VNN Editorial - Find Your Place In The Krsna Consciousness Movement

EDITORIAL March 10, 2004 VNN8579 About the Author

Other Stories by this Author

Find Your Place In The Krsna Consciousness Movement

BY BRAHMA DAS

EDITORIAL, Mar 10 (VNN) — The following is a letter sent to Sanga via the Website:

Dear Sanga: I read all of Prabhupada's books I could get my hands on, and read everything on the Internet I could find about Krishna Consciousness. I saved up my money, and was finally able to visit the nearest temple, nearly 200 miles away. I left home convinced that I was on the right path, and excited about meeting the devotees. I wanted to know about God and how to serve Him and be with Him. I thought I was on the path to accomplish those things.

Then I met the devotees. This is the single most discouraging thing that has ever happened to me. I read that Prabhupada said you could recognize devotees because they "are perfect gentlemen;" by that definition, there were no devotees there. They were mostly concerned about the length of my hair and wanted to make sure I was not associated with someone who is, I suppose, a competing Guru of some sort. I am now convinced that I am better off alone than in the company of these people. I am very, very, discouraged. I wish Krishna Consciousness had turned out to be true. / Signed, "Don't Bother"

My reply to this letter is as follows:

Dear Don't Bother,

I am sorry that your first encounter with 'devotees' was such a bad experience. I have been involved with the Krsna consciousness movement for thirty-two years and also have had many bad experiences with devotees. Like you, when I first learned about Krsna consciousness I traveled a long distance to visit a Hare Krsna temple and was disappointed as well.

At that time (1972) I hitchhiked cross-country from Dallas to San Francisco hoping to join the Hare Krsna movement sometime after I had reached my destination. However, when I arrived at the Krsna Temple in San Francisco I was not allowed to join or even spend the night there because a rule had been enacted to prevent transients and hippies from using the ashram as a flophouse. This rule stipulated that no one could stay overnight in the temple until they had proven themselves serious about devotional service to Krsna. I objected that I wanted to join not just have a place to spend the night, but the devotee in charge said that because he did not know me he could not make an exception. Thus I was left out in the cold to fend for myself in a downtrodden section of San Francisco. Luckily I had enough money to rent a room in a nearby hotel, which in those days cost only about four dollars a night.

Though residing in a hotel I was told that I could prove myself serious about devotional service if for two weeks I was able to follow the same schedule as the devotees who were living in the temple. This amounted to getting up before dawn every morning to attend ceremonies and classes, then going out in the streets to chant and returning to the temple in the evening for another ceremony and class. Following this regimen of ceremonies, classes, and street chanting removed some of the misconceptions I had about full time devotional life, and the strictness that was required to be a devotee scared me as well. Thus two weeks later, instead of joining the temple I went back to my parent's home in Pennsylvania and became absorbed in a rather thoughtful mood

I was generally a very happy and outgoing person so my parents were alarmed at what they called my brooding around the house. Finally my mother told me that I could became a devotee or go back to college but somehow I had to regain my positive attitude and get back into life. Inspired by her words I visited the local Hare Krsna temple in Pittsburgh and for some reason there I felt very comfortable and stayed for the next three years.

All told I lived as a monk for twelve years in various Hare Krsna temples. I liked temple life better in some places then in I did in others and the same could be said about the people I worked with. In 1981 due to disagreements with Iskcon management I became affiliated with a different branch of Krsna consciousness. I was involved with that branch in one way or another until about 1990 when I became somewhat distracted from Krsna seva in pursuit of an independent career. However at the turn of the century I again became inspired to find my place in the Krsna consciousness movement.

The temple I tried to join in San Francisco thirty-two years ago has since been torn down but as before I find myself living in that city trying to be involved in devotional service. My efforts to do so are centered on serving those who in my estimation have proven to be much more serious then myself about Krsna consciousness. Disregarding the unrealistic expectations I had of others and recognizing my own shortcomings in regards to devotional life have helped me to gain greater respect for all who on one level or another are striving to attain the high ideal of Krsna consciousness as delineated in Srila Prabhupada's books.

We refer to all that have faith in Krsna as devotees but in truth finding a genuine devotee is (sudurlabha) a very rare thing. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that genuine devotees are merciful, humble, truthful, equal to all, faultless, magnanimous, mild, indifferent to material acquisitions, fixed in devotional service, and above bad qualities such as lust, anger, greed, and so forth. They eat only as much as required, and they are not intoxicated. They are respectful, grave, compassionate, without false prestige, as well as friendly, poetic, expert, and silent. Among all good qualities, being surrendered to Krsna is foremost.

You wrote that you were attracted to Krsna consciousness by reading Srila Prabhupada's books but that you became discouraged when you perceived a lack of fundamental good qualities in his followers. I understand your disappointment and experience it as well, mostly in regards to myself. All that I can suggest at this point is that you try to understand the high ideal of Krsna consciousness by continuing to chant and study Srila Prabhupada's books on your own. Better yet, in one way or another, try to make a place for yourself somewhere in the Krsna consciousness movement. This is what I did so many years ago, and in spite of disappointments experienced along the way I continue to try to do this today.

The Krsna Consciousness Movement is larger and more varied than when I joined. At that time there was only one organization preaching Krsna consciousness in the west but now there are many. What could be perceived as "competing gurus" in one sense means more variety in regards to mood and expression and thus more opportunity for new practitioners to find their own place in the movement at large. If you find yourself discouraged in one place simply look in another. If you think certain devotees are too concerned with your appearance or the length of your hair then go elsewhere or associate with like-minded devotees via the Internet. I agree that it is a shame that many devotees are not the "perfect gentlemen" that Srila Prabhupada had hoped they would be. Perfect, however, is a word that is hard for anyone to live up to and we should recognize that it is just as hard for others to be perfect as it is to be perfect ourselves.

Bhagavad Gita teaches that Krsna is directing the wanderings of all souls and that anyone who is sincere about Krsna consciousness will never be lost--na hi kalyana-krt kascid durgatim tata gacchati. Your letter reminded me of my own troubles with other devotees and also of how difficult it has been at times to be a devotee myself. Yet in spite of everything, I never regretted that I gave the Krsna Consciousness Movement a second chance in 1972, a third chance in 1981, and a fourth chance in the year 2000. Or more correctly that the movement gave me another chance again and again. I believe that if you give the Krsna Consciousness Movement a second chance you will not regret it and your sincerity of purpose will enable you to find a place in the movement that is perfect for you as an individual. Srila Rupa Goswami says, 'yena tena prakarena, manah krsna nivesayat: somehow or another think of Krsna, or in other words find your place in the Krsna consciousness movement.

brahmadasa@yahoo.com

A section of this letter was copied from Swami Tripurari's Sanga called:

Good Qualities and the Superlative Devotee

About the Author