Hare Krishna to all,
It is said that devotee association is must for them who want to advance in KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS.
This is also said that we should associate with serious devotees only.
I have two questions..
(i) How to recognize that whom we should associate to or whom to not?
(ii) How to differentiate between senior devotee and serious devotee?
Replies
There are devotees and those on the path to become.
Devotees are :
-Those who dont like to speak about anything else but about Lord,
-Those who like to sings holy names for hours when its not part of the program, even when they are alone in the temple or somewhere else.
-Those who are infected with holy names, that they cant stop singing even if they are in bathroom, laying on the bed, driving, dressing or doing something irrelevant.
-Those whose heart melts and water filled up the eyes when remembering the Lord or His past times.
-Those whose who dont seeking the mistakes in others, who are soft hearted and not offensive to anyone.
-Those who are emotionally excited, sometimes to laud and mad when talking about the Lord, without any sense of social behavior etiquette and presence of others.
-Those who sees the same God in every religion and same brother in every living form
-Those who always takes shelter, in every situation, under the lotus feet of the Lord.
-Those who have compation for all helpless living beings who suffer.
-Those who are not materialist and slaves of the money in the name of the Lord.
.
Therefore i consider all others a non devotees, who are in the process to become one day .
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
Answers: 1) When you mix in the congregation, you will discover there are all kinds of devotees with all kinds of moods and motives. Like any social circle, we tend to mix with people whose ideas and interests (mood of devotion) match ours.
2) Every devotee is a senior devotee, senior to us - please keep this in mind. The moment we try to mentally place ourselves - this is a senior devotee and this is a junior devotee and I am somewhere in the middle - so the junior devotee shoudl treat me with respect.... and so on and so forth - one gets into the same trap of maya one is trying to escape by being in devotee congregation.
Gradually, you will be able to judge who is serious and uncompromising on his sadhana, that person is the one you should follow.
A true seeker learns from everyone around him - there is a famous story of the prostitute Pingla and what one can learn from her, in the Srimad Bhagawatam.
It is on you what you want to learn, from whom, how much and how you imbibe that in your devotion.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
JAI KUBER DEVA.
very easy prabhu those who take the side of DONORS they are senior devotees and those who speak only on Krishna, give tips only on Krishna, they are serious devotees. You are smart enough to recognize whom to associate with ...:)
:):)
Difficult Questions by Google Search:
The Importance of Association
By Rohininandana Dasa
To illustrate the supreme value of spiritual association, Srila Prabhupada writes, “As fire is kindled from wood by another fire, the divine consciousness of man can similarly be kindled by another divine grace. His Divine Grace the spiritual master can kindle the spiritual fire from the woodlike living entity by imparting proper spiritual messages injected through the receptive ear.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.32, purport)
Although wood includes fire in the sense that it has the potential to burn, a piece of wood will ever remain dull wood, no matter how dry or inflammable it might be, unless it contacts fire. Similarly, each one of us needs to make contact with someone who is, so to speak, on fire with divine consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, so that our spiritual potential may be realized.
Another Vedic analogy says that just as a fertile woman must receive help from a man to conceive a child, any person, no matter how qualified, must receive the seed of spiritual life from Lord Krishna’s pure devotee. From that seed grows the plant of devotion to Krishna.
After the initial wonderful event of receiving into our heart the divinely potent words of the guru, our devotional plant requires regular watering so that it may grow strong and healthy. Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness so that its members could regularly meet together and fulfill the purpose of such verses as “The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (Bhagavad-gita 10.9)
The Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.25.25) summarizes the results of meetings of devotees: “In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.”
You might wonder where to find “pure devotees” and if you could ever be an ordinary devotee, what to speak of a pure one. Of course, it is highly desirable to associate with advanced devotees. But, like me, you might live away from devotees in the Krishna consciousness movement. So what can we do to get regular Krishna conscious association?
The two verses cited above can still apply to us, when we consider that the term pure devotee can refer either to the most elevated devotee or to a neophyte sincerely trying to become a devotee. Srila Prabhupada once said that all his disciples were pure devotees.
We can find other people in our area who are interested in practicing Krishna consciousness and associate with them. We can meet together and apply the principles Srila Rupa Goswami outlines as the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another: giving and receiving gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence and inquiring confidentially, and offering and receiving prasadam, food offered to Krishna.
We can hold meetings in one another’s homes, chant Hare Krishna, worship the Lord, share prasadam, read and discuss the Vedic scriptures, share with one another our efforts to practice spiritual life, and perhaps plan how we can help spread Krishna consciousness.
Because regulation is essential to the practice of Krishna consciousness, we should try to meet regularly with other aspiring devotees of Krishna. Out of vaidhi bhakti, or regulated devotional practice, grows raganuga bhakti, spontaneous devotional practice, which can mature into pure love for Krishna.
http://www.krishna.com/importance-association