​How do we stay committed in our devotional relationships when devotees don’t seem inspiring?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So in our relationship with devotees also sometimes we go through attachment and detachment and then where does commitment come in and how can we develop that commitment. See our relationship with devotees especially those devotees who say inspire us in our bhakti yeah those who inspire us in bhakti that evolves more or less in a similar way like a child’s relationship evolves with the parents. The child is new born the child is completely dependent on the parents.
So for the children the parents are practically like God. They can do no wrong. Whatever they do is perfect.
And that’s our initial attitude towards the devotees who have brought us to bhakti. Very reverential very respectful they think oh you are a pure devotee you are the representative of Krishna for me. Whatever you say it is Sakshat Paramatma speaking to you.
We think like that. And then when children get into teenage and adolescence then they go to the other extreme. You know rather than in the earlier days my parents can do no wrong then the adolescence if my parents tell it it must be wrong.
So we go into rebellious phase and to some extent this is natural because as they grow up as their intelligence develops to some extent they also develop their own individuality and they start seeing my parents also have flaws. But over a period of time they should outgrow their adolescence and they understand yes my parents are not perfect but nor are they ill-motivated nor are they bad. No, they have done a lot for me and then there is a relationship that is based on reality where there is gratitude where there is acknowledgement of what they have done and there is also recognition that they are not perfect.
So similarly in our relationship with devotees we initially think that you know maybe as I said that the devotees are perfect and then afterwards we start seeing faults with them. Then we start feeling nobody cares for me everybody has their own agendas then nobody actually there is no selfless attitude here and everybody is busy in their projects and then we start becoming very judgmental and we start becoming very negative of devotees but as we move onwards we start recognizing that yes everybody is imperfect even the devotees are guiding us they also may have their limitations but most devotees are not ill-intentioned they are not ill-intentioned they desire to serve Krishna and they are serving Krishna so we recognize what they are doing and we are grateful for them. Another point in this is that Rupa Goswami says in Bhakti Samudra that we need Sajatiya Aashe Bhagwat Bhakti Sangha he says we need like-minded devotee association and as we grow in bhakti and gradually we start understanding our own mind that means we come to Sattva Guna and we start understanding our own nature.
Prabhupada writes in the introduction of network instruction that as we come to the mode of goodness then everything about how to advance will be revealed from within that essentially means we start understanding our own nature not nature necessarily in terms of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra but basically what is our Raag, what is our likes, what is our dislikes, what is it that inspires us, what is it that causes us irritation and then as we start understanding our own nature we will naturally look for that devotee association where which is like-minded. So, it may not necessarily be true that the devotees who inspired us initially in Bhakti, they may have the same like-mindedness that we have. So, now one way of looking at it is that we should just surrender to our senior devotees and we just do what they are telling us to do.
If they can do that, that is fine. But if we can’t do that, if our natures are very different then we take the blessings, take the sanction of our senior devotee and we get a primary devotional nourishment from those devotees who are like-minded. Prabhupada has given us a house in which the whole world can live.
So, that means there are devotees of many different dispositions and as long as we are broadly engaged in the service of Krishna, we find a like-minded devotee association and we continue on in practicing Bhakti. So, rather than again, as I said, we don’t see that relationship with the devotee as only the relationship with that devotee. That means that it is the same Krishna who inspired me earlier through one Vaishnava is now inspiring me through another Vaishnava.
So, neither of those devotees, the devotees who were guiding us earlier, they also should not think that this person has become an upstart, has rejected me, has become a deviant and gone somewhere else. No, they should know that it is Krishna who acted through me, inspired me and now that same Krishna may inspire them through someone else. So, if we see the Krishna connection, because we know that those devotees inspired me, those devotees did a lot for me, we have gratitude for those devotees.
By the same time, all of us, we have to find the best way in which we can serve Krishna lifelong and that is, throughout our life, we need someone else to keep pushing us, keep pushing us, keep pushing us, then we will not be able to make very tangible advancement in our life. So, we need someone to keep us, we need someone pushing us, we need someone else to keep pushing us, we need someone else to keep pushing us, we need someone to keep pushing us, so we don’t else to push us, you may say, but do not yourself, do not do that, so what do you really have, what are the consequences of pushing yourself, relationship within bhakti. If we are always dependent on others pushing us, we have to, to some extent, get some inspiration in our own life so that we can serve Krishna.
And within that inspiration, we get inspiration from other devotees who are doing that similar service. So, the important thing is that we don’t disrespect or reject those devotees who have helped us earlier. But it is also natural that as we grow in our spiritual life, the same devotees who inspired it in a particular way, they may not inspire us later.
That’s just the way they grow, we grow. But we are grateful for what they’ve done for us. And we, with, we, it shouldn’t be that we reject them.
We still respect them. We’re still grateful to them. But we need to see where, how is Krishna inspiring me? And how can I keep serving Krishna? So, the element of commitment is primarily in our service to Krishna.
And those who are assisting us in our service to Krishna, especially our spiritual master, we take the blessings of the spiritual master. At least, we are working under the guidance of the spiritual master in a broad sense. But there is also the element of taking one’s own initiative in bhakti.
We have to follow the instructions. But while following instructions, we also have to understand how I can best serve. And that way, within the movement itself, we can find a service which you can do sustainably.
So, I don’t know, did I answer your question? You can speak. Yes, thank you. Especially, like the point about initiative.
It’s a very crucial issue because to be a loyal and obedient follower of Brahma Brah, working in an institution,