How can we deal with materialistic people while practicing Krishna consciousness?

From: Abhijit Vanve

How to deal with materialistic person being KC devotee?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Now question from Abhijit Manve Prabhu, how to deal with materialistic person being Krishna conscious devotee? The question is unclear here, whether this refers to oneself being a materialistic person who has become a Krishna conscious devotee or whether it refers to that I am a Krishna conscious devotee and how should I deal with materialistic persons? In either way the answer is patience and intelligence, you know, if somebody is materialistic and has become a Krishna conscious devotee then at that time we should recognize that that person will have certain conditionings because of which that person may not be able to follow the principles properly and may have struggles with the lingering effects of materialism. So we should be patient and encouraging so that that person can overcome the struggles.
At the same time we have to be intelligent. If that person is flagrantly violating standards and misrepresenting devotees in public forums or is agitating the minds of devotees is contaminating the association in that way then that person has to be told to regulate the behavior at least within civil limits and then to be encouraged to practice Krishna consciousness in a way that is that is that is that is healthy for one’s own practice for one’s public perception and one’s effect on devotee association. Now if we are devotees the second meaning if we are devotees and we are practicing devotional service and then we have to deal with materialistic people how should we deal with them? Again patience and intelligence apply.
We should not be judgmental about them and condemn that they are all fallen because we were also like that not so long ago. We should as much as possible try to be considerate and even compassionate. So we need to recognize that they come from different places not just physically but psychologically they have different conditionings and accordingly they are behaving according to the circumstances that they are in right now.
So we should be able to help them in whatever way we can while protecting our own faith also. So in general among materialistic people we will find some who are inclined to know more about Krishna others who are apathetic towards Krishna and some who are antipathetic. So sympathetic means those who are inclined those who are uninterested and antipathetic means those who are inimical.
So the characteristic of a medium level devotee a madhyamadhikari it is described that such a devotee Prema Maitri Krupopeksha Yah Karoti Samadhyama such a person has love for the supreme lord friendship for devotees mercy for the innocent people and neglects the envious. So among the materialistic people if they are inclined towards Krishna consciousness then definitely we should try to share Krishna consciousness with them. If they are apathetic then depending on the nature of our relationship and frequency and necessity of the interactions we can behave in a courteous way but we don’t have to share their joys and sorrows which will naturally be materialistic because they are materialistic and whenever they become ready for Krishna we should be ready to offer them Krishna.
So we can be courteous but without becoming intimate with them and as far as those who are antipathetic towards Krishna consciousness then we should keep a distance from them. The only way we can serve them is through our prayers. So if we have to work with them for some reason or the other then we need to keep a safe emotional distance between them and us.
That means we can be official with them and do whatever dealings are necessary minimum and then go our own way in life because the more we talk about Krishna if they are antipathetic they will become more hostile, more critical, more offensive and that will be injurious for their own Krishna consciousness as well as possibly damaging for our own faith. So by sharing Krishna with the sympathetic by being courteous so that we can eventually share Krishna with the apathetic and by praying from a safe distance so that there is no injury to our faith or injury to their prospects we serve those who are antipathetic. This is how we can deal with materialistic people while being in Krishna consciousness.
Thank you.