If we become too target-oriented while doing a service, should we give up that service?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
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Krishna. Does that answer your question? Consciousness is not there, then it’s not that we have to give up the service for that purpose. Rather, we can try to associate with those who are doing that service in good consciousness.
So for example, if I start giving classes, I start feeling very proud to see how clever I am, and how much people are appreciating me. I find that my ego is increasing because of that. And I can associate with those who give classes.
I mean, I do regularly ask them, you know, how do you deal with pride? And then similarly, we can learn from others, those who are doing the service, how do they avoid that excessive material consciousness. And if after doing that, we find repeatedly that we are becoming too much materially conscious, then we may tell, can I do some other service? This is causing me too much agitation. That is okay.
But we don’t have to make that as the first option. Because the nature of the mind is that if I have a materialistic frame, if I have a mode of passion within me, whatever service I will do, I’ll tend to do it in a passionate way only. By changing the service, it may not make a lot of difference.
So that’s why it’s good to do whatever service we are told to do. But if we find certain services too difficult to do, too agitated, then we can tell that similarly, can I do some other service? That’s fine. It’s not a matter of matter of life.
It also depends on how we tell it. Rather than saying, you know, that they are wrong in giving us this service, we can put it in a humbler position and say that, actually, this service makes me a little more agitated. And what can I do about it? So rather than saying, I won’t do this service, we can say that, this service makes me agitated, what can I do about it? That way we can learn.
And then through a discussion, we can come to a mature conclusion about how to do it.