Part 3: Dealing with bad examples from the top
Sometimes, seniors may act in inconsiderate or dismissive ways, show qualities that are not compatible with their spiritual status, and so on. How to deal with such situations?
« Things I Wish Someone Had Taught Me When I Started Krishna Consciousness
Part 3: Dealing with bad examples from the top
One of the most crushing challenges we can face in spiritual life is when the bad examples come from the top. Our normal instinct is to see older and more experienced devotees as role models that we can follow. They show us the path we should follow to go somewhere in spiritual life. However, when these references themselves give a bad example, it can shake the ground beneath our feet.
Sometimes, seniors may act in inconsiderate or dismissive ways, show qualities that are not compatible with their spiritual status, exhibit a lack of social skills, have difficulty controlling their emotions, or even show signs of impersonalism. If devotees who are practicing for decades still struggle with such basic points, we may question what hope is there for us, or even question if the process works at all. We can become cynical, dismissive, or even imitate the culture that once shocked us, slowly becoming the very kind of inconsiderate senior we once questioned.
Worse still is when seniors and spiritual authorities fall from the regulative principles, are caught abusing their positions, performing immoral acts, or even outright exploiting others. This can lead to the most serious questions of all. If one in a position of leadership reveals himself to be corrupt, does that mean the whole process is fake? Does Kṛṣṇa care at all?
As we can see, this crisis of trust is extremely dangerous because such experiences can shake not only our confidence in particular individuals but also our sense of security in the association of devotees, and even in the spiritual process as a whole. We may catch ourselves questioning if the whole system is not broken.
When such doubts come, we may swing to extremes: abandoning spiritual practice altogether, or conversely, doubling down by clinging fanatically to unworthy leaders, convincing ourselves they must be flawless and that the fault is in us for doubting them.
How do we face this? How can we continue advancing in our spiritual practice, while at the same time seeing things as they are? How do we respond to betrayal without becoming bitter or blind?
« Things I Wish Someone Had Taught Me When I Started Krishna Consciousness
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