Is it better to stay away from the devotees association just to avoid the offenses that happen in the association of devotees?
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Is it better to stay away from the devotees association just to avoid the offenses that happen in the association of devotees?
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No it is not better to stay away from devotees period. Also it is not okay to exclude devotees because you may feel them being offensive... It is better to overcome your own offensive false ego so that you yourself are not offensive to other devotees. If you feel that someone else is being offensive to you than you must properly address their offenses and ask their forgiveness for having hurt them so that they have offended you. A devotee should understand that we can offend each other all day, but then how can we call ourselves devotees? I devotee should Practice such compassion that first and foremost address their own offensive ways. Immature devotees may not realize their offenses and must have proper guidance under spiritual masters. We must learn to be compassionate to ourselves in such a way that no matter who or what may offend us or more commonly our false ego, we are able to still perform true and loving devotional service Even toward our offenders. There is a very nice explanation of his by HH Radhanath Swami where he basically notes that if we stay away and becomes secluded from our offenders (or non devotees) than we will become extinct species. Therefore we must always accept others failures and allow time and experience to guide them and yourself to make a better judgement next time around.
Does Krishna stay away from you or me just because we are being offensive? No he is always there and is always forgiving. All we have to do is chant his holy names and accept our shortcomings.
Please forgive me if I have offended you or anyone else reading this.
Hare Krishna!
You servant,
-ilya