If initiation and other devotional activities remove the past karma of devotees, then why do they get diseases and other problems?

From: Neeraj

Prabhuji it is said that at the time of intiation all our past karma becomes zero.Also by taking bath in ganges,chanting holy name,circumulating Tulsi maharani our past karma reduces.Then also we see initiated devotees affected by their past karma in form of diseases and other problems .How yo understand this.

Transcript

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from neeraj it is said that at the time of initiation all our past karma becomes zero also by taking bath in Ganges chanting holy names circulating tulsi maharani our past karma reduces then also we see initiated devotees affected by their past karma in the form of diseases and other problems how do you understand this answer not all the activities in this list are of the same category or same level all of them to some extent minimize our karma and our karmic reactions more specifically because the word karma can mean many things what you are asking here is karmic reactions so yes our karmic reactions do get reduced by various activities and especially at the time of initiation it is said that our spiritual master takes our karma then what happens actually if we surrender to the spiritual master wholeheartedly then Krishna takes our karma through the chain of the spiritual masters the parampara starting from our spiritual master upwards till Krishna and Krishna takes away our karma but he does not do away with the karma completely what he does is he takes charge of our karma and uses it in the best way possible to disentangle us from material existence that means that whatever is the best for the devotee to make spiritual advancement that is what Krishna will let happen in the devotee’s life so sometimes even devotees may become complacent about material life and think that yes life in the material world is not too bad I can be happy here and I don’t have to be fanatical thinking this world is a place of misery this world is also a good place Krishna consciousness is also nice but this world is also not bad so I will practice a little Krishna consciousness and seek a little enjoyment in this way I will have a nice balanced life so when devotees start getting overcome by misconceptions of this sort then Krishna helps them to become free from these misconceptions by revealing them the true nature of the material world they may get adhyatmik adhivaltik kaldevik kleshas miseries from their own body and mind miseries from people around them miseries from environment natural forces now all these miseries are not exactly created by Krishna out of thin air as if he wants to take any vengeance against us for our desire to enjoy in the world no Krishna is not a vengeful God he is a merciful God but still he wants us to become wise and a part of becoming wise is seeing the reality an intoxicated person is considered foolish because he doesn’t see the reality he may be about to slip on a banana peel and fall into a gutter and he is thinking that I am the President of America similarly all around us in the world there is destruction and death and disease and distress and still we think that this world is an enjoyable place or will soon become an enjoyable place so for us to see the reality that actually the world is a place of misery Krishna lets that reality affect us by letting our own karma act on us so Krishna is not creating any fresh karmic reactions but Krishna is letting our own karmic reactions come upon us and this joys us and this forces us to become serious about Krishna Consciousness now the fundamental difference between a devotee suffering and a non-devotee suffering is like the difference between a mother chastising a child and the police beating the same child in the jail now the mother may chastise and mother may sometimes even physically raise her hand against the child but it is out of love and it is for the sake of reformation the policemen beating in the jail are also beating for the sake of reformation but more than love it is the rule of law over there so non-devotees suffering the karmic reactions are like the child getting the punishment in the jail and devotees getting some difficulties in their life are like the child facing the chastisement of the mother although externally both may seem to be beaten but there is a world of difference between these two beatings and the essence of that difference is the child with the mother is already in safe loving compassionate hands which will guide the child help the child to get reformed in a very loving and encouraging way ultimately so in this way Krishna takes care of the devotees even when the sufferings come to them what happens when for a devotee sufferings come the sufferings of the material world for a devotee lead to realization renunciation and devotion three things when the sufferings come upon a devotee the first thing that happens is the devotee gets realization yes the scriptures are saying that this world is a place of misery and I am realizing it it’s true it is a reality so realization is not some hypothetical or paranormal flash of light in our brain realization simply means that what the scriptures declare to be a reality we experience and accept that as a reality the scriptures say that the reality of this world is that it is a place of misery but we have our own fanciful conceptions and our occasional experiences of pleasure in this world and when we get some sufferings then these fanciful conceptions are jolted and then we realize this world is a place of misery I should want to get out of this world so that realization is the second stage that is renunciation I want to become free from the misery in this material world and the I want to become detached from this world and