​How to continue bhakti when we don’t have devotee association?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So it is said association of devotees is very important.
But what if when we are outside the temple, we have to associate with non-devotees? And what if we are in a situation where we have no option except to associate with non-devotees? Answer, association is not just physical proximity. Association is primarily emotional affinity. It’s not physical proximity.
Prabhupada would give the example that a fly sits on the lap of the spiritual master. The fly is not associating with the spiritual master. Because there is physical proximity but there is no emotional affinity there.
The fly simply irritates the spiritual master. So like that association is a matter of where the hearts are linked. So we may have to, for functional purposes, for professional purposes, we may have to associate with people.
And they may be devotees, they may be non-devotees. That is perfectly okay. Even in the past, in Vedic culture, it is not that even when Vedic culture was there, it is not that everybody was a devotee.
Everybody in the past, people were more dharmic. But it is not, even in the past also, it is not that everyone was a devotee. So there is always a prostitution possible where our values and the values of people around us may not be the same.
So in such a situation, we need some devotee association which inspires us to recommit ourselves to our spiritual values. And when we associate with devotees, there, essentially we should, there should be a transfer of spiritual desires. We associate with devotees because devotees want to study about Krishna, serve Krishna, chant about Krishna, worship Krishna.
And by associating with them, that desire should also come within us. And the desire is coming strongly within us, then we are associating with devotees wherever we may be. And if we work for functional purposes and while working with others, one of the advantages of today’s post-modern culture is people don’t intrude into others’ space.
You be what you want to be, you let me be what I want to be. That’s how people are mostly in the professions of the world also. So if we are doing our job well, if we are doing our work properly, then people let us do what we want to do.
They may push us a little bit, but if we make our boundaries clear, people leave it to us. So usually, if we have strong devotee association in terms of we are associating with those who infuse us with spiritual desires, then therein, we are getting good association wherever we may be. Nowadays, one advantage of technology is that we can get association even if we are not physically close to a temple, we can hear classes, we can be on through various medias, we can associate with devotees.
So we should make sure that we get spiritual desires through some association in some means. And while associating with materialistic people, if we stick primarily to the functional activity that we are doing and we don’t get involved in, maybe we are talking about movies and sense gratification and parties and these things, where these things involve anti-devotional actions, we don’t get involved in them, we keep a distance from them. Then that, we may be physically associating, but we won’t be emotionally degrading by that association.