After spending a week in Cologne/Germany, offering a couple of programs and winding up my time in Europe, I embarked on my tour around India with the first stop being the temple in Seshadripuram/Bangalore. Being located on a plateau in South India - 900 meters above sea level - Bangalore has a very nice climate and is moderate even during the hot time of the year, with around 30 degrees during the day, always a fresh breeze blowing and cool at night.
When I hope to retire in Mayapur one day, I may come here during the hot season and spend time preaching in the different devotee communities. No need for me to leave India to go to a cooler place...!
The devotees kept me busily engaged with various programs in the temple and in two preaching centres, on a good selection of relevant topics. Thus I enjoyed the company of the Vaishnavas in sravanam kirtanam...
An ever intriguing topic is the false ego and its multifaceted ways to create our miseries....
Resentment develops if we cannot let go of the internal ego battle in regards to a person or situation. Our false ego cries for justice, and we suppress and swallow our negative feelings and bottle them up. But inside of us the false ego continues to rebel and protest. And thus the resentment builds up.
The devotees kept me busily engaged with various programs in the temple and in two preaching centres, on a good selection of relevant topics. Thus I enjoyed the company of the Vaishnavas in sravanam kirtanam...
An ever intriguing topic is the false ego and its multifaceted ways to create our miseries....
Resentment develops if we cannot let go of the internal ego battle in regards to a person or situation. Our false ego cries for justice, and we suppress and swallow our negative feelings and bottle them up. But inside of us the false ego continues to rebel and protest. And thus the resentment builds up.
We can understand our heart to be a sacred place. By maintaining grudges, we allow the toxic effects of resentment to pollute those sacred chambers of our heart. That which offends us only weakens us. Holding on to the feeling of being offended only magnifies the same destructive energy that offended us in the first place. And we poison our heart by hanging on to it, rather than letting go of it and moving on.
Nelson Mandela stated: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Within our minds, we try to punish the other person by maintaining our own anger and ill feelings towards them, but in actuality we punish ourselves. We continue to carry the negativity with us, and therefore maintain the negative association of the person with whom the ill feelings are associated.
Being easily offended can be a sign of being self-centred, proud, insecure and lacking wisdom. It appears as a small problem, but in reality it will keep us from experiencing joy, peace of mind and Krishna’s mercy. Sometimes people carry the burden of resentments within their hearts for many years, whereas the other person forgot about the event a long time ago and moved on.
Unfortunately, so often we have devotees leaving the association of Vaishnavas because of this very reason: being offended. Some disagreement may have taken place and some harsh words may have been exchanged. A person may be offended, not being able to overcome the resentments building up in their hearts. They may find all the justifications within their minds and all the reasons why the community of the devotees is not worth associating with any longer. And as a result, their spiritual practice becomes weak or even dries up entirely. They fade away, never to be seen again.
Whenever anyone has affronted us, we can raise our consciousness so high that the offence cannot reach it. As our relationship with Krishna gradually becomes a tangible reality for us, we can take refuge at His lotus feet; we no longer look for occasions to be offended, and we do not judge and label others. We experience a deep satisfaction that is beyond the effects of anyone or anything external.
If someone has offended us, insulted us or disappointed us, let it go. If we are remembering all the ways we have been hurt or forgotten, let it go! We may ask ourselves, “What good does it do for me to hold on to this?” Or, "Will this still be important at the moment of death?" And we realise it has no true significance....
On the 8th of October I flew on to Delhi.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Nelson Mandela stated: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Within our minds, we try to punish the other person by maintaining our own anger and ill feelings towards them, but in actuality we punish ourselves. We continue to carry the negativity with us, and therefore maintain the negative association of the person with whom the ill feelings are associated.
Being easily offended can be a sign of being self-centred, proud, insecure and lacking wisdom. It appears as a small problem, but in reality it will keep us from experiencing joy, peace of mind and Krishna’s mercy. Sometimes people carry the burden of resentments within their hearts for many years, whereas the other person forgot about the event a long time ago and moved on.
Unfortunately, so often we have devotees leaving the association of Vaishnavas because of this very reason: being offended. Some disagreement may have taken place and some harsh words may have been exchanged. A person may be offended, not being able to overcome the resentments building up in their hearts. They may find all the justifications within their minds and all the reasons why the community of the devotees is not worth associating with any longer. And as a result, their spiritual practice becomes weak or even dries up entirely. They fade away, never to be seen again.
Whenever anyone has affronted us, we can raise our consciousness so high that the offence cannot reach it. As our relationship with Krishna gradually becomes a tangible reality for us, we can take refuge at His lotus feet; we no longer look for occasions to be offended, and we do not judge and label others. We experience a deep satisfaction that is beyond the effects of anyone or anything external.
If someone has offended us, insulted us or disappointed us, let it go. If we are remembering all the ways we have been hurt or forgotten, let it go! We may ask ourselves, “What good does it do for me to hold on to this?” Or, "Will this still be important at the moment of death?" And we realise it has no true significance....
On the 8th of October I flew on to Delhi.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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