Question: What should I do if someone says that my behavior in Krishna consciousness is weird, just because I get up at 3am and eat only Krishna prasadam, I do not allow any mundane social gatherings at my home and do not socialize with any mundane people? This person claims that it is mental torture on him. Did I commit an offense for first trying to turn this person into Krishna consciousness and then after years of effort gave up? Is Lord Caitanya who is the savior of the most fallen mad at me for giving up?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
The guidelines given for a madhyama adhikari or a preacher, as discussed in the previous question, are very appropriate in such situations, in helping us understand how to interact with different classes of people. A sincere practitioner of bhakti yoga, while trying to interact with others, should be careful to intimately make friendship only with other like-minded devotees, lest it hampers their own budding devotional faith; they should be careful to identify the innocent and avoid the non-devotees who are completely disinclined.
Those who don’t understand or share the same principles and values that mold our lives and daily routines are very well likely to not appreciate a devotee’s lifestyle and may consider it weird, just as for a devotee, the aimless life of sense-gratification of the materialists seems weird. As Krishna says, what is day for the introspective is night for the common men. (Bg 2.69)
In trying to extend compassion to such persons, it is generally good to start with small doses – offering prasadam, making friendship, engaging in light conversations on spiritual matters, encouraging them to take up some chanting and so on. Try to `feel the pulse’ of the other person, rather than to introduce them initially to our entire lifestyle. If the individual is innocent and shows some inclination, we can share our Krishna consciousness with them further. But if one is not so inclined, or even outright unappreciative, it is best to avoid them, as force and coercion will only make them more resentful. After all, surrendering to Krishna is a matter of individual free will; while we can do our best to impart its wisdom, we cannot `make’ anyone Krishna conscious.
Lord Caitanya, who is certainly most merciful, cannot be mad at you for your well-intended efforts, but in the future you may want to more carefully consider the guidelines placed before the madhyama adhikary to distinguish whom to share this mercy with, so that your efforts to extend compassion will be more effective.
