Terms and conditions of service are the legal agreements between a service provider and a person who wants to use that service. The person must agree to abide by the terms of service to use the offered service. Such terms and conditions will identify the rights and responsibilities of both parties.
Spiritual life is like a bus station, senior devotees would often say. Devotees who have been around for many years have seen the same patterns. People start the spiritual practice full of enthusiasm, serve for some time and then move on. Only a few rare ones stay a little longer, and out of those, only one or two commit to the process for life.
Sincere seekers join the spiritual community because they are searching for higher knowledge, whilst others choose to join to escape the responsibility of life. Some move in to expose themselves to a new experience. Others come to learn new skills so they can better handle challenges in the “real world”.
There are many more reasons why people start a spiritual practice. Let us focus on the next step – what happens after they join.
At the beginning of spiritual life, everything is nice and rosy until the candidate learns about the terms and conditions of devotional practice.
· You must follow spiritual standards of sadhana, cleanliness and service attitude.
· No meat eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex.
· You must practice the attitude of a servant.
· You must accept the spiritual master and commit to the process.
These are just some rules that a person who embraces genuine spiritual practice should follow.
Initially, most of the candidates follow the standards but eventually “it all comes out”.
Instead of accepting the terms and conditions of the spiritual community, after some time, devotees start to create their own terms and conditions to continue to serve. Rather than offering service to the Holy Dham and the devotees, they expect the Dham and devotees to serve them.
No wonder our spiritual life becomes stale, dry, and not inspiring.
Former president of the United States, John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
I often ask myself, “Do I perform devotional service, or am I expecting to be devotionally served?”
Ananta Gopal das
9.4.2023
Bhakti Wisdom 