By Dasi Sridevi
Dear Prabhus,
Dandavats, All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
(With due respect to devotees who are on these sites for some specific sevas.)
Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. are a few social networking sites which are taking its toll on the devotee community also. I’ve also been a patient myself.
We see now a days that devotees take photos just to upload or tag on these sites. “See I was there and took such nice photos”, then expecting whole day for comments & likes. The number of comments & likes are the number of goose bumps on their bodies. Even “Senior Devotees” (sorry to say) carry cameras in hand instead of dandas. There is already so much of time wasted on the net & now we have the “Social Networking Sites”.
There are enough evidences & surveys available on the net which show that these sites can be addictive & one can know easily whether he/she is addicted to it or not by being true to oneself.
There is a disease of sharing the information with others of “What’s on my mind”. Or showing the devotee community “been there, done that”. I’d would like to ask the devotees why? Self aggrandizement may be one of the reasons. They feel happy when someone comments or just “likes” the “scrap”. There is a sense of ecstasy when someone does that.
Let me ask, what is the need for a devotee to be up late in the night and write what’s on his/her mind. Just go to sleep & wake up for mangala arotik. Chant your rounds nicely. Not that while chanting you are planning for your day on Facebook. To check who all commented and if no one has yet, then feel morose. Or just to be in the loop, comment on someone else’s scrap. This gives some kind of e-pleasure.
Facebook allows you to cover your real face. Here hypocrisy creeps in. In many cases devotees have more than one profile. But we are supposed to be one person, “devotee/servant of Krsna”. And then there are devotees who try to be always ONLINE, as if going OFFLINE is like leaving the body. Checking the profiles several times in the day to make sure nothing is missed.
There are devotees already justifying there presence on these sites. “We keep in touch with so many devotees worldwide, we know what’s going on in ISKCON worldwide” etc.. But my dear prabhus at what cost. Are we not missing the personal association of devotees around us present physically. Also are we not supposed to chant more rounds, read Srila Prabhupada’s books, hear lectures or kirtans, render some services for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada & Krsna in our extra time. We hear the philosophy of always being in the background lest ahankara take over us. We are missing the point somewhere.
We may be feeding our egos, atleast in my case I was surely on these sites for self aggrandizement