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Will Chanting Hare Krishna Not Make One Lazy And Selfish?
If a person is chanting Hare Krishna all the time, is he not
neglecting others and working for his own selfish motive of going back to God?
How can such a person be called a social worker?In this world, each one of us
is either a
part of the problem or a part of the solution. Most
people due to their uncontrolled passions
like anger and greed are a part of the problem of the world. But a
person who chants Hare Krishna and becomes Krishna conscious gives up all such
passions and harmonizes himself with the will of God. He thus becomes a part of
the solution, rather than being a part of the problem. And by his example and
words, he inspires many others to also harmonize themselves with the will of
God and become a part of the solution. Hence his contribution to society is
invaluable.
It requires intelligence to appreciate the importance of the
transformation in consciousness of people that a devotee brings about. For
example, in the 1960s thousands of American youths were taking to drugs and
becoming hippies and criminals, being frustrated with the emptiness of their
lives. The American government was trying various means to save its youth from
criminalism and drug-addiction but its efforts were turning out to be futile.
At that time, Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, taught these
youths the chanting of the Holy Names and, being inspired by the happiness and
the enlightenment that the chanting gave them, hundreds of such hippies became
"happies"; they gave up drugs and crime forever and lived pure lives
of selfless service to God and man thereafter. Thus Srila Prabhupada succeeded
where the US government had failed -just due to his devotion to Krishna and his
ability to infuse that devotion in the hearts of others. So although a devotee may
be appearing to just practicing and preaching Krishna consciousness, the wise
understand the value of his contribution to society.
Moreover a devotee is never selfish. One who loves Krishna
naturally loves every living being. Suppose your sister gets married and has a
child. Earlier you loved only your sister, but now you love not only your
sister, but also her husband and her son because of their connection to your
sister. Similarly if a person loves Krishna then he begins to love all living
beings because of their connection to Krishna. Every living being is a part and
parcel of Krishna, so a devotee of Krishna sees everyone in relation to
Krishna, loves everyone and renders service to everyone by glorifying Krishna
and teaching about Krishna.