedicated to life of Krishna the authority should also not think that this devotee has a defiant attitude. Devotees come in to serve Krishna.
So if somehow it happens that that devotee and the authority have adversarial sort of relationship then it’s better to maybe change the counselor or have some other authority so that that authority particular authority is representative of the institution. So even if that devotee cannot get along with that particular authority so I talk about Maharaj Stone some people can get along with some people some people can’t get along with some people that’s just the way people are. That’s just the way people are.
So what I said is if you cannot get along with some people don’t become enemies. You know have a respectful distance and work with people with whom you can get along. Because otherwise if we have if we are forced to work with people with whom we just cannot work then so much mental energy goes in just trying to trying to just get along that we we just can’t do much service.
And then I am right you are no I am right I am right actually the end result is so much energy gets wasted. So in worst case situations if this works at a particular relationship does it work then rather than trying to somehow make it work and spoiling the relationship in that better keep a distance and then find out some other authority which one can work and in this case one should not bring in bring in factors like say faithfulness and betrayal or something like that you know I have got into Krishna how can you leave me and go don’t you have any gratitude no we should not think like that ultimately that person has come to Krishna that person is connected to Krishna through me or to someone else it is not as important as the person getting connected to Krishna some devotees may have a skill we learn over a period of time that some devotees may have a skill of attracting people to Krishna but they may not have the skill of engaging people in Krishna sense they can give classes they have a charisma by which people can attract and they can do their own well and if they start dissipating their energy trying to engage and cultivate and maintain devotees then they are not going to do this also so in that sense I would say the most important factor in determining this is to not have adversarial relationship but to have a partnership relationship where both authority and devotee are both trying to find out how can that devotee be happily and productively engaged in Krishna sense