When we see senior devotees affected by modes of passion (eg. too much fondness for foods like pizza) or ignorance (eg sleeping during chanting and hearing) how should we respond?

Transcript

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Question? When we sometimes see senior devotees engaged in passionate activities, like eating Rajasic food, too much like say pizzas, or engaging in tamasic activities like sleeping too frequently during chanting or in classes, then how do we understand the situation? Are they in the lower modes? Answer? Not necessarily.
A person’s mode is determined primarily by that person’s desires. So those who are fixed in the service of Krishna, are primarily having the desire to serve Krishna. And because of the desire to serve Krishna, the main defining characteristic of a devotee is किष्णे किषरणम् that the desire to serve Krishna, to be surrendered to Krishna, to be dedicated to Krishna’s service.
So depending on one’s past nature, nurture and culture, nature is what we get from our past life, nurture is what we get during our upbringing, and culture is what we are surrounded by. So all of us have different kinds of desires within the broad framework of the defining desire of life to serve Krishna. So even if there are some activities that seem passionate, or that seem to be influenced by the mode of ignorance, that particular activity alone does not determine the mode of a person.
Actually the mode of a person is determined, as I said, primarily by the motive of a person. And the motive can be understood from the way a person is moulding the life, and if the person is devoted to Krishna’s service, then naturally that is the defining motive. So while pursuing a transcendental motive, there might be some influences of the lower modes also.
They may or may not be, but even if they are there, the primary thing that we have to recognize is that the devotee is dedicated to the service of Krishna. And just one particular activity, like eating a particular kind of food, shouldn’t make us think that that person is in passion. Because overall, the life of Krishna consciousness is largely in the mode of goodness, and even the very fact that a person is taking prasadam, and prasadam alone has itself indicated that the person has substantial control over the tongue.
And it is not that pizza is the only food that a person takes. A person takes various different foods also, and one of them might be pizza. So these are things which are peripheral.
Similarly, with respect to chanting, sometimes because of some, either physical exhaustion or health problems, some people might just not be able to stay awake when they are physically inactive. Some people, as soon as they sit down, they have some sort of bodily disorder, by which they just feel sleepy. So it’s not that they are uninterested in Krishna consciousness, in hearing and chanting, but that’s how they are, they feel sleepy.
They may walk and chant, or they may stand and hear. That’s not necessarily due to tamo guna. The gunas are primarily psychological, and there may be physical factors which may cause a person to feel excessively sleepy.
And apart from that, there may also be the point that there may just be too much exhaustion because of service overload, or it would also be possible that some people are too over-intellectual, and they may not find the basic classes or the devotional activities so nourishing, so interesting. And that’s why there may not be a direct focus on Krishna consciousness, or the ability to connect and absorb oneself in those activities. So now, if the devotee is dedicated to the service of Krishna, then the devotee is definitely getting some devotional nourishment from somewhere, even if it is not from the activities of hearing and chanting, as we see it in public.
Maybe the devotee is reading in private and getting inspiration from that. So what we should see is the overall life of a devotee, and not just some specific activities. Even if those activities are highly visible, and they seem to draw attention, and they seem to be apparently not in harmony with devotional principles.
Now at the same time, while there might be advanced devotees, whose motive to serve Krishna is very strong, and that motive doesn’t get weakened by eating food that is Rajasic, or by being lethargic or sleepy in hearing and chanting. If we start using their example to justify our doing similar things, our being sleepy or lethargic or our taking passionate foods, then the difference will be that our motive to serve Krishna may not be strong enough. And because the motive to serve Krishna is not strong enough, when we come in contact with the modes of passion and ignorance, we are already attracted by those modes, we may even predominantly be in those modes.
And then that may even change our motive itself. And then it may cause us to sort of get dragged away from Krishna consciousness. Not just in terms of consciousness, but in terms of our overall lifestyle, and in terms of our aim of what we want to do in life, and we may just leave devotional service also.
So therefore, there is a standard achar that is expected of devotees, and within that achar, sometimes there may be certain things which are unexpected, controversial, doubt-inducing. And then at that time, we have to follow the scriptural injunction that that we cannot understand the qualities and activities of a Vaishnava, because there can be many factors involved in it. Of course, now if there are pure devotees, then there might be just transcendental motives, transcendental factors involved which we have no idea about, even if those devotees are not pure devotees.
Still, this verse applies even to them. This verse is not a rationalization for any kind of behavior by a devotee. No, the scriptures give a standard of how a devotee should be behaving.
But within that, when we see some exceptions, some things which seem objectionable, we have to say, Vigyahana Bhuja. But this verse we should not apply to ourselves, and justify when others ask us, check us, caution us, we say that you are not understanding. I am a Vaishnava, Vigyahana Bhuja, you don’t understand.
That we will be digging our own grave if we do something like that. So, there is the factor of overall predictability, with some spikes of unpredictability, within the framework of Krishna Consciousness. There is comprehensibility overall, in terms of how the process is going to work.
But there are some phases of incomprehensibility also, where we don’t understand what is happening. So, the scriptures give us both. They tell us the overall pattern by which things are predictable and comprehensible.
And they also tell us of the spikes where things are unpredictable and incomprehensible. So, we should orient our spiritual life, on the comprehensible and predictable aspects of the scriptural teachings, and the corresponding behavior of senior devotees. And occasionally when there are such behaviors, naturally they won’t inspire us so much, to become more committed to Krishna Consciousness.
We can overlook them, and focus on those aspects of the behavior of those devotees, which are inspiring to us. And we can also look at other devotees, who may have inspiring behavior in the particular fields, particular activities, where these particular devotees are not so inspiring. And we can take inspiration for different activities from different devotees.
But the important point is, we have to raise ourselves towards goodness, and beyond towards transcendence, towards Krishna. And ultimately that is our responsibility. Just because some senior devotee is behaving in a particular way, that does not free us from our responsibility to advance in Krishna Consciousness.
Just by imitating some other devotee, it’s not that we will automatically become advanced in Krishna Consciousness. Whatever traces of Rajoguna, Tamoguna might be there in a devotee, it is not that because of those, the devotee has become advanced. In spite of this, the devotee has become advanced, because the process of Krishna Consciousness is so strong.
So we should focus on the process of Krishna Consciousness, not on the factors that may impede the spiritual advancement, due to the potent process of Krishna Consciousness.