Upon our arrival back in Dhaka on the 15th of March Dvija-Nayaka Prabhu flew on to Chittagong while I traveled to Narayan Ganj, two hours away from Dhaka. Here Lord Jagannath resides and is nicely worshiped, together with Lord Baladev and Lady Subhadra.
Narayan Ganj has always been a very lively yatra with lots of nice devotees who are eager to attend systematic seminars. The city is a trade center, and many devotees have their own business which allows them to be more flexible in their working time.
I was scheduled to give three afternoon sessions of around three hours each on "The False Ego - Our Constant Companion and Troublemaker", which was very well attended by around 300 practicing and very eager devotees.
It was a great pleasure to once again churn the topic, and devotees got a lot out of it.
Within Krsna consciousness we can very easily feed and increase our false ego instead of subduing and dissolving it. Since it is so subtle it often goes on undetected and even passes as devotional service. The instruction is there in the principle of developing a selfless service attitude. If our service is performed with the desire to gratify our false ego, then it is not selfless. Instead we are running after this ego satisfaction and might even think that this is the taste which pure devotional service gives. But it is a very different flavor. Therefore a devotee has to become a very expert gardener - able to distinguish between the deep satisfaction which Krsna gives in reciprocation to our pure desire to serve, and the false ego satisfaction.
I was scheduled to give three afternoon sessions of around three hours each on "The False Ego - Our Constant Companion and Troublemaker", which was very well attended by around 300 practicing and very eager devotees.
It was a great pleasure to once again churn the topic, and devotees got a lot out of it.
Within Krsna consciousness we can very easily feed and increase our false ego instead of subduing and dissolving it. Since it is so subtle it often goes on undetected and even passes as devotional service. The instruction is there in the principle of developing a selfless service attitude. If our service is performed with the desire to gratify our false ego, then it is not selfless. Instead we are running after this ego satisfaction and might even think that this is the taste which pure devotional service gives. But it is a very different flavor. Therefore a devotee has to become a very expert gardener - able to distinguish between the deep satisfaction which Krsna gives in reciprocation to our pure desire to serve, and the false ego satisfaction.
We might be attached to doing a particular service, thinking that this is spiritual. As a rule however, the reason why we are attached is because we get some subtle sense gratification or ego satisfaction from it. Much better is to simply be attached to serving the devotees - in whatever way they want us to serve. We can imagine a common situation in our daily life as a devotee: we might have a certain title or position, and all of a sudden it is decided that another devotee should perform this service and get our title and position. If we are motivated by ego satisfaction, then we will be upset, and most likely the situation will develop into a conflict. However, if we are motivated by a pure desire to please the devotees, then such situation will not be a source of grievance and tension. We will simply be happy to do some other service - whatever the devotees want us to do.
There is an art how to glorify and appreciate devotees without feeding their false ego. In general, the ego motivation is always a stronger driving force than the pure motivation of serving and pleasing Krsna and His devotees. Therefore we tend to give devotees some little ego satisfaction as "encouragement", hoping that they will continue doing their service.
A Vaisnava does not like to be glorified. He will block his ears and run away when somebody tries to glorify him. This gives us a nice indication how much we have cultivated a pure Vaisnava mood. Do we feel like blocking our ears and running away, or are we happily lapping up the glorification, thinking to ourselves: "Finally they are recognising my greatness...!"
The bigger the audience is when we are being appreciated, the more it will feed our false ego. I personally prefer to express my gratitude and appreciation for a devotee's service directly and personally to him/her by thanking the person for their dedicated service and emphasizing how meaningful it has been to me. I find such kind of glorification or appreciation comes as a rule with more sincerity and touches the heart more deeply than the "standard" kind of appreciation with great applause, etc. When personally offered, we can balance the appreciation also with a little correction for improvement. And when we correct, then we should do the same - balance the correction with appreciation and gratitude. Giving young and talented devotees too quickly power and position can also feed their false ego and almost spoil their spiritual development.
A Vaisnava does not like to be glorified. He will block his ears and run away when somebody tries to glorify him. This gives us a nice indication how much we have cultivated a pure Vaisnava mood. Do we feel like blocking our ears and running away, or are we happily lapping up the glorification, thinking to ourselves: "Finally they are recognising my greatness...!"
The bigger the audience is when we are being appreciated, the more it will feed our false ego. I personally prefer to express my gratitude and appreciation for a devotee's service directly and personally to him/her by thanking the person for their dedicated service and emphasizing how meaningful it has been to me. I find such kind of glorification or appreciation comes as a rule with more sincerity and touches the heart more deeply than the "standard" kind of appreciation with great applause, etc. When personally offered, we can balance the appreciation also with a little correction for improvement. And when we correct, then we should do the same - balance the correction with appreciation and gratitude. Giving young and talented devotees too quickly power and position can also feed their false ego and almost spoil their spiritual development.
Only a highly advanced devotee will experience glorification as a humbling situation. He thinks to himself: "They say so many nice things about me, but little do they know what really is going on in my heart. I wish I could just manifest one drop of the qualities which they see in me."
On my visit to Narayan Ganj I was also invited to offer two morning classes, which were also well attended. And we concluded the visit by distributing lots of Srila Prabhupada's books to the assembled congregation.
One morning we drove to the nearby nama hatta community of Sona Gaon, and we had a very vribant program there, discussing Prabhupada's position as Founder Acarya. Devotees were so eager to hear and get to know more about Srila Prabhupada! Again, we concluded by distributing lots of books to the audience, even several boxes with volumes of four cantoes of Srimad Bhagavatam. My usual trick is that I offer to write some good wishes inside the book, which always inspires devotees to receive the special gift of Srila Prabhupada's books.
The nama hatta leader offered me a wrapped up gift. As I opened it I found to my great delight a very beautiful picture of Srila Prabhupada - nicely framed! My heart was moved as I felt a special reciprocation with Srila Prabhupada......
One morning we drove to the nearby nama hatta community of Sona Gaon, and we had a very vribant program there, discussing Prabhupada's position as Founder Acarya. Devotees were so eager to hear and get to know more about Srila Prabhupada! Again, we concluded by distributing lots of books to the audience, even several boxes with volumes of four cantoes of Srimad Bhagavatam. My usual trick is that I offer to write some good wishes inside the book, which always inspires devotees to receive the special gift of Srila Prabhupada's books.
The nama hatta leader offered me a wrapped up gift. As I opened it I found to my great delight a very beautiful picture of Srila Prabhupada - nicely framed! My heart was moved as I felt a special reciprocation with Srila Prabhupada......
On the 19th I returned to Dhaka and met up with Dvija-Nayaka Prabhu, and we spent a couple more days at Swamibag temple. We took turns in giving the morning class, and our youth preachers had arranged a student program with the ladies for me. I took Dvija-Nayaka Prabhu for a little tour around the Swamibag complex, which is a labyrinth of little lanes and path ways, and everywhere are rooms and sheds where devotees live. We visited the main departments, distributed maha prasadam and personally connected with the devotees.
On the 22nd of March we flew out to India.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
On the 22nd of March we flew out to India.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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