attached to Krishna so additionally for a devotee when the sufferings come the devotee naturally takes shelter of Krishna and tries to remember Krishna fall out to Krishna with the suffering and that calling out to Krishna has a dramatic effect that gives the devotee the realization the personal experience of the shelter available in the remembrance of Krishna of the sublime sense of security and strength and joy and fulfillment that is available in the remembrance of Krishna and that deepens our understanding that actually Krishna and Krishna’s love is all a reality and then that inspires us to deepen and strengthen our Krishna consciousness so that it increases our devotion also on the other hand for materialistic people or non devotees when they get their karmic reactions it generally leads only to frustration not to realization it doesn’t lead to renunciation it only leads to depression oh everyone else is enjoying why am I not enjoying actually nobody is enjoying and everybody is thinking that everyone else is enjoying but somehow that illusion envelops non devotees because they don’t have access to scriptural wisdom which will remove the cloak of illusion that is blocking their perception and of course instead of devotion sometimes they may get anger towards God they may think why is God doing this to me why is God causing all this suffering but actually it is not God who is causing the suffering it is our own past karma which is bringing the suffering upon us and it is Krishna who is letting the suffering come upon us so that we can get realization renunciation and devotion so therefore when we see some devotees having some difficulties say the devotee loses a job devotee gets a terrible disease devotee meets with an accident on the road all these events that unfortunately characterize life and material existence and which we see happening in the daily news can also happen to devotees sometimes so when we see this happening to devotees how should we see it we should not just think that oh this devotee was seeming to be a very advanced devotee but actually it seems that he has done a lot of sinful activities because of which he is getting a lot of sinful reactions no what we should see is that actually there is something special happening between this devotee and Krishna and that Krishna is intensifying the Krishna consciousness of this devotee through some special reciprocation and let me if it is possible for me let me learn from this experience if it is possible for me let me assist and serve the devotee in whatever way I can within my limitations and capacities but most importantly when we see devotees suffering in some way we should know that we shouldn’t be imagining Krishna consciousness to be a material insurance from suffering it is a spiritual insurance from suffering not a material insurance from suffering the sufferings will come at a material level for everyone but the spiritual material insurance from suffering means that although the problems will come the problems will not affect us you can read the article small Gita daily article on the site called concerned but not disturbed by change to get a better grasp of this a devotee has his inner life his own understanding that I am a soul who is unaffected by everything worldly and as a soul I have a devotee always there waiting for me in my heart and this inner life gives a devotee a security that cannot be shaken by worldly events therefore when we see devotees having some problems in their lives what we should understand is that the nature of the world is that these problems may come to me also and I shouldn’t have a naive or lollipop idea of spiritual life where I imagine that just because I am chanting Hare Krishna I will forever be free from all material problems no Krishna may let material problems come upon us according to what is best for our spiritual advancement so we need to always be focused on deepening our Krishna consciousness so that as and when if and when problems come then we can tolerate and transcend those problems by the strength of Krishna consciousness so yes all the activities like initiation chanting and Swamiji Maharani they all free us from sinful reactions but it is for us to change our desires and if we are not changing our desires from material enjoyment to Krishna consciousness then Krishna who has taken our sinful reactions may not do away with them but let them come upon us in a partial way in whatever form is best for us to realize the reality of the material world and then change our desires so the essence of Krishna consciousness or of initiation is not just the freedom from karma it is the commitment to changing our desires and even taking bath in Ganga chanting Holi in a circumambulant Tulsi Maharani all these are expressions of our change desires so if the desires are not being changed and the Srimad Bhagavatam says that all these activities are like Ganesh Vigesh Saeb Gokhar somebody may go to a holy place and bathe in the holy place but not here from the saintly people then such a person is just like an animal a cow or an ass because that person is not understanding the essence the body of a cow or ass can also come in contact with Gangajal and that is also purifying to some extent but the essence of purification is not the purification from karmic reactions it is the purification from the desire that bring those karmic reactions and our bathing in Ganga or chanting the holy names and doing all these devotional activities should be an expression of our change of desire and our commitment to that change on a continuous basis if we are committed to changing our desires and focusing ourselves on Krishna consciousness then no matter what difficulties come in our life we will be able to tolerate and transcend those difficulties by our remembrance of Krishna Thank you