How can we avoid pride while doing service?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
as a means to increase my bhakti towards Krishna.
Thank you. So, similarly, it is not that because of the service the pride develops. The pride is already there.
The pride expresses itself because we have done some service which is praiseworthy. So, the first point is that not doing service is not the solution to pride. But the pride is already there.
And for the same pride, the same anartha which expresses itself as pride when we do a service well, will then express itself as envy when somebody else does service well. So, we can’t wish away the anartha. So, that anartha has to go in a purification.
And purification happens by doing service. So, first of all, not doing service is not a solution at all. Now, secondly, when we do service, certainly we will become proud if we do service well.
And that’s not necessarily bad. Why? Because we all need a certain level of sense of belonging, certain level of acceptability, certain level of respectability. It’s a natural human need.
I’ll talk about this difference more later. But pride doesn’t always, wanting recognition or appreciation for one’s service doesn’t necessarily have to be an expression of pride. It’s just a basic human need.
We are relational beings and we need relationships. And relationship means appreciation also. We appreciate each other.
So, if we don’t get acceptability and respectability in the circle of devotees, we will seek it in the non-devotee circle. And trying to become acceptable and respectable in the non-devotee circle will require us to do all devotional activities. And that will actually degrade us.
So, even if I sit erect and attentive during my chanting so that everybody thinks I am a serious chanter, at least because of that I am seriously being serious. That’s a big thing. If I make that the end, then it’s a big problem.
But we all need acceptability and respectability. And it’s better to seek that in the devotee circle than in the non-devotee circle. That’s the second point.
Third point is that when we practice bhakti, we have a choice that even while practicing bhakti, there are certain material pleasures that come. When somebody praises us, is that pleasure material or spiritual? It depends on how we take it. If we think that other devotees praise me when I am doing a good service, if I think based on that that oh now they are all understanding how great I am, then that can well become expression of the ego.
But we can also take that appreciation as this is Krishna encouraging me to do a service. Krishna wants me to do a service. Krishna has given me some abilities and let me use them myself.
That means when we gain that appreciation, we have a choice whether we remember ourselves as independent centers of glory or we remember ourselves as channels for Krishna’s glory. So it is Krishna who is using me to spread his glory. And I am grateful to Krishna that he is using me for that purpose.
So when we focus on Krishna that way, then that praise, that appreciation that comes, that will not inflate our ego. So in the Gopi Gita, the Gopis say that nija jana smaya dhamsana smita. It is a very enigmatic phrase.
Your nija jana, your own devotees, smaya is pride. Dhamsana smita, your smile destroys the pride of your devotees. What does it mean? It means that when we become humiliated, Krishna becomes happy.
What it means is that when Krishna smiles at us, when we see Krishna’s beauty, when we praise Krishna and we relish his beauty, that gives us such a higher happiness that we start feeling that the happiness that comes from pride, it is so trivial. I had this experience. When I first started giving classes, the most eagerly awaited part of the class was after the class.
Who didn’t come and appreciate me? That was just the initial phase that I went through. But afterwards, one day I gave a class and I thought it was a very good class and nobody appreciated me after that. And then, after that, this thought came to me.
When I was giving the class, I was speaking about Krishna and I was so happy. But after giving the class, when I am expecting appreciation, I am so miserable. So the remembrance of Krishna gives far greater satisfaction than somebody else’s praise for having spoken about Krishna.
So, it’s not that by no means am I free from pride. But at least that experience gave me a jolting reminder that the happiness in remembering Krishna is, even if I am self-centered, even from a self-centered point of view, I just care for my own happiness. Then, even for my own happiness, seeking happiness in Krishna is a far more, far stabler source of happiness than seeking happiness in being praised by others.
So, like that, if you just analyze, if you practice bhakti with a little analytical frame of mind, you will find that the happiness in doing service to Krishna is actually far deeper and far stabler than the happiness coming from the pride of having done the service well. That is all in Andhra life. And that way, we can shift our focus from the service that we are doing to the person for whom we are doing that service, for Krishna.
And gradually, by that, we will start doing that service irrespective of whether we get appreciation or not. Because we will get connected with Krishna. So, to summarize, the cure for pride is not separation of talent.
It is not that I stop doing my service. It is purification of intent. Yes, I have become proud of doing service.
But I think, why am I doing service? If I had to become a public speaker, I didn’t have to become a devotee or a brahmachari for that. I could have spoken on the other topic. No, I have come to Krishna because I want to go to Krishna.
So, like that, when we think of the purpose of our service, and by repeatedly reminding ourselves, we purify our intent. Then, by that intent to focus on Krishna, we experience higher happiness and the pride will itself go away. Just meditating, I should not be proud, I should not be proud.
That is not a very positive way of getting rid of pride. Because you know, sometimes, somebody will say, I am very fallen, I am very fallen. It’s good if that sentiment is authentic.
But the ego is so sinister that I say, I am very fallen, but my ego’s focus shift from fallen to high. So, rather than worrying too much about whether I am becoming proud of my service or not, proud because of my service or not, we focus on whether I am serving Krishna and whether I am reviving Krishna. And by that, the pride will come and it will go.