Devotees Are Not...- an essential subject

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Sometimes the Lord gives extraordinary powers to His devotee, but the devotee knows always that the power belongs to the Personality of Godhead and that the devotee is only an instrument. The pure devotee is never puffed up like the nondevotee class of men who falsely think that they are God. It is astonishing to see how a person who is being kicked by the laws of the Lord's illusory energy at every step can falsely think of becoming one with the Lord. Such thinking is the last snare of the illusory energy offered to the conditioned soul. The first illusion is that he wants to become Lord of the material world by accumulating wealth and power, but when he is frustrated in that attempt he wants to be one with the Lord. So both becoming the most powerful man in the material world and desiring to become one with the Lord are different illusory snares. And because the pure devotees of the Lord are surrendered souls, they are above the illusory snares of māyā.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Devotees are not... category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 16 quotes.

   
 

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Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		The devotee follows the best yoga system of God-realization, which is enunciated in the Bhagavad-gītā. His activities are not selfishly motivated, aimed at realizing his own cherished dreams, but are directed toward fulfilling the will of God on earth. This yoga is known as buddhi-yoga, wherein lies the entire world's good fortune. (Renunciation Through Wisdom, Chapter 5.1)



vanipedia.org 		The senses are always desiring sense enjoyment, but when a devotee develops transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa his senses are no longer attracted by material desires. (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 18)



vanipedia.org 		The devotee never commands, "My dear Lord, please come here so that I can see You." It is not the position of the devotee to command the Supreme Personality of Godhead to come before him or to dance before him. There are many so-called devotees who command the Lord to come before them dancing. The Lord, however, is not subject to anyone's command, but if He is satisfied by one's pure devotional activities, He reveals Himself. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.3.23)



vanipedia.org 		A self-realized person, or a devotee, knows well that this material cosmic manifestation is a temporary, illusory representation appearing to be truth. It is like a phantasmagoria. But behind this shadow creation there is reality—the spiritual world. A devotee is interested in the spiritual world, not its shadow. Since he has realization of the supreme truth, a devotee is not interested in this temporary shadow of truth. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.12.15)



vanipedia.org 		Karmis therefore try to be happy by material adjustment, and jnanis want to be happy by becoming one with the Supreme. The devotee has no such interest. He is not interested in so-called meditation in the Himalayas or the forest. Rather, his interest is in the busiest part of the world, where he teaches people Krsna consciousness. The Krsna consciousness movement was started for this purpose. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.44)



vanipedia.org 		Although a devotee sees all living entities on the level of spiritual existence, he is not interested in associating with everyone. Simply because a tiger is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord does not mean that we embrace him. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.16)



vanipedia.org 		Stalwart, highly advanced Vaiṣṇava devotees are not interested in seeing prostitutes, but when a prostitute or any other fallen soul becomes a Vaiṣṇava, stalwart Vaiṣṇavas are interested in seeing them. Anyone can be turned into a Vaiṣṇava if he or she follows the Vaiṣṇava principles. A devotee who follows these principles is no longer on the material platfor. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 3.142)



vanipedia.org 		The real path of religion is to surrender at the lotus feet of the Lord. For one who is actually surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord, there is no question of any separate endeavor for economic development. A devotee engaged in service to the Lord is not disappointed in the satisfaction of his senses. If he wants to satisfy his senses, Kṛṣṇa fulfills that desire. As far as liberation is concerned, any devotee fully engaged in the service of the Lord is already liberated; therefore there is no separate necessity for his liberatio. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.8.41)



vanipedia.org 		Discourses on the transcendental activities of the Lord purify the atmosphere in which such discussions are held, and the devotees thus become enlivened while answering such questions. It is purifying both for the questioners and for one who answers the questions. The pure devotees are not only satisfied by knowing everything about the Lord, but are also eager to broadcast the information to others, for they want to see that the glories of the Lord are known to everyone. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.5.9)



vanipedia.org 		Karmīs are simply full of desires because they try to enjoy sense gratification. They are not peaceful in this life, nor the next, during the past, present or future. Similarly, jñānīs are always aspiring after liberation and trying to become one with the Supreme. Yogīs are aspiring after many siddhis (powers)—aṇimā, laghimā, prāpti, etc. However, a devotee is not at all interested in these things because he is fully dependent on the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is yogeśvara, the possessor of all mystic powers. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.35)



vanipedia.org 		It appears that Bhīṣmadeva is repenting the actions he committed against the person of the Lord. But factually the Lord's body was not at all pained, due to His transcendental existence. His body is not matter. Both He Himself and His body are complete spiritual identity. Spirit is never pierced, burnt, dried, moistened, etc...Therefore Bhīṣmadeva's piercing of the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa is a sort of bewildering problem for the nondevotee atheist, but those who are devotees, or liberated souls, are not bewildered. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.34)



vanipedia.org 		Generally the goddess Kālī is offered food containing meat and fish, and therefore Kaśyapa Muni strictly forbade his wife to take the remnants of such food. Actually a Vaiṣṇava is not allowed to take any food offered to the demigods. A Vaiṣṇava is always fixed in accepting prasāda offered to Lord Viṣṇu. Through all these instructions, Kaśyapa Muni, in a negative way, instructed his wife Diti how to become a Vaiṣṇavī. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.18.49)



vanipedia.org 		Because a devotee is freed from all contaminated material association, he is not affected by the miseries of material existence. Even though he appears to be in the material world, he is not affected by the miseries of the material world. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.24)



vanipedia.org 		A devotee is not subjected to the reactions resulting from past deeds. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām: (Bs. 5.54) for devotees the results of past pious and impious activities are nullified by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.21.11)



vanipedia.org 		A Vaiṣṇava is not puffed up, although the Lord guarantees His pure devotee entrance into His abode. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.24)



vanipedia.org 		When a devotee is never tired of executing devotional service and is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, constantly relishing the transcendental mellows in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, he is called perfect. This perfectional stage can be achieved in two ways: one may achieve this stage of perfection by gradual progress in devotional service, or one may become perfect by the causeless mercy of Kṛṣṇa. (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 25)


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