Lack of Integration

Visakha Devi Dasi: After a few days in Surat with Prabhupada, John wrote, I am still in Surat and am still rushing around with the devotees to speaking, eating and chanting engagements; there’s no end to it. Today we went to an industrial site and the people there had a large carpet covered with soft mats spread out on the grass under trees. The devotees and Prabhupada sat there and chanted, as did the hundred or so Indian people. I took a few rolls of Prabhupada as he was lecturing to them. He really is an amazing old man. Indians question his ideas, and he beats them every time. His logic and reasoning is unbeatable, it seems. He uses analogies and draws on what people know to explain what they don’t know...

The devotees are a strange bunch. I have seen that some of them have lost a sense of their selves and have become almost like puppets following  Prabhupada around. They are not pleasant to be around. It seems that there must be a self for the teachings to act on. In this way there is discovery. It is against the philosophy to deny one’s individual self, and it seems that this is what some of the devotees are doing. It is sad to see and Prabhupada recognizes it but he continues to lecture and tries to explain as fully as he can what he has discovered.

During my week in the Brooklyn asrama I had had similar feelings. In the process of following their beliefs it seemed that some devotees had lost touch with themselves and become mouthpieces for the Krishna creed. Like a pat of cold butter on cold bread, it was as if they'd adopted a philosophy and lifestyle that was unconnected to them as persons. Their lack of integration between head and heart was disconcerting.