If I have lost taste in bhakti is it because of offences committed due to getting involved in a managerial conflict?

If we notice that many devotees have issues with the local temple management and we also feel that their concerns are genuine and we decide to join them in voicing those concerns and then we find that our taste in devotional activities has gone down. Is it likely that we have committed an offense which has led to the decline in the taste? Should we not support the voicing of those concerns? To protect our own devotion? Answer.

The question of taste in bhakti. Is always a delicate and complex question because many factors may play a role in it. First and foremost, our mind in general tends to be fickle and it is quite likely that when we experience a phase of tastelessness. It may be due to the moodiness and the fickleness of the mind. Assuming that it is due to an offense.

May not be the valid way to look at things, Especially, if our intention was primarily to support what we thought were the genuine concerns of the devotees we are close to. Generally, the serious offenses which are likely to substantially affect our makti adversely are those wherein we knowingly try to pull down a respected and respectable devotee because we feel envious of them and can’t bear to see them being respected. While it is good to also keep in mind the much broader definition of an offense wherein even a devotee being displeased with us is considered an offense or for that matter, We not being pleased on seeing a devotee is also considered an offense. Those offenses are not. Meant to blind us to instances of questionable actions by devotees, even by leaders.

We have a healthy tradition of internal reform in the Bhakti tradition wherein for example, Bhakti Vinod Thakur questioned those who were widely considered devotees but who are actually sentimentalists or sahajiyas, and that was done even more strongly by his son and the guru of Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktasiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Of course, in those cases, we may say that they are acharyas and those whom they criticize were actually not devotees. But that’s a verdict that we can comfortably arrive at only in hindsight. So respectfully, politely, and appropriately expressing our concerns about questionable actions is not an offense. After all, if some if some devotees are being mistreated and we know about it and we remain silent while that is happening, Could that also not be considered to be an offense if we are to go along with a far more inclusive definition of offense?

So rather than getting too much worried about offenses, which we should worry about especially if we can prayerfully contemplate whether our motives are ideal, whether we want to grab position and power by overthrowing someone else and whether we want self aggrandizement. If that is not the case if that is the case, then definitely we need to immediately consult some senior devotees and purify our motives. Or take a step back till our motives are purified with the passage of time and with our own devotional growth. But if that is not the case, then we need to know that ultimately we have to live with our own mind and we have to serve Krishna with our own mind. It means that if we have an agitated mind that will be a problem.

Now, it’s for us to evaluate and decide what will agitate our mind more. Will it be staying silent and feeling resentful that we are simply passively watching while questionable things are happening. And then overall feeling so bad that we end up not being able to live with ourselves. Will that educate our mind more? Or getting involved in the complexities of the powers of the power struggles which may be unavoidably there when grievances are brought forth and opposing narratives.

Come in collision with each other. So it is more likely that the agitation of the mind may, to some extent, be a distraction from our focus on Krishna. And we may have to decide which will agitate our mind more. Getting involved or staying silent and based on that we may decide to take to take a decision. So a decision can depend on our disposition.

Some people are in general conflict avoiding and some people in general are more likely to avoid flinching from a conflict and turning away from it. Apart from considering our disposition, we also need to consider our position. If we are in a responsible position, especially an officially appointed position of leadership where we are meant to care for and protect others, then remaining silent would make us culpable. The police can’t say that when rioters are attacking innocent people, they don’t want to get involved. If they didn’t want to get involved, they shouldn’t have taken that job.

So by thus considering the bigger picture, we can better decide how best to go ahead in our lives. So to summarize, Lack of taste can be due to offenses, but it can also be due to the fickleness of our mind. Ultimately, it can be due to the agitation of the mind, and we may have to evaluate when we are likely to be more agitated by standing up for something or staying silent in that situation. And lastly, we also need to consider our position apart from our disposition. When dealing with grievances or allegations of questionable behavior.