Category:Be Very Careful To Avoid
Theme Analysis
The path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sublime, but it is surrounded by the illusory energy of the material world. Śrīla Prabhupāda stresses that a sincere practitioner must be extremely vigilant. The foremost instruction is to be very careful to avoid the association of non-devotees. This includes avoiding materialistic people, but more dangerously, it means staying away from Māyāvādī philosophers who claim equality with God, and sahajiyās who imitate advanced devotional symptoms while ignoring scriptural injunctions. Associating with such persons quickly extinguishes one's spiritual advancement.
Another primary area requiring careful avoidance is the realm of offenses. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when one is initiated into chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, offenses naturally occur due to past material contamination. However, the devotee must consciously strive to carefully avoid the ten offenses against the holy name and the various offenses in Deity worship. It is the purity of the chanting, achieved by avoiding these pitfalls, that guarantees gradual elevation to the spiritual platform.
Furthermore, Śrīla Prabhupāda warns devotees to be very careful to avoid material contamination through the senses. This includes avoiding the utilization of Kṛṣṇa's facilities for one's own sense gratification, avoiding the sight of those who are very rich or who display lusty gestures, and even avoiding ordinary literature that creates unnecessary agitation in the mind. The creeper of bhakti is delicate, and Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that unwanted weeds—such as diplomatic behavior, mundane profiteering, and the desire for adoration—often look exactly like the actual devotional creeper. Therefore, from children to the elderly, everyone must maintain strict vigilance to avoid scandalous dealings and unfavorable circumstances, ensuring their steady journey back home, back to Godhead.
- Avoiding Bad Association: A devotee must strictly avoid the company of unholy non-devotees, Māyāvādī rascals, and sahajiyās to protect their spiritual consciousness.
- Chanting Offenselessly: Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes the necessity of carefully avoiding the ten offenses against the holy name to achieve the sublime benefits of the mahā-mantra.
- Guarding the Senses: To remain free from the influence of illusion, devotees must avoid ordinary literature, sensual temptations, and using spiritual facilities for personal gratification.
- Weeding the Heart: Devotees must be vigilant to identify and avoid unwanted habits—like diplomatic behavior and the desire for adoration—that disguise themselves as actual devotional service.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Be Very Careful To Avoid - Protecting the Creeper of Devotion.
Pages in category "Be Very Careful To Avoid"
The following 19 pages are in this category, out of 19 total.
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- One is advised to associate with the holy devotees of the Lord and carefully avoid the association of unholy nondevotees. Those who are pure devotees of Krsna are very careful to keep aloof from the two types of nondevotees
- One should be very careful to avoid all these unwanted things (such as diplomatic behavior, animal-killing; mundane profiteering, adoration and importance). Sometimes these unwanted creepers look exactly like the bhakti creeper
- One should very carefully avoid associating with both the sahajiyas, who are sometimes known as Vaisnavas, and the non-Vaisnavas, or avaisnavas
T
- The chanting of the holy names of Krsna is so sublime that if one chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra offenselessly, carefully avoiding the ten offenses, he can certainly be gradually elevated
- The devotee should very carefully try to avoid offenses and chant purely. This does not mean that the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is sometimes pure and sometimes impure. Rather, the chanter is impure due to material contamination
- The ten kinds of offenses should be considered. In the beginning, when one is initiated into the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, there are naturally many offenses. the devotee should very carefully try to avoid these offenses and chant purely
- Those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Lord because they are very serious about going back home, back to Godhead, should be very careful to avoid seeing the beautiful gestures of women and should also avoid seeing persons who are very rich
W
- We must be very careful to avoid anything scandalous in our dealings, and always keep to the highest standards of respect and courtesy
- We shall be very careful to avoid these kind of mahatmas, who are thinking themselves as Narayana, equal to Narayana, or sometimes they claim greater than Narayana
- We should always be very careful to avoid utilizing any of the facilities available for our own sense gratification, but we should use everything for the satisfaction of Krsna only