If someone is connected with another organization how can we get them to the Krishna consciousness movement?

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question, if someone belongs to some other organization, should we try to get into their philosophy or practices and then try to convert them and get them to Krishna consciousness? Answer, our purpose is to help people raise their consciousness. That is the primary purpose.
And it is true that the Krishna consciousness movement offers us a lot of facilities for raising our consciousness. And that’s why we have experienced that our consciousness has become elevated, we have become free from many undesirable things by practicing bhakti, we experience higher happiness. And that’s why we want to share that with others.
That’s natural. At the same time, sometimes this purpose of raising consciousness gets subordinated or gets lost, and we start focusing simply on converting people. So there is conversion means somebody belongs to this organization, they come to this organization.
That can simply be horizontal. Somebody can be a materialistic person in one organization and they go to some other organization and they remain materialistic. So we don’t want that horizontal conversion.
We want a vertical elevation. And if they are going to go to some other organization they are practicing in, and they’re going to come to Krishna’s lotus feet, that should lead to elevation of their consciousness. Now, when you talk about other organizations also, they are of many different types.
So there are some organizations which are spiritual and they also get people from lower modes to goodness. And they also practice some regulation, some social contribution. So basically, if we consider the raising of consciousness as a growth of selflessness.
Now, most people, materialistic people are concerned about only themselves. Then maybe about their families, then maybe about their extended family. But if we’re growing in selflessness, if we’re concerned about society, that is also good.
It’s an expansion in consciousness. And when this expansion moves further, further, we reach the source of everything, Krishna. And through him, actually, our selflessness goes towards everyone.
So by joining a particular organization, people may find that their consciousness expands from their immediate circle to a bigger circle. And that is good for them. Now, sometimes the good becomes the enemy of the best.
And sometimes the good is a valuable and vital step up from the bad or the less than the good. So if somebody is at a particular level where they’re doing all undesirable activities, and from there they come to a level of good, that’s elevating their consciousness. But if they stay stuck at the level of the good, and then don’t rise to the best, then that is also undesirable.
Now, the whole process of raising consciousness is essentially based on faith. So if somebody has experienced certain benefits by becoming a part of an organization, then they have faith in that. And also, whenever we become a part of something, there is some amount of insecurity we feel, because we feel by becoming a part of one thing, maybe I am missing out on other things, I’m leaving other things.
And because of that insecurity, people become defensive. They start thinking that, hey, you know, I have to feel that my organization is not only right, it is the best. Others may also be good, but my organization is the best.
And thus they defend their affiliation with that organization in a very, in a, we could say an emotionally hypersensitive way. And when that organization, if some of the inadequacies in their philosophy or in their practices are pointed out, they may react in a very hypersensitive way, and it is closed down to us. So if the ego of a person goes on the defensive, then nothing can penetrate them.
So then say, for example, now, if this is the Krishna Consciousness Movement, this is some other organization, and they are here now. Now, our goal should not just pull them from there to here. Our goal is to elevate their consciousness, and then we help them see that how Krishna Consciousness will help them to elevate their consciousness better.
Then what that present organization is offering them. And it’s they who need to be convinced about it. So it’s more a process of faith building than faith breaking.
So it’s like if they are here, and if this is the two mountains, and there’s a big chasm in between them, big valley. And now our goal is to build a bridge by which they can come from there to here. So this bridge is built by faith.
So over a period of time, their faith in us, their faith in the philosophy that we speak, their faith in the principles that we represent, that if we are nice with them, if friendly with them, respectful with them, that increases. And then at a particular point, they will themselves question or we can also help them to question their faith in something else. But this has to be done at a proper point.
So helping them develop faith in Krishna Consciousness principles is like building the bridge and questioning their faith in whatever they are practicing right now, that is like breaking the bridge. So if the best time to break the bridge is after they have crossed over, they have developed enough appreciation for Krishna Consciousness, and then we challenge their faith, we point out the problems, then we break the faith, but they will come over this side. If before the bridge is built, we break their faith, then they go into the defensive, and they stay there and they never listen to us.
And if they are on the bridge, and that time we break the faith, then they just fall down. If all organizations claim that they are the best and I don’t want to get into the business, let me go back to a normal life. And then we can actually harm the prospects of raising their consciousness.
So that’s why the important thing for us to do is that rather than critiquing whatever they are practicing, we just share the positives. And see over a period of time, we need to help them see that they and that organization is different. Because initially, when they identify the organization, any criticism of that organization they feel is their criticism.
So then they become very defensive. So if we can convey to them that we respect them as individuals, and what we are criticizing is not them. You are here, I am here, this organization is here, I am not criticizing you.
I respect you, I respect your intelligence, I respect your commitment, I respect your values. But this is something which you yourself should examine. So rather than I telling you this is wrong, I offer you spectacles.
