When some devotees use harsh words to condemn other spiritual paths, I feel uncomfortable but i dont want to offend those devotees. What should I do ?

Transcript

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Question from Ravikant Prabhu. Many times devotees criticize other spiritual teachers, other spiritual paths, and they feel that everyone should become Krishna conscious.
And when they criticize strongly by using words which are not used in normal language, like fool, rascal, dog and things like that, then it is very hurting. And I see that within ISKCON also different devotees have different moods. Some devotees give a complete picture and help us gain a balanced understanding.
Others speak only one side and give a very critical stance. And often I don’t feel like hearing their lectures. At the same time, I don’t want to commit offenses to them, because I know that they are senior devotees and they have also contributed to Prabhupada’s mission.
So, what should I do in such a situation? Answer. The fundamental principle of bhakti is Whatever is favorable for our devotees, we accept it. Whatever is unfavorable, we reject it.
So, even when we associate with devotees, we have to apply this principle and see which association inspires us and which association makes us disheartened. So, if certain association is making us disheartened, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to give up that association. We have to check what is the cause of the disheartenment.
Sometimes we may be wrong and in some association our wrongs may be pointed out and we may find that to be uncomfortable. If that is the case, certainly Dhritarashtra did not find Vidura’s association when Vidura spoke cutting words to him comfortable. But those cutting words were for Dhritarashtra’s good.
So, in that case, when something is spoken for our good, even if we find it uncomfortable, we should not reject that association. For that we have to think deeply, understand what the person is speaking, compare what that person is speaking with Guru Sadhu Shastra and then we see whether our feelings are feelings of discomfort or of irritation or in accordance with what Guru Sadhu Shastra want or talk about or they are not. So, if we are having some material attachments because of which we are feeling uncomfortable, then we have to consider that maybe this devotee is speaking for my good and is helping me to at least synchronize the material attachments so that I can begin the process of searing them.
Of course, there are other times when certain devotees may speak in certain ways using certain words and speaking in a tone and mood that we find uncomfortable. Not because we are not practicing devotional service properly but because we just feel that that is not the kind of whom we are comfortable with. So, if that is the case, as long as we are following the path of bhakti properly and we are glorifying Krishna and we are dedicated to the glorification of Krishna, then it doesn’t matter if our glorification does not focus on, does not involve using value-judgmental words that involve jarring comparisons which may be called as bad words in common language.
So now, some of these devotees may claim that if we don’t use these kind of words, we are not following Srila Prabhupada because Srila Prabhupada used these kind of words. However, if we look at Srila Prabhupada’s usage of these words, we will find that most of the times he used them in his conversations and conversations were with his intimate disciples. In the words like fools and rascals, if we find, they are very very less in his purports and purports were his primary contribution to us.
In fact, in 1976, one disciple wrote a letter to Prabhupada saying that Prabhupada, I would like to transcribe all your lectures so that I can gain a deeper understanding of your teachings. And surprisingly, Srila Prabhupada said that that would be prayas. There is no need for you to transcribe all the lectures because whatever message I have given in my purports, you just read my books and that will be enough.
So, of course, this doesn’t mean that lectures should not have been transcribed. Prabhupada’s point was that the books are far far more important. Lectures are often contextual, letters are contextual and conversations are even more contextual.
Conversations are with very intimate disciples. And when the disciples were new and were vulnerable to being allured by various philosophical denominations that seemed to be spiritual, Srila Prabhupada sometimes had to cuttingly expose those things. So, if Srila Prabhupada did not even want his letters to be transcribed, he would want to speak of his private conversations with his disciples, with his intimate disciples.
So, certainly he is saying that Prabhupada used these kind of words and so we have to use them is actually not a proper representation of Srila Prabhupada’s complete view. And Srila Prabhupada at other times, many times, has also adopted non-confrontationalist view. So, the point is not how we preach, the point is whether we achieve the result of preaching.
That is, bring people closer to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada had the purity by which he could speak cutting words and because those words came from the compassion of his heart, they awakened people’s heart and they jolted them out of their misconceptions. Often when we speak those words, those words don’t come from our heart, they come from our ego.
Because we want to prove that we are right and others are wrong. We are not so much concerned that other people are being misled and we want them to come to the right path. How much is compassion and how much is passion when we use those words is a matter of serious introspection for everyone.
