How can we continue in bhakti when our faith in devotees is shaken?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
the question is that initially when we come to the system of devotees we have a lot of faithful devotees but as we keep practicing bhakti because of various interactions whatever faith in the devotees starts decreasing and we don’t have so much direct faith in Krishna also then how can we continue? in our association with devotees in our relationship with devotees we will go through different phases like a small infant is there for the baby the mother is their God the mother is the source of love the source of life, the source of everything mother and father are like God for them but then as the child grows up then it’s natural that the parents may love the child a lot but still the parents are also humans and they have their voice so then if the child focuses only on the voice of the parents and then that can go into an ultra-various mode where the child forgets everything that the parents have done and it just goes completely away from the parents and it’s undesirable a more mature development chart is yes, my parents also have faults we are all struggling everyone is doing their best according to their capacity and despite whatever limitations they may have, whatever faults they may have they have done so much for me and based on that we have a stable relationship so often when we come in the association of devotees initially it’s like, we know nothing and devotees know everything so it is like, we often we do not say directly but devotees, we can say devotees perfectly but as we keep practicing bhakti, we will find that everybody has enough yes the serious devotees, they are seriously battling their anarthas but it’s not that the anarthas go away so when sometimes we find that those devotees who inspired us a lot earlier, later on we find that they have some faults and then the same inspiration doesn’t come then a negative response to that is to just start condemning those devotees you know, you are a hypocrite, I thought you were a pure devotee I know you are this anartha, you are this anartha then that is undesirable because even if they are not pure devotees even if they are far away from pure devotees, still they have helped us in our journey towards Krishna so it’s not that we can expect faith to be like a frozen commodity, the faith that we had right in the beginning will have that throughout our future life so as we evolve as individuals, as we evolve as devotees we find that we have our own natures and Rupa Goswami, the Bhakti Rishabh which Hindus takes, he says that we have to take satsangra but then he also specifies something more sa jatiya ashaas mitla sangra sa jatiya ashaas means those devotees who have the same category of desires that we have sa jatiya ashaas same category of desires like minded devotees so we may be inspired by one devotee or one set of devotees but as our nature evolves and as say we find out that we have particular talents, we have particular interests we have particular kind of thinking particular kind of questions now it’s not that that’s wrong if we find that we cannot accept everything that a particular devotee says it’s not that it’s wrong that devotee is one individual, I am a different individual so because I am not you that does not mean I am crazy and because you are not, I am different that does not mean you are crazy so it’s just that we have to find out devotees who inspire us who are like minded and develop relationship with that we are always grateful to those devotees but we have to find out the association that inspires us and manage that more and by then we move onwards towards Krishna so we cannot live in the association of devotees with closed eyes not seeing any faults at all if somebody has faults we cannot blind ourselves to those faults but it is not necessary that we reduce the devotees to that falsehood they have faults but they have no good also and if I find something else some other, this particular devotee association I don’t find inspiring it’s not that we are a real devotee association but we can find out some devotees whose association inspires us and get nourishment for bhakti in that so Sajati Vashasthi Prasanga is very important to find out like minded devotees and befriend them and move forward in our bhakti by that and that way we will not only feel ourselves understood and valued and loved but we grow in our bhakti so we don’t have to have unrealistic expectations from devotees one of the thing when I have faced this problem that some devotees whom I value a lot and somehow in some way they disappointed me it may well be that I had my problems but all the devotions that I have faced everyone is doing their best now that best basically goes to me but I don’t know what conditions, I don’t know what problems they are facing so therefore in that situation they are doing their best if that doesn’t, if some of that doesn’t inspire me, that discourages me then I find out who inspires me it’s very important to not see devotees as disconnected from Krishna what does that mean? to see devotees as disconnected from Krishna means that if we see a devotee as an independent source of inspiration, then if that devotee stops inspiring us, then we have no source of inspiration the more proper understanding is to see that it is Krishna who is inspiring us through that devotee and if somehow that devotee has some problems or whatever, then I find out from whom has Krishna inspired me so if we separate the devotee from Krishna then our bhakti will run into a lot of problems but if we know that the devotee connects with Krishna that it is Krishna who is inspiring me through this devotee and that same Krishna is now inspiring me through this devotee so then we can keep moving forward in our bhakti and we will be Krishna conscious in our association because it’s just not possible for, as our movement grows for senior devotees to, you know, we have a spiritual master or other senior devotees it’s not possible for them to give the same kind of attention, same kind of time, same kind of affection, which we might have got in the initial days, it’s just the way way it is that there are so many devotees and the community is so big, so we shouldn’t think that, take that as a personal rejection and many specifics are envisioned in different scenarios where this can happen so many devotees feel dissatisfied because they don’t get the association of a spiritual master it’s true, but in the spiritual master, no matter how exalted the devotee, the spiritual master is, the spiritual master also has 24 hours a day and it’s not possible to meet everyone in Krishna, so we have to see from where I can get inspiration and keep moving forward and Krishna is inspiring us primarily through the spiritual master but Krishna can inspire us through many other devotees also, so by focusing on the Krishna connection see that it is Krishna who inspires me through different devotees at different times we can always make sure that we keep moving always towards Krishna by finding out which devotee inspires and cherishing that association and not letting some frustrations, some expectations with some other devotees choke our heart that fragmented vision is very undesirable, Kunti Malini says Snehu Aashidham Chinti Dhunham Pandu Shubh Shubh Shubh Krishna, I want my consciousness to flow towards you and if my attachment to Pandu, my own sons if I become attached and I’m separate from you then please cut off that attachment now we see the Pandavas are not just devotees they are pure devotees and how can a devotee say that cut off my attachment to devotees, he doesn’t cut off my attachment to devotees if somehow my attachment to a devotee to someone is coming in the name of my devotion to Krishna so this is a whole deep subject but I just mentioned this there can be material attachment to devotees and there can be spiritual attachment to devotees material attachment to devotees means it’s not necessarily bad because somehow we are attached to Krishna through his devotees but material attachment means we don’t see the devotee connected with Krishna and we see the devotee oh this devotee sings so well, this devotee speaks so nicely, this devotee is so loving all that is very good but that is Krishna’s ability, Krishna’s love is manifested in that devotee so material attachment means we see the devotee as an independent source of affection or source of qualities or source of abilities and if that devotee is not able to provide that then our country collapses so if say if some unfavorable interaction with some devotees starts affecting our bhakti then we need to introspect, maybe it was our attachment to them was material and then we can focus on trying to spiritualizing that relationship or trying to find out some other relationship where the spiritual aspect can develop more easily so to summarize, by not becoming not having unrealistic expectations and not becoming hyper critical of devotees if they don’t develop expectations by finding out like minded devotees where our talents, our nature, our inspiration grows and by seeing devotees as not independent sources of mercy or inspiration but as channels of Krishna’s inspiration and only then Krishna can inspire me through other channels also that way we can keep moving forward in our bhakti no matter what ups and downs happen in the devotee association does that answer your question? thank you