If a senior devotee asks me to take up a major service that he himself is not good at, should I follow him?

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Transcript

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So if our seniors ask us to take some major step forward in our spiritual life, like taking Brahmacharya or taking Saffron, but we find that sometimes they themselves may not be very deeply convinced about that.
So how should we view them and their instructions, and how should we move forward? Answer, see the most important thing is, when we take a step forward in our spiritual life, it should be based as much on our conviction as someone else’s instruction. The spiritual master’s instruction is very strong, it should not be denied. But we also see that Prabhupada did not follow his spiritual master’s instruction immediately when he asked him to preach Krishna Consciousness.
He spent a lifetime in preparation. So sometimes, mostly our spiritual master will not give us direct instruction, do this or don’t do this. So we have the representative of the spiritual master, the counselor or the managerial authority or whoever, who gives us some instructions.
And at one level, we want to follow the instruction, but at another level, we have to look at our conviction and inspiration to see whether we can stick to it. So in general, when somebody gives us major life directions, you know, we should not just take those directions as mandatory instructions, unless that person has the authority to give us that instruction. But otherwise, we can use our intelligence and decide.
Say, for example, somebody may tell me that, you know, you should just do writing, you are such a good writer. Now that devotee may be a very good writer and that means this suggestion may inspire me, but I will see it as a suggestion, unless it comes from my spiritual master directly. So now certainly, if that devotee is an accomplished writer and that devotee says that I am a very good writer, then I will feel encouraged to become more committed to writing.
But there is something which is a direction pointer and there is something which is an instruction. The two are not necessarily the same. And we should not mistake that when somebody offers a direction pointing for us, that that person is instructing us.
Now we have to consider our situation and our conviction and then decide whether we can do it. And certainly there is a leap of faith involved. Whenever we take up any new tire project or a new service, there is a leap of faith.
At the same time, that leap of faith should be based not just on that senior devotee’s instruction, but also on our personal inspiration and conviction. Because it is we who have to continue in that direction, maybe for several years or even our life. So we should have the inspiration and the motivation to do that.
And if we have the inspiration and motivation for something, then that senior devotee’s personal conviction need not matter so much to us. So because sometimes in this world, some devotees may be thrust into certain positions and they may accept that position as a matter of responsibility. But that may not be their personal inspiration.
So because of which they may not be very good in that particular thing. Although they are themselves sincere in serving Krishna, but there are two different things. One is sincerity and the other is competence.
So in a particular service, in a particular ashram, in a particular department, to excel one requires competence for that particular avenue. So some devotees may not have particular competencies and yet they may recognize that field to be important. And so they may inspire us also to go in that field.
So if we feel inspired to go in that particular direction, then we do so based not just on their instruction, but also on our inspiration and our conviction. And our conviction should come not just from somebody else’s instruction, but also from our understanding of our nature, our understanding of what gives us inspiration, our understanding of what are our talents and strengths and how best we can serve Krishna. We may not be fully mature right now to make all these decisions and evaluations, but we have to grow in that direction.
And in general, major life decisions should be made in mutual consultation between the guide and the devotee. Because if we make them unidirectional, just giving an instruction, following the instruction, then a lot of background which may require clarification may not be known to the devotee’s guide and that may create complications. So in general, after consultation, so that means both we give the instruction or the suggestion due importance, we give our own considerations also due importance and then we have a proper discussion and then take a decision.
And that way, if we take the decision to take that step, that will be an informed decision. And if we decide not to take that step also, then that devotee will understand the reasons for our reservations and then that way also the relationship will be preserved. So that’s how we can deal with the situation.