Disadvantages of living in holy places
In the past, I wrote a few articles about living in holy places. Today, I wanted to focus a little on the negative aspects. As in other choices, there are some positives and also some negatives.
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In the past, I wrote a few articles about living in holy places. Today, I wanted to focus a little on the negative aspects of doing so. Yes, as in other choices, there are some positives and also some negatives; it is not all roses.
When we live in a materialistic city like New York or Moscow, it’s quite easy to understand the difference between material and spiritual. Going to different programs in the temple, chanting our japa, studying the scriptures, and other devotional activities can be considered spiritual, while most of the other things around us are just understood as part of the material world. In a sense, this division is not bad, since it can help us to focus on the spiritual things, seeing them as a shelter against all the materialistic craziness we have around us. Such a situation forces us to clearly see the difference between material and spiritual, and this clear difference can work as a catalyst that makes us more interested in spiritual life. There are, of course, many disadvantages to this lifestyle, but on the other hand, we can see that there is this small advantage.
When we go to live in a holy place like Vṛndāvana and Mayapur, however, this difference between material and spiritual is not so clear. Most of the people we deal with on a daily basis are devotees, people who worship Krsna, wear kanti-mala, use tilaka, etc. The problem is that, just like in the big city, not all of these people act in very exemplary ways.
Unsurprisingly, the three material modes are still working, despite these external symbols, leading to all kinds of far-from-ideal symptoms. If one is operating under the assumption that all devotees are saints, this may be a rude awakening. These are the types of things one will not notice much in a short visit, but become more noticeable when one stays longer.
Another point is that often devotees expect to come to live in Mayapur and Vṛndāvana and find the same level of comfort and the same quality of products and services they have in their native countries. This can be quite a problem, especially for devotees who are coming from developed countries. Although living standards improved astronomically from what devotees were enduring in the 1970s and 1980s, both Vṛndāvana and Mayapur are still relatively remote parts of India, where quality products and services can be scarce. One has to learn to adapt to what is available, instead of expecting that everything will be exactly the way he or she wants. More often than not, problems can’t be fixed with just money.
On both points, a different way of thinking is necessary: instead of exerting our conditioned nature of manipulating matter to our liking, we need to learn to accept what is coming naturally and apply our energy for spiritual development.
As I expressed in other posts, holy places like Vṛndāvana and Mayapur are like portals to the spiritual world, where both the material and the spiritual coexist. There is the spiritual dhama, with all its opulence, where Krsna executes His pastimes, and there is the material representation of the dhama, which is inhabited by both devotees and materialists and is plagued by problems as in any other part of the material world. The challenge when we come to live in the dhama is to tune up to the transcendental frequency, instead of paying attention to all shortcomings of the material reality.
In this sense, living in the holy dhama is a test for our spiritual development. When we live in a big city, we are more or less part-time devotees. We go to the temple sometimes, and there we certainly try to act like devotees and give a good impression. We may even make some small programs in our house once per week, but at the same time, we are far away from other devotees and have the freedom to do whatever we like. No one will be there to judge us. There is a clear division between our devotional life and our material activities.
When we live in the holy dhama on the other hand, this division becomes much thinner. Now our neighbors are devotees, the guy selling fruits on the corner is a devotee, and so on. We thus become obliged to become devotees full-time, and this can be quite difficult for many.
Another difficulty is reconciling our spiritual lives with economic development. Even for someone who is renounced, some degree of economic development is necessary because one has to pay rent, buy food, and so on. In past centuries, Vaiṣnavas who would go to live in holy places would often live in some grove in the forest and beg food once per day. Not many of us would be prepared to do that, and it would not even be well-viewed by most nowadays.
As a result, we have to perform some kind of work to get income and pay for basic necessities, and this becomes much more acute when one has a family. This, however, needs to be done very carefully. One has to find an honest way of making money that doesn’t take all his time and is not contradictory to the spiritual values we are trying to develop. Krsna explains everything about this in the Bhagavad-Gita, but the practical application may not be so simple.
A mistake many commit is getting too absorbed in making money and increasing material comfort, power, and influence. One who goes on this way may become completely blocked from experiencing the spiritual nature of the dhama. He or she will continue living in the material world, despite being geographically living in Mayapur or Vṛndāvana. That’s like coming all the way to the door of the spiritual world, but having a change of heart at the last moment.
The climate can also be a challenge for many. Vṛndāvana is extremely hot in the summer, and it can be quite cold in the winter. In Mayapur, the temperatures are a little milder, but on the other hand, there is lots of humidity. Again, how much we will be disturbed by it depends on our capacity to connect with the spiritual reality. Once, in a class, Jayapataka Maharaja commented that the heat we feel during the summer in Mayapur represents the feeling of separation of Srimati Radharani and Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu from Krsna. When seen from this perspective, the experience becomes completely different.
Yet another challenge in living in the dhama is dovetailing our desires with the desires of Krsna. For example, one may feel disturbed by having thousands of pilgrims on Mangala-artik, to the point that one can barely move, but on the other hand, that’s something that gives great happiness to the Lord. If we are concerned with our material comfort, this can be indeed unpleasant, but if we identify with the happiness of the Lord, it actually becomes a source of happiness for us. This same factor applies to practically all aspects of our lives in the dhama. When we become too absorbed in our own comfort and convenience, we tend to complain, isolate ourselves, and ultimately develop a negative attitude that makes us leave the dhama and return to the convenience of our material lives. When, on the other hand, we become absorbed in satisfying Krsna, we are able to connect with like-minded devotees, find ways to contribute to the maintenance and upliftment of the dhama, and find happiness by increasing our Krsna Consciousness.
Living in the dhama also requires spiritual maturity. Holy places are a place of convergence for all kinds of people, going from pure devotees trying to serve Krsna to karmis with tilaka interested in exploiting others. Even spiritual authorities may not always act in proper ways, due to different factors. Often, people are inconsiderate or exploitative, and criticism or peer pressure can become a serious problem. One has thus to have a good deal of maturity to be able to differentiate right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable, avoiding being pushed here and there by people who don’t know very well what they are doing. A good rule of thumb is to have good guidance, be it directly from the spiritual master or by seniors, understand what the limits are, and from this be confident in doing the right thing and not being much affected by pressure or opinions of others.
I find that when we are able to reconcile all these different points and establish our connection to the spiritual nature, we become nourished by the holy dhama and blossom in our spiritual lives. However, when we become absorbed in the material side, our experience can be quite negative, and it becomes worse the longer we stay.
One who is prepared may just move to the dhama and conclude his or her path back to Godhead, while others who are not able to fully adapt to living in a holy place will do better in just coming and going, staying just long enough to get some spiritual benefit, but not long enough to start becoming disturbed by the material side.
It’s important to note that the effects of both spiritual activities executed in the dhama and negative activities, such as offenses and sinful activities, become amplified. Not only that, but both our spiritual sincerity and material tendencies are amplified. In this way, life in the dhama can be extremely beneficial or incredibly dangerous, depending on which side we are on. Therefore, that’s a choice that needs to be approached carefully.
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