What kind of devotees we are making?
Subhaga Swami: Srila Prabhupada wanted all his disciples to become gurus. To spread Lord Caitanya’s message to every town and village many gurus are needed. The guru should be an elevated person, beyond material attraction. That is not easy. We must understand we can never, never, never be happy here [in the material world], despite our dreams. Srila Prabhupada said this movement is for building character. We should be introspective to see how well we are doing. We are tested. At every moment, we are tested. By surrender to Krishna, one develops all the good qualities. The advanced soul worships everyone, seeing them as all souls, part of God, who are differently situated because of their karma. Ideally a man should not see his wife as an object of sense gratification. There is a saying that a brahmacari sleeps like a dog, eats like a bird, meditates like a crane, and bathes like a crow. Prabhupada gave the ideal thing and wanted us to implement it. “It is good to have a big temple,” Srila Prabhupada said, “but we have to see what kind of devotees we are making.” Srila Prabhupada said if the purity is not there, everything is lost. Without hearing and chanting about Krishna, maintaining our temples will become a burden. Sometimes we are given so much responsibility in devotional service, and that is so there is no room for maya. India is fast changing [losing its culture]. ISKCON is to save India. A brahmana is very truthful and will tell everything. A brahmana is also very pure. Krishna sees our pure devotion. He does not ask about our social position before admitting us into His spiritual kingdom. A devotee was reading the verse describing the demoniac qualities, pride, arrogance, anger, etc. One devotee said to Prabhupada, “So many of us have some of these qualities.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “They will have to go.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura once sat on the floor of the train when there were no seats. He did not say, “Get up. Don’t you know who I am? I am the magistrate.” He was humble.
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