Just see through this. See, this doesn’t make sense, doesn’t it? So that has to be done in a sensitive way. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 3.26 that, na buddhi-bhedam janayet, ajnanam karma-sanginam.
He says, don’t disturb the faith of others. Don’t disturb their intelligence actually, na buddhi-bhedam janayet, ajnanam karma-sanginam. Even if they are attached to you, they are ignorant and even if, ajnanam karma-sanginam, joshet sarva-karmani vidvan yukta-samachara.
Even if you are vidvan, even you are detached, still don’t disturb their faith. But yukta-samachara, engage them in a way that they will become elevated. Now that requires expertise.
So some people may be so much in an organization that to get them out may be very difficult. So the best thing that we can do for them is help them get some ajnana-sukhruti. That means let them appreciate Krishna, let them appreciate Krishna’s devotees, let them appreciate Krishna’s organization.
And that way, even if they don’t come now, that appreciation for Krishna and Krishna’s manifestations, that will help them in future to move forward. So if a person is too strongly in an organization, then no need to try to too much pull them out because they may not be at that level of receptivity. And we don’t want hostility.
If they can’t come here, they shouldn’t become antagonistic to Krishna. They shouldn’t feel that these Hare Krishnas are fanatical people. They are fanatical people.
That will alienate them. So if we have some discussion and we find that they’re too defensive, they’re not rational, just end the interaction of cordial note and leave it at that. Now, what if we find that they’re amenable, they come for programs, sometimes we have discussions, and gradually the discussions are not becoming so, they don’t see the discussions as attacks on them.
And gradually they will understand. And in some cases, we just need to let time to work. Because at one particular point, they may have a lot of faith that over a period of time, things may happen by which they start questioning the faith themselves.
So we should never close the door for them. We keep the door open. But if they don’t walk through right now, just keep the door open and have a cordial relationship with them and they will come in new codes.
Now, if there is a specific organization that has a lot of followers, and we would like to, in a sense, can inspire those followers of that organization to come towards Krishna, then we may have to specifically study their organization’s philosophy, study their methodology, and then interact appropriately with people. So this is something which we may have to consult our spiritual guides to see whether it is worth the effort. And what are the risks involved sometimes because sometimes it can lead to bigger issues.
Because if one organization feels that we have been threatened by another organization in a systematic way, that can also lead to problems. So it’s best to consult some local authorities over there to see what is likely to happen. But if it’s just an individual, then we don’t have to even go too much into that philosophy.
It’s like that if 3 plus 3 I know is 6, then I don’t have to know that 3 plus 3 is not 7, not 8, not 9, not 10. If 3 plus 3 is 6, then it’s not 7, 8, 9. Whatever other number is, it’s not that. So we don’t have to specifically study other philosophies to know their inadequacies.
Sometimes we can discuss with them and they themselves point out some things, and then we point out the inadequacies of that. Rather than saying this is incorrect, you can say it is inadequate. Inadequate means, okay, it gives some understanding, but it’s not a complete understanding.
Just like from Tamoguna to Rajoguna, Sattoguna, it’s elevation, but it’s not complete. You have to move upwards towards Shuddha Sattva, towards transcendence. So we appreciate that certain organizations may have helped people rise from a lower mode to a higher mode, and we encourage them to continue that journey further.
And we can find out what it is. If it’s a specific individual that we are trying to inspire, then we can, by discussing with them, find out what it is in that organization that attracts them. And so some people may like social service, some people may like music, some people may like the presentation of the local language, vernacular language.
There may be different aspects which they may like, and we can find how we can show them that aspect in the circle of Krishna Consciousness. And then the same thing, we also have this, and connect them over there, they will say, okay, okay, this is also here, and gradually they will get an appreciation. So that way I would say that, so what I said is four things.
First is that we are not trying to pull people from this organization to another. We basically want to elevate their consciousness. And that way, for that, there is the process of building faith and breaking faith.
And breaking has to be done after the building. So first, just interact nicely with them and get them to come closer to Krishna. Third point is that, doing it in a sustained way for a large number of people, that has to be very carefully thought out and consulted.
And lastly, for individuals, we are going to do it, then find out what is it that specifically connects them with that organization. Sometimes we may just be pointing out the inadequacies of their philosophy, but philosophy may not be what is attracting them over there. Sometimes it may just be seva, sometimes it may just be that, you know, they get to speak with everyone in the local, in a particular language, some Tamil or Marathi or Tengu or whatever it is.
So we have to find out what it is attracting them, because we may be hitting at one particular point, and that doesn’t matter only to them. So according to sociological service, people join religious organizations for many reasons. It’s not just philosophy.
We may be attracted by philosophy, but they may be attracted by something else. So find out what they have been attracted to over there, and try to help them find that same thing in Krishna’s lotus feet. And then they will gradually come towards Krishna.