Is devotees enjoying student age wrong? Tips to come out of guilt!
A male devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hello prabhuji, dandvat pranams, all glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am devotee aged between 13-18. I have been practicing krishna consciousness from 2022 till now, though I am still imperfect and at times fall down. People of my age group like to do healthy activities like travelling with friends, participating in good activities, developing skills, having new hobbies and so on. As a beginner, sometimes I feel guilty that in spite of getting joy and a bit of ecstasy from chanting and reading Prabhupada’s books, I sometimes feel like being with friends, trying new things and so on because as everyone says student life is golden life, childhood never comes back and so on. No doubt Krishna consciousness gives us pleasure, but sometimes I start worrying that I am missing out on many things not related to krishna consciousness and fear that I may go away from krishna again. i think I am experiencing FOMO ( fear of missing out). Past few days i have been trying to find a solution, but in vain.
How to avoid the feeling of guilt? What should people of my age group do about this? Please don’t reveal my name. pranams”
REPLY:
I understand your genuine guilt.
But, it is not necessary.
Krishna Consciousness is also an enjoyable activity.
Singing, Dancing, getting delicious prasadam, etc.
(How to remember and serve Krishna by the students all the time? READ HERE!)
Everything in Krishna Bhakti is a blissful thing.
See, during the student age, unprohibited games and sports are permitted.
Because, Krishna too played with His Gopa friends during His childhood.
He and His friends have visited and played in almost all the places of Gokula, Vrindavan, etc.
Life is not a serious one.
We can make this life blissful by following the devotion to Krishna.
While studying, you can involve in unprohibitted sports, games, etc.
It will be good for good blood circulation in the body.
Dormant and sedantary life leads to many diseases.
So, play with friends, visit some places, enjoy the nature’s gift, hear good music, etc.
(Harmful &Harmless Betting & Gambling for the devotees! READ HERE!)
You can play games like cricket, football, Vollyball, etc with the good friends.
You can also play indoor games like chess.
You can visit the tourist spots and chant in the pleasant atmosphere there.
However, you can avoid going to movies, clubs, drama, etc.
You can avoid gambling type games and sports.
You can avoid watching unwanted contents using internet.
You can use Social media strictly for devotion related exposure and preaching.
Thus, genuine games are not prohibited for the devotees!
These activities will help us to keep our body fit to practice devotion still better.
(Does Watching TV violate the Regulative Principles for devotees? READ HERE!)
At the same time, giving too much of importance for the maintenance of body is not necessary.
Give all the basic care for the body, but not excessively.
You can have devotee friends and chat with them related to Krishna.
At the same time, you can avoid chatting about the actors, politics, mundane matters, etc.
Thus, all the healthy activities, sports and games are allowed for the devotees during the student age.
Parallelly, follow the devotion sincerely. Follow chanting, read the slokas of Gita, honouring prasadam, etc.
Thus, balance between health boosting activities and devotional activities.
Then, you won’t have the guilt.
This is the solution for Devotees feeling guilty for enjoying student age!
(How to make the devotee children Social if they are not so? READ HERE!)