Prabhupada, what is a devotee’s greatest enemy???

[krsna]

 

A DEVOTEE’S GREATEST ENEMY

 

 

Devotee: Prabhupada, what is a devotee’s greatest enemy?

Prabhupada: He himself. Because he is a rascal, he is his own greatest enemy. Give up this rascaldom, and you will become your friend. Nobody is your enemy. You are your own enemy.

 

— Morning walk conversation in Paris on 12 June 1974.

 

[theist]

"Nobody is your enemy. You are your own enemy."

 

 

[Guest guest]

By Srila Sridhara Maharaj

 

Ignorance is not accidental, it is earned by our previous action – man is the architect of his own fortune. The bad weather I am meeting with at present has been earned by myself. Don’t complain against the environment. Utilise it as best you can and try to see the Grace of the Absolute therein. The anomaly I am facing at this present time is the

product of my own action, no-one else is to blame. Not only is that true; but from another viewpoint it can also be seen that the Grace of the Lord is always present everywhere – eager to help me – coming in the guise of an apparently unfavourable environment according to the

vision of my present experience. That is the necessary medicine for my disease, the medicine to cure my madness. It is like medicine dispensed by the Lord. He is everywhere with His sympathetic hand extended to us in the circumstances of most intense danger. To have this attitude is to have the key, the solution that solves our unfavourable circumstances, our unfavourable position.

 

The Lord is not vindictive, He does not want to punish us.

Punishment has come only to teach us. The punishment is there but coming from the affectionate hand to teach us, to improve us, to help us. We have to see all dangers like that.

So set yourself right – not others – and real peace you will find.

And never try to enjoy the result of your actions. This is the key to a successful life, and happiness will flow from that. You will find the

 

The Infinite is your Friend.

Everything is a part and parcel of the Original, therefore God is manifested in everything. And it is not that we can sacrifice or negate everything and only God remains, otherwise why we are here? Our individuality and existence is real. So both sides must have some recognition. Harmony between them is truth proper. This is the conception of Mahaprabhu. There is polarity and also there is unity

and harmony, and that is all-important. Dislocation is unhealthy.

Proper adjustment is necessary. Maya (misconception) means

dislocation. Provincial, local interests are clashing with each other as well as with the Absolute. But proper adjustment comes through achieving understanding of the Absolute. Such understanding brings true harmony. All these things should be discussed and understood.

 

Disciple: How can we practically understand and apply the principle

of harmony?

Srila Guru Maharaj: In your conception what does harmony mean?

Disciple: I understand that, strictly speaking, harmony is a musical term referring to different musical tones which are in balance with each other.

Srila Guru Maharaj: In a choir or an orchestra many instruments are being played or many singers are singing so the variety will be a credit to the harmony. Different types of instruments are being played but there must be harmony there, and the highest harmony depends upon

how the many different instruments are being played in tune.

Hundreds of different instruments are playing, preparing the music –yet they must all be attuned to the conductor. So sacrifice, dedication in its highest degree, will be of such a nature that it can accommodate and tolerate all differences. Therefore by toleration harmony will

increase. The highest type of harmony can tolerate any type of opposition. It is all-accommodating. In this way, the highest conception of dedication means there is the accommodation of an infinitely number variety within it; and its sweetness will increase more and more.

 

So there are different instruments making different tunes from different strata of sound but they are all tuned to one. Plurality is connected to one centre and is giving some sweet, soothing feeling of sentiment. Similarly we can see that the earth and all the planets are each moving in their individual ways but are connected to another force. The moon is moving around the earth, and there are so many planets moving in relation to other planets which in turn are moving in their own way, But all are moving around the sun. Variety meets unity in different plans of movement. That is harmony. This applies everywhere, including the plane of colour and the plane of sound.

Many branches meet together in the trunk of a tree, the trunk harmonises the many leaves.

 

Disciple: In the Absolute sense does discord bring harmony?

Srila Guru Maharaj: In the highest Absolute there is room to

accommodate everything, otherwise it can’t be Absolute. If we consider something to be Absolute but can still find some thing to be outside of that, then it cannot be Absolute. The Absolute accommodates everything. In Him the enemy is not an enemy! The Centre is everywhere, there is no circumference. In that plane only God can be traced everywhere and He cannot be our enemy.

 

[krsna]

My Lord,

 

I can understand that the superexcellent service

 

of the residents of Vrndavana is due to their engaging all

 

natural instincts in Your service.

 

It is said that attachments for material objects are like

 

thieves which steal away the valuable time of the living

 

entity.

 

The material illusions of such attached persons are like

 

shackles which bind him by the legs to his house and

 

paraphernalia which become no more than a prison house for

 

him. But this is only the case for persons who are not in

 

Krsna consciousness.

 

In the case of the residents of Vrndavana, such

 

obstructions as attachment for hearth and

 

home are non-existent.

 

 

Because their attachment has been

 

converted to You, and their home has been converted into a

 

temple because You are always there, and because they have

 

forgotten everything for Your sake, there is no

 

impediment.

 

For a Krsna conscious person, there is no such

 

thing as impediments in hearth and home. Nor is there

 

illusion.

 

(Lord Brahma - SB 10.14.36)