Devotional service is often performed under the three modes of material nature
An important detail that helps us to understand many patterns of behavior, in both ourselves and others, is the description of devotional service in the three modes given by Lord Kapila.
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Devotional service is often performed under the three modes of material nature
One important detail that helps us to understand many patterns of behavior, in both ourselves and others, is the description of devotional service in the three modes given by Lord Kapila in the 29th chapter of the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Once we understand these three patterns of behavior, we can better understand how they affect ourselves and other devotees around us, which can be the first step in treating the problem.
Devotional service in itself is pure and fully spiritual, but devotees have material contaminations and take to devotional service with different purposes in mind. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa describes four classes of people who approach him: ārta (the ones looking for a solution for their material distress), jijñāsu (the inquisitive), artha-arthī (people who desire material gain), and jñānī (the philosopher who comes to Kṛṣṇa as a result of his process of philosophical inquiry). By practicing devotional service, all of them have the opportunity of eventually becoming pure, but at least in the initial stage, their devotional service will be expressed through their different contaminations, and thus, their external actions will take different forms.
A devotee contaminated by the mode of ignorance will show qualities such as pride, anger, and violence. Such a person is defined by Lord Kapila as a separatist because his desires are not dovetailed with the Lord. In other words, the Lord desires one thing, and he desires another. Even though he becomes somehow or other attracted to the practice of devotional service and the association of devotees, his practical actions are contrary to the desires of the Lord. He may act in inconsiderate, dismissive, offensive, or even violent ways against other devotees and people in general, engage in dishonest activities, tell lies, spread rumors, and so on.
One contaminated by the mode of passion will have a tendency to use his practice of devotional service to achieve fame, power, prestige, material facilities, and so on, and use all kinds of political maneuvers to attain such ends. Just like a person contaminated by the mode of ignorance, this doesn’t mean he has no desire to serve the Lord, but such a propensity of service is filtered through his material contaminations and is thus manifested in perverted ways. Just like the devotee in ignorance, the devotee in passion is also a separatist who acts against the desires of the Lord and wants to use Him as an order supplier of material benefits. As one progresses to the mode of goodness, these negative qualities are gradually cleansed.
In his natural state, the soul has no separate interest from the Lord. One simply sees oneself as an eternal servant and desires to satisfy the Lord to the best of his capacity. This selfless consciousness exists when we are situated in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Separate interests appear when we are under the influence of the false ego, the root of all material contamination. Due to the false ego, we see ourselves as separate or independent of the Supreme Lord and thus remain entangled in this material world. The cure for both the false ego and separate interests is the process of surrendering to the Lord, which should be voluntary and backed by proper philosophical understanding. To the extent we advance in the process of surrender, we become free from both.
The idea is that by understanding the symptoms of the three modes and the contaminations they introduce, we may gradually learn to avoid this influence, by first progressing from ignorance to passion, then from passion to goodness, and finally purifying ourselves from the subtle contamination of goodness and reaching the transcendental stage.
When we speak about the practical symptoms, one practicing devotional service contaminated by the mode of ignorance will be proud and tend to be fanatical, adopting rigid philosophical interpretations, accepting only members of his group as advanced devotees, or even seeing himself as the only one right. He or she will act in harsh and inconsiderate ways, may adopt dishonest means to attain goals, will be prone to being envious and revengeful, create conflicts, and so on. On the one hand, it is good that one is trying to serve the Lord, even if under the influence of the mode of darkness, but the problem is that one can create a lot of harm in the process. These are people we may choose to offer our respects from afar and keep a healthy distance from.
Devotional service contaminated by passion is plagued with a desire for material gain, be it in the form of direct material benefits, such as money and privileges, or more subtle, in the form of power, fame, and followers. Different individuals may be more attracted to one side or another, but the root cause is the same.
A devotee influenced by passion may desire to take charge of the worship of the deity in a temple, for example, but this desire may be mixed with a desire to fulfill personal interests, seeing it as a way to maintain a position of power and prestige. A pure devotee may desire to take charge of the service of the deity to improve the standards or to offer his service to the Lord, just like Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thākura did in the temple of Lord Jagannātha in Purī, for example. This is one thing. A devotee influenced by passion, however, may fight to attain and maintain a position to extract some material benefit from it, like obtaining a prestigious position, gaining power over others, etc. We can see that these are motives quite different from the motives of a pure devotee. Apart from deity worship, a devotee in passion may fight for a position of leadership in any other project or sector, with similar goals.
Such persons tend to be common in positions of leadership in religious institutions, since they are the ones who can get things done. Unfortunately, they are also often responsible for creating toxic environments that make the environment difficult for sincere people. Understanding why it often results in such a toxic environment, how we can recognize it, how we can protect ourselves, and what would be the proper way to do things can be essential for our spiritual survival.
