If some devotees deal insensitively with us in our in our early days, how can we overcome the scars?

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its validity. So, the question is that sometimes when say a devotee is coming to Krishna at that time, some severe devotee is being very insensitive at that time, when they come that creates a scar and later on that impedes one’s progress in one’s bhakti. One may even extrapolate that negativity from that devotee towards Krishna also.
It may affect one’s progress in bhakti. So, what can we do? Yeah, it’s very distressing when this happens that firstly all of us have to go through different challenges when we come to Krishna bhakti. Those challenges may be like our nature, our background, our some past karma and even the particular kind of association that we find ourselves in.
So, there is a circumstantial element in bhakti and there is a transcendental element. Transcendentally, when we try to approach Krishna, from the transcendental perspective, when we try to approach Krishna, everything that is happening is ultimately a part of Krishna’s life. So, if we focus only on the circumstantial or let’s take it like this, I have created so much problems for you.
Then, that focus on the circumstantial means that we are not really perceiving Krishna’s hand over there. That is, our Krishna consciousness is right now quite limited. So, as devotees, after we start practicing bhakti, at least we need to recognize that the circumstantial and the transcendental.
So, we, sometimes circumstantial will be favorable, sometimes circumstantial will be unfavorable. And, as it was said, we accept the favorable, we reject the unfavorable. But, our vision has to be transcendental.
This is also somehow a plan of Krishna, built by Bhagavad Gita. How exactly that is so, that we will now immediately understand. So, it is not that everything that happens in Krishna’s moment is necessarily going to be favorable.
To give a somewhat materialistic example, people, suppose there is a stock exchange, where people come to invest money. So, now people’s hope in coming to stock exchange is that by investing their money they can increase their money. And, in a stock exchange, there are expert brokers who can help one to make one’s money grow.
But, sometimes, in a stock exchange, people may lose money also. At the same time, if people want to grow their money, in a particular system, they have to come to stock exchange. So, the Krishna monastic movement is like a stock exchange for our faith.
We come here in the association of devotees, and here there are devotees who have much more faith than us. They have practiced the process, they know how to increase one’s faith, the process to follow. But, if, in the association of devotees, sometimes there is a stock exchange.
Stock exchange is not made to cheat people or to be fraudulent. But, there are also that sort of elements that come in. There are some people who may be, actually, they have a malicious intention, but there are some stock brokers who do not have a malicious intention, but they just didn’t come at it.
So, just because we have come to a stock exchange, that doesn’t mean our money is no longer our responsibility or our money is going to automatically grow. Similarly, just because we have come to Krishna monastic movement does not mean that our faith is automatically going to grow. Or that now I have come to the new decision, that means I feel protecting or nourishing my faith is no longer my responsibility.
No, it is still always our responsibility. So, there are devotees who can, if they are under some senior devotees who are not very sensitive, who are not very compassionate, or sometimes there may be, because Krishna monastic movement is an open movement, anybody can come in. And sometimes there are many people who may not be spiritually interested at all.
And it may happen that our faith may get damaged. So, we have to recognize that it is always our responsibility to advance it. So, as soon as we realize that this is going unfavorable, this is hurting my faith, this is damaging.
See, different devotees come from different backgrounds and they may be inspired by different people. We don’t have to judge the other devotees. But, if we just associate with anyone and everyone, even within devotees, sometimes we may find that they may not be inspired.
We may find that this is how a devotee behaves. You may feel actually sometimes shocked by the kind of people they may be. Now, why they are behaving like that, that may be a whole different mystery.
They may be having some problem in their own life. Whatever it is. But the point is that that has to apply even in our interaction with devotees.
Vishwanath would have to say that some devotees, some people are practicing bhakti, but they are not well-behaved. Then we can offer them respectful ministries and we can focus on practicing our bhakti and associating with those who are properly behaved. So, that’s the principle of taking responsibility for our faith.
And within that, in this circumstantial amplitude, we turn away from the core personalities. At the same time, whatever has happened, it is a part of overall Krishna’s man, by which we come closer. And in some cases, it may be that by our going through that experience, probably by observing with Krishna alone, that sometimes a person has been poor and after that person becomes wealthy.
Then, that person is conscious about wealth and also that person is more charitably inclined because that person knows the pinch of poverty. Similarly, maybe it is a part of Krishna’s plan that after we are warned by someone in sensitive behavior, we learn to become more sensitive and then we help others also to become more sensitive. When we are going through those problems first-hand, it prepares us to do a service which we might not have been prepared to do otherwise.
And that way, Krishna, I have said that Krishna can draw straight even through a crooked line. From line that seems to be crooked to us, Krishna can eventually make a straight pattern through it. So that’s how, if we say service to Krishna, whatever negative has happened, Krishna will bring out some positive through it in the wrong way.
At the same time, this is not to justify the wrong behavior. And if those devotees are still acting in that way, then we can report to authorities. And if they take some action, that’s well and good.
If they don’t, we have done our part. So we don’t hold it against those devotees. But at the same time, if there is a sensitive behavior, we should do what we can to correct it within our circle of influence, whatever it is.
And beyond that, it is the process of entering the process of bhakti is like entering a purificatory fire. So there is some amount of… if somebody has gone through those situations in the early days, that also indicates that one is really serious about bhakti. Because that could very well have become an excuse for giving up bhakti.
So if in spite of the sensitive behavior, one is not giving that up, then that indicates one is serious about Krishna and is pleased by the seriousness of bhakti. Despite all those ineffectives, one is persevering bhakti. And as far as extrapolating that to Krishna is concerned, you have to know that actually, it is not that everybody who is in Krishna’s body is necessarily representing Krishna.
In essence, they are representing Krishna because they are devotees. But they may not be representing Krishna bhakti. And that’s why we need to not just look only from certain examples of devotees towards Krishna.
If we are to understand Krishna’s quality and what Krishna is like, then we have to primarily look at those devotees who inspire us. In the 8th and 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna first says, अहम् सर्वस्य प्रभुम् अत्तः सर्वं प्रभुम् In 10.8, he says that everything comes from me. But then in 10.41, he says that, यद्यद्विभूर्थिवन्सप्तुन्श्रिमदूर्जितमेवा तत्तदेवा पच्छत्तुम् यद्यद्विभूर्थिवन्सप्तुन्श्रिमदूर्जितमेवा