And that’s why we cannot say that this is the way that we have to preach in order to follow Srila Prabhupada. Yes, we have to establish a siddhanta. We have to prove, for example, whenever an occasion requires, how other schools of thought like impersonalism, voidism are inadequate.
And scriptures also do that. But when we are proving, I mean establishing logically the inadequacy of other schools of thought, whether we need to use sharp, judgmental words or not, that will depend on time and place circumstances. Srila Prabhupada was talking with George Harrison.
He never used such words. Although George Harrison repeatedly referred to his other spiritual teachers whom he had met before Srila Prabhupada and those other spiritual teachers were all impersonalists. Srila Prabhupada did not speak one critical word about them.
Srila Prabhupada encouraged George Harrison to criticize Krishna consciousness and Hare Krishna as much as he could. So, Srila Prabhupada is a warrior who used different war strategies at different times. And subsequent generations of devotees, while following Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps, will carry on the same war.
The war is to establish Krishna’s glory. But the strategy that is used for fighting the war, that is really depending on time and place circumstances and that is really depending on the information of the teachers. So, if somebody asks us specific questions about specific spiritual teachers, then we may have to take the names of those teachers and address their philosophies.
Even then, we can do it without using any bad names or words like fool, rascal. We can just point out what are the inadequacies in the philosophy. But if somebody is not moving and asking to any specific spiritual teachers, just asking about schools of thought, then we can objectively point out the inadequacies of the schools of thought.
And so, if you look at the overall mood of Shastra, Krishna himself urges Arjuna to give up all varieties of religion and surrender to him. sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja So, that means Krishna does desire that everyone become Krishna conscious. At the same time, Krishna also outlines other paths and he doesn’t condemn every other path.
It is just true how the path of bhakti is superior to all other paths. But he acknowledges the other paths are there and he acknowledges the reality and he acknowledges even their potency. They will work, although they may not give us ultimate liberation.
They will help us in getting elevated according to what the specific path is. So, it is not wrong for devotees to desire that everyone become Krishna conscious. At the same time, we also have to recognize that not everyone will become Krishna conscious.
So, if the people are following other paths by which they are getting elevated partially, coming from the lower modes to goodness or some preliminary conceptions of transcendence, then that is also good. Overall, the more the consciousness of people comes towards goodness, the more stability and sanity there will be in society. And that can also create a good platform for us to share Krishna consciousness with the world.
So, in that sense, we can see other paths as creating a platform for us to share Krishna consciousness eventually. We may feel that other paths become competitors because they also claim to provide the absolute truth. Yes, they may seem to be competitors.
But actually, if we intelligently and courteously present our philosophy and show how this understanding is conclusive, then we will be able to face the challenges. We will be able to normally face the challenges that come from these schools of thought. But we will also be able to get intelligent seekers from these schools of thought to graduate onto Krishna consciousness.
So, to summarize and conclude, we should follow Srila Prabhupada’s basic principle, and that is the scripture’s basic principle, to encourage and guide others to come to Krishna consciousness. But how we specifically preach will vary depending on time, place, circumstance, as well as our own psychophysical situation. And if we find the mood of certain devotees to be unduly critical and confrontational, and we don’t feel comfortable with that mood, it’s perfectly okay.
It’s perfectly within the restriction of being faithful to Guru Sadhu Shastra. So, actually, do not go out of our way to hear those lectures. And to hear those lectures which are in compatibility with our mood basically, or with our psychophysical issues, our culture, our background.
So, that way, by recognizing the balance between the two, that we have to be faithful to the principle of establishing Krishna’s glories, but at the same time, we have to be flexible with respect to how we present those glories. By the balance between fidelity and flexibility, we can actually get people to come to Krishna. Often, confrontational preaching alienates people more than it attracts people.
And conciliatory preaching, where we talk about the similarities, and then gradually talk about the aspects of spirituality that reveal in the Krishna conscious path alone, we can attract people more and more. So, keeping the ultimate goal in mind, the specific strategy can be varied. And we should stay, we should feel inspired in our devotional service.
And we should take that association which inspires us. In the Bhakta Samsangh, as well as in the Bhakta Connection, the association that we take should be Sajati Asha Sangha. Sajati Asha Sangha means associating with those devotees who have the same category of desires that we have.
So, we can select our association accordingly. And respect those who have other styles of preaching. We can respect those Vaishnavas also.
But from a distance. Thank you.