Leadership includes getting things done and attaining goals. Passion will make one inclined to work hard to attain goals, but these goals will not exactly be solely for the satisfaction of the Lord; ego will also play a prominent role. One may also pray, but often these prayers will be in the direction of asking the Lord to help him or her attain these material goals, and if these goals are not achieved, one may become frustrated or angry at the Lord, and in some cases, even lose their faith. Another negative tendency is that, believing that his personal goals are correct, a devotee in passion may adopt a “the ends justify the means” mentality, mobilizing and even manipulating others to attain his goals, without caring properly for their well-being. If in charge of a project, a devotee in passion may prioritize the development of the project over the well-being of the devotees involved, which can have very negative consequences.
In a proper devotional platform, a devotee may create a plan, but then be sensitive to see if the Lord agrees or not with it, offering his service, but without trying to impose something. Different from the devotee in passion, the goal of a pure devotee is to offer his service to the Lord, trying to understand what will be pleasant to Him, instead of using the Lord to satisfy his ambitions. Due to the pure mentality of such a devotee, the Lord will be able to guide him from both the inside, as Paramātmā, and from the outside, in the form of instructions from the spiritual master and others. Thus, the pure devotee remains aligned with the desires of the Lord, instead of acting as a separatist like the devotee in passion or ignorance.
When we sincerely offer some service to Kṛṣṇa, it may have three possible outcomes. The Lord may accept our plan and empower us to fulfill it, the Lord may make it happen later, after giving us the necessary spiritual baggage to be able to carry it out, or He may choose to change it into something else entirely.
In 1953, for example, Śrila Prabhupāda created the League of Devotees in Jhansi, India, with the goal of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. However, he gave it up when he saw it was not going to work as intended. Kṛṣṇa had other plans, and Prabhupāda showed he was ready to surrender to it. A few years later, Śrila Prabhupāda achieved much more success by coming to the West and starting the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness than he could ever have achieved with the League of Devotees.
Using our project to benefit devotees, instead of using devotees to benefit our project
When it comes to organization and development, an important distinction between a pure devotee and devotees influenced by passion or ignorance is that the pure devotee will try to use his project to benefit devotees, while the other two may try to use devotees to benefit their project.
All projects we develop have the ultimate purpose of bringing people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. People learn about Kṛṣṇa consciousness not from the walls of a temple or the grass fields in a farm, but from the devotees who live there. Therefore, the important component of any project is the devotees, and not walls or land. If advanced devotees are present, they can spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness by just chanting in a park, while even the most opulent building will fail to bring anyone to the path of devotional service if devotees are not present there. One in proper spiritual consciousness will thus see that the devotees are not only the most important part but what is most dear to Kṛṣṇa. He will thus use his project to develop the devotees, instead of the opposite.
When we express our devotional service through the mode of goodness, we learn to avoid these pitfalls and develop our activities in ways that are healthy for the devotees around us. That’s when our actions start to have a positive and lasting effect in bringing people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In ignorance, we are just a toxic person whom others have to learn to avoid. In passion, we can build things, but these tend to crumble later because we see mainly the material side. Only in goodness can we find a proper and balanced attitude that is satisfying to the Lord. In essence, in the mode of goodness, we can execute our devotional service in a way that is satisfying to the Lord; the only fault is that we do that with some self-interest, with the idea of becoming free from material suffering and achieving liberation. This mode of worship is almost pure; there is just a small tinge of personal interest due to the concern about personal salvation. As we progress, even this desire for liberation goes away, and we finally become situated on a platform of pure and unmotivated devotional service.
We can see that Kṛṣṇa dedicates a great part of the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā to explaining the three modes of material nature and concludes that we should elevate ourselves to the mode of goodness. When we speak about the practice of devotional service, the mode of goodness is essential, because this is the only of the three modes that allows us to cooperate in the service of the Lord peacefully. Both the influence of passion and ignorance lead to conflict, and such conflict undermines our communities, creating a difficult situation for everyone. Only to the extent we are influenced by the mode of goodness can we understand and reconcile different ideas, interests, and necessities with a calm mind.
The mode of passion is like a pair of glasses with red lenses. When we put on such glasses, we see everything red. Under the influence of the mode of passion, there is pride and attachment, which can easily cause violent responses when we are antagonized. Under the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance, our intelligence becomes covered and we become propense to conflict. We start to bark at others and fight just like dogs or cats.
We can see that in Vedic society, kṣatriyas are influenced by the mode of passion, while brāhmanas are influenced by the mode of goodness. Kṣatriyas fight under the smallest provocation, while brāhmanas are transcendental diplomats who are peaceful and unattached and can thus easily find peaceful solutions for problems, taking into consideration the needs of the different parties involved. The same applies to us. Conflicts can be avoided and solved in the mode of goodness. It’s not by chance that Śrila Prabhupāda wanted to train his disciples as brāhmanas: The brāhmana is a transcendental diplomat, and our society is in dire need of such diplomats.
Avoiding conflict requires the ability to put oneself in the position of the other party and not prioritize one’s own needs over theirs. For this, we need to abandon our separatist attitude. We are all parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore we are all brothers. By ascending to the mode of goodness, we become receptive to the guidance of Paramātmā within the heart and the instructions of the spiritual master from the outside. Only by rising to the mode of goodness can the red-tinted glasses of passion be removed, allowing us to see things as they truly are.
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