How should a devotee take if they suffer but materialistic people enjoy?
A Girl devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Sir , it is assumed that people who are in Krishna consciousness or believe any one god will be liberated from this world or reach the greatest abode as per their religion. but in this world still there are many a people who do not believe in god or any religion but still follow their duties and be with positive attitudes and happy and successful in their life . Will these people attain salvation then. On the other side there are many people who are involved in spiritual matters but not fully devoted and they are not sincere towards their duty. If it is only attitude or luck that determines our life then why believing in any religion. Yes when a person is fully involved into spirituality then nothing may seem interesting to him. But what about the people who are completely involved in this materialistic world without any kindness or concern for others but still happy.”
REPLY:
You have confused yourself with material happiness and Spiritual bliss. Both are different and have different effects.
A matured devotee is not affected if they suffer but materialistic people enjoy
Those who do not know or do not like to escape from the material bondage are aiming for material success considering that as their goal of life.
These people are not different from the dogs that chase the other dogs, fight with them and find happiness in winning in the fight.
(Why Krishna gives more problems to His devotees, but helping many non devotees? READ HERE!)
Here, I am going to give you a major difference between material and spiritual successes.
Material success comes only when one another person loses.
For example, If a son has to succeed, his parents have to lose their sleep.
If the people have to sleep peacefully, the policemen and defence soldiers should lose their sleep.
In material support, if a person offers something to someone else, the giver loses, but, the receiver gains.
But, in Spiritual Support, when we lose something, both the giver and the receiver grow in spirituality.
When we share our spiritual knowledge for other devotees, both we and others gain.
(i) If you are sincerely FOLLOWING KARMA YOGA by your duties to your family, you will not be liberated, as running the family is the material activity. But, if you involve your same Grahastha life to serve Krishna, you can get liberation stage by stage. So, family duties MINUS Krishna Consciousness binds you further in this material world as it is not a Grahastha life, but, Grahamedi life.
(Will Performing our Prescribed duties, ie, Karma Yoga give rebirth? READ HERE!)
(ii) If you are doing social service by giving material facilities for the society, again, it is not a spiritual service, but, just social service. You may get a good birth with name and fame again but you may not be liberated immediately. But, if you do social service by giving Krishna Consciousness to the society, it becomes the spiritual service or devotional service to Krishna. So, such social -cum- devotional service gives you liberation.
(iii) So, the essence is: No other service can give you liberation except the Service to Krishna. So, serve the family as an assigned duty and serve the society by giving Krishna to the people that brings the pleasure of Krishna. Then, the same service gives you liberation. You can do this service to Krishna even as a Grahastha.
(Social Service and Karma Yoga – Does Krishna consider them equally? READ HERE!)
(iv) Next, you have asked why materialistic people are happy and successful in life. This is because of their past karma from previous births. He would have helped many in their previous births to come up in their material life. So, he has been given a new birth with all comforts this time. So, remember, he has done sacrifices in his past births. If he is not doing any help to anyone in this birth, he will get a suffering life in his next birth.
(v) You have also indicated that there are many spiritual practitioners who are not sincere in his family duties.
This may be due to two reasons:
(A) If he is a sincere devotee in the advanced Prema stage, he has no need to serve to any person except Krishna. He has no material duties. So, do not see him like seeing other materialistic persons. He is already in spiritual platform. But, we should not imitate them and follow. We should follow the duties till we come to that stage. Moreover, such exalted devotees and Prema bhakthas are rare.
(Why Krishna makes devotees suffer against His assurance in Gita 18.66? READ HERE!)
(B) If he is a neophite devotee or an initial saadhaka (Practitioner), he should not skip his family duties if he accepts a family. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that one must do all his prescribed duties without fail. So, as a grahastha, he must do the duties for his family too. But, by involving his family in Krishna Consciousness, he can make the family itself as a sathsangha of Krishna.
(vi) Above all, you say that such materialistic people are living happily. But, they are always under the risk of repeated births and deaths. They seem to be happy. That’s all. This happiness is short lived. They may be actually suffering without knowing that they are suffering or going to suffer.
Hope you are clear now about How a devotee should take if they suffer but materialistic people enjoy. There are variety of people in this world. We have to live here. No other way right now.
We have to use the positives of this world and learn from the negatives and thus perform Krishna Consciousness.
You have mentioned that the devotees are suffering and materialistic people enjoy in life. Matured devotees will receive the sufferings as the mercy of Krishna to purify them from karmic reactions. So, they never bother for their sufferings and they do not pray to clear their sufferings. Only the practicing devotees may expect that they should live without sufferings.
The right mindset for a matured devotee is to welcome the sufferings. More sufferings- More and faster purification. So, faster return to the kingdom of Krishna.
Right?
(In Kaliyuga, How to follow Nishkam bhakti without asking help from Krishna? READ HERE!)