How can we insulate ourselves from being discouraged by criticism?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
The question is that can we, for a sadhaka, any of our devotees, can we insulate ourselves from criticism just by meditating on the instruction of the spiritual master? Or how can, at our stage, we do that? First thing is that it’s not necessary that all criticism is bad. Sometimes the criticism may also have an element of truth in it. And the criticism may be beneficial for us.
So at the same time, criticism has to be given in a framework of affection. Criticism is like doing surgery. Now it’s not that a patient walks into the hospital and doctors start doing surgery on him.
No, first there is diagnosis, first there is explanation of the problem, then after the explanation of the problem is there, then after that there is a consent of the patient, and then after that there is anesthesia given, then there is surgery done, and then after that also there is pain medicine given. So the point is surgery cannot be done indiscriminately. So those who are in the position of authority and they need to correct, there is correction which is all of us require.
Now it’s not that if we are not corrected, we will not go in the correct path. We may also think that I am just doing bhakti, but we may be doing something according to our mind. So it’s not that all criticism is bad.
But criticism has to be given in an atmosphere of basic affection. So the philosophies are explained and guidance is given. And basically the point is that there is an action and there is a person.
So now the action is wrong and the action needs to be corrected. So if there is a relationship of affection between two people, between the counselor and the counselee or the guide and the, is there a word, guidee? Between the guide and the guided. So at that time, basically the guided person understands that yes, this particular action that I did, that is wrong.
But it is not that I am good for nothing. You know, we, everyone in the soul is dear to Krishna. And every soul is precious for Krishna.
Every soul has the potential to love and serve Krishna. So what should we as well as others or guiding us, it should be a cooperative effort where we see that you are here and this mistake that you are doing is here. Whatever I am speaking is not targeted at you.
It is targeted at this mistake that was committed and this mistake needs to be corrected. Now that mistake can be an opinion also. And opinion may also be wrong.
So even when we are countering somebody’s opinion, we should know that that person and their opinion are not the same. People change their opinions. And sometimes people may honestly be mistaken.
Honestly be mistaken means they honestly think this is the right thing, but it may be wrong. So we should not think that just because their opinion is wrong, that is the perspective from the overall way in which correction should be given. And we as devotees, if we find that, you know, several senior devotees are saying the same thing, then maybe it is a mistake with me.
It is not just that somebody is critical. But if everybody is feeling the same way, then maybe I have to correct myself. And if sometimes despite our best efforts, there is criticism that happens and we feel that it is very discouraging, then yes, we may not have a like-minded association immediately around us.
But we also take time to understand what our own nature is. In the early stages of our life, we may think I like something. The mind’s nature is that it always keeps us dissatisfied with whatever we do.
So whatever service I am given, the mind will tell you this is not my nature. That way the mind takes the easy way out and doesn’t do any hard work. So there is also the principle of surrender.
That means when we are given some instruction, when we are given some service, we follow that instruction, we try to do that service. But while doing whatever services we are doing, we should also be observing to see, okay, what is it that I am good at? What is it that I like doing? So when we say guna, karma, vibhag, chaturvali, maya asushtam, guna, karma, vibhag, 4.13 it is said. Now guna and karma, what does that essentially mean? Guna means actually internal compatibility.
We like to do that. And karma means external competence. So we can observe while we are doing various services, what is it that we like to do and what is it that we are good at doing.
And over a period of time, gradually we can gravitate towards that service more and more. So that will happen organically. We don’t have to do it artificially and say that, okay, this is not my nature, so I will not do this service.
But we can, and if we have some special talent, we also have to put in some special effort to find out how we can be encouraged in that service. So suppose somebody is a singer, and then they should find out other devotees who are singers. Maybe nowadays through social media we can correspond.
So we can find out ways in which we can stay in touch with devotees who are inspired in things that we are doing. And that way, we can write. We can do that service and we can move on.
So I always had a desire to write. But when I was in a devotee circle where, in the last 10-15 years, many devotee authors have started writing. In the past, there were not so many devotee authors who were writing.
So in India, there is a newspaper, the number of newspaper times of India, there is a spiritual column called Speaking Tree, which is read by millions of people. So I once, I wrote an article and it was published in Speaking Tree. So for me, that was a big success.
I was the first ISKCON devotee whose article was published in Speaking Tree. After that, many other devotees have also written. But I was the first person.
So when I wrote it, I went and told other devotees, you know, my article was published in Speaking Tree. So all the devotees, how does the tree speak? You know, they had no understanding of it at all. So, I felt very discouraged.
But soon after that, but soon after that, Jaydev Maharaj had come there. And I had published several articles by that time. So I showed him, I made an ISKCON compilation, I showed it.
And he was so happy. He said, Prabhupada wanted devotees to write, just keep writing. And then, he went to America.
And from America, he mailed around 12 books on writing for me. And then he sent them through some senior devotees, through our temple president, through other devotees. All of them he sent.
So then, I felt very encouraged by that. So the point is, that if we are trying to serve in a particular way, we need those who are more courageous. And the other devotees are not bad devotees.
We shouldn’t think that they are bad. They have different conception of things. So, if we have particular talent, we should go out of our way to try to nourish that talent.
And also try to get associated with and encourage that talent. At the same time, that doesn’t mean we reject whatever service we are doing. We keep doing what we are doing.
And we also try to extend our propensity. A devotee’s mood is that, how can I become a more and more effective instrument in the service of Krishna. So, right now I am doing some service, let me do that.
But along with that, if there are some other things which I can learn and I can do them better, I should do that also. So devotees should be, you can treat our spiritual life like we would treat our career. If we are in a job, we do whatever our boss tells us to do.
But at the same time, we are also seeing, okay, maybe I can learn this skill. Then maybe I will get a raise. Or maybe if I do this, if I learn this application, if I learn this software, maybe then I will get a promotion.
So, you know, we do what our boss tells us to do. But we don’t stop with that. We also try to proactively plan how we can go in our career.
Similarly, in our bhakti, we do what our authorities tell us to do. But along with that, we take responsibility for our spiritual growth. And we see how I can serve Krishna.
We should be thinking that, I should find a service that inspires me, which I can keep doing throughout my life. It is not that all the time in our life, there has to be some authority standing with a stick. Do this, do this, do this.
Even if we are without association of devotees, we should not be without association. We should always try to have association. But even if we don’t have association, we should have a service that we can keep doing lifelong.
And finding such a service is our responsibility. And by finding such a service, we do whatever services we are told to do. And along with that, we also keep looking so that we find out what inspires us.
And that way, we can have both the balance of surrendering and taking initiative. Does that answer your question?