THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSOCIATION WITH DEVOTEES AND REJECTING MATERIALISTIC NON DEVOTEES FOR ADVANCEMENT IN THE DEVOTIONAL PATH OF KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS.
His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
The process of advancing in Krsna consciousness and devotional service is described here. The first point is that one must seek the association of persons who are Krsna conscious and who engage in devotional service. Without such association one cannot advance. Simply by theoretical knowledge or study one cannot make any appreciable advancement. One must give up the association of materialistic persons and seek the association of devotees because without such association one cannot understand the activities of the Lord.
Generally, people are convinced of the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. Because they do not associate with devotees, they cannot understand that the Absolute Truth can be a person and have personal activities. This is a very difficult subject matter, and unless one has personal understanding of the Absolute Truth, there is no meaning to devotion. Service or devotion cannot be offered to anything impersonal. Service must be offered to a person.
Nondevotees cannot appreciate Krsna consciousness by reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam or any other Vedic literature wherein the activities of the Lord are described; they think that these activities are fictional, because spiritual life is not explained to them in the proper mood.
To understand the personal activities of the Lord, one has to seek the association of devotees, and by such association, when one contemplates and tries to understand the transcendental activities of the Lord, the path to liberation is open, and he is freed. One who has firm faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes fixed, and his attraction for association with the Lord and the devotees increases.
Association with devotees means association with the Lord. The devotee who makes this association develops the consciousness for rendering service to the Lord, and then, being situated in the transcendental position of devotional service, he gradually becomes perfect.
In all scriptures people are encouraged to act in a pious way so that they can enjoy sense gratification not only in this life but also in the next. For example, one is promised promotion to the heavenly kingdom of higher planets by pious fruitive activities.
But a devotee in the association of devotees prefers to contemplate the activities of the Lord--how He has created this universe, how He is maintaining it, how the creation dissolves, and how in the spiritual kingdom the Lord's pastimes are enacted. There are full literatures describing these activities, especially Bhagavad-gita, Brahma-samhita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
The sincere devotee who associates with devotees gets the opportunity to hear and contemplate these subjects, and the result is that he feels distaste for so-called happiness in this or that world, in heaven or on other planets. The devotees are simply interested in being transferred to the personal association of the Lord; they are no longer attracted to temporary so-called happiness. That is the position of one who is yoga-yukta.
One who is fixed in mystic power is not disturbed by the allurement of this world or that world; he is interested in spiritual understanding. This is very easily attained by the easiest process, bhakti-yoga. Rjubhir yoga-margaih. A very suitable word used here is rjubhih, or "very easy."
There are different processes of yoga-marga, attaining yoga perfection, but this process, devotional service to the Lord, is the easiest. Not only is it the easiest process, but the result is sublime. Everyone, therefore, should try this process of Krsna consciousness and reach the highest perfection.
Sat means "existence," and asat means "that which does not exist," that which is temporary. The material world is asat; therefore the Vedas enjoin: asato ma sad gama: "Do not remain within this material world." Those who are interested in materialistic life are also called asat. When asked how a Vaisnava behaves, Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, asat-sanga-tyaga--ei vaisnava-acara: "A devotee first of all avoids the company of asat, those who are materially interested." (Cc. Madhya 22.87) We have established this Krsna consciousness movement in order to avoid asat-sanga, association with those who are interested in material things.
Because we are associating with Krsna, we do not wish to talk about anything but Krsna. Everyone is interested in this business or that, and we are exclusively interested in our Krsna consciousness business. Those who are asat are very much attached to sense gratification, and the culmination of sense gratification is sex.
In addition, Sri Sanatana Gosvami in his Hari-bhakti-vilasa recommends that one should not hear Bhagavad-gita, the puranas, the Srimad-Bhagavatam or any hari-katha from anyone who is not a Vaisnava in his actions. That means that we should not hear these Vedic literatures from the Mayavadis, who actually do not accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
How can one not accept Krsna as the Supreme Lord and yet dare to speak on Bhagavad-gita?
We will never derive any benefit from listening to the commentaries of such people. Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam should be heard from the devotees.We can hear Bhagavad-gita from Mayavadis for hundreds of years and yet never understand Krsna. It is therefore forbidden for Vaisnavas to hear talks given by Mayavadis.
Hari-katha, talks about Sri Hari, or Krsna, are amrta, nectar. If one hears them from the right source, he attains amrta (so 'mrtatvaya kalpate). Mrta means "birth and death," and amrta means "the cessation of birth and death." Spiritual life means putting an end to birth, old age, disease and death. Getting amrta, nectar, means getting relief from birth and death, and that is the real aim of spiritual life. Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (7.16) that spiritual life begins when one is pious:
catur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukrtino 'rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani ca bharatarsabha
"O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me--the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute."
If we actually want to become pious and develop our devotional life, we have to associate unflinchingly with a sadhu. Then we can acquire some taste for Krsna.
When we discuss Krsna with a sadhu, the discussion becomes very pleasing, and we develop some taste, which is called rasa, or mellow. Rasa is the enjoyment we derive from drinking something very nice when we are thirsty. Krsna has instructed us to think of Him when drinking water. This is not very difficult. Krsna also tells us to think of Him when we see sunlight in the morning.
Why do we say, "Can you show me God?" God is showing us Himself. Why do we close our eyes to try to see Him? He says, "I am this, and I am that." It is not that suddenly we can expect to see God, but we can become qualified to see God through the association of a sadhu. Presently many people are interested in receiving degrees from big universities, but education without God consciousness is simply an expansion of maya's influence.
Because knowledge is taken away by illusion, the universities are simply presenting impediments on the path of God consciousness. The living entity is already illusioned when he comes into the material world, and so-called advanced education simply increases his illusion. Trying to become happy in this temporary, material life, the living entity has forgotten that he is the eternal servant of Krsna.
Even if one becomes happy in this temporary life, his happiness is an illusion because no one is allowed to stay and enjoy his happiness. These points have to be understood in the association of devotees. A devotee knows everything because he has seen the Supreme Absolute Truth, Krsna.
[Excerpt from the book -Teachings of Lord Kapila -The Son of Devahuti -Chapter 12, Texts 25-26 Purport by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedantaswami Prabhupada reproduced herein by this menial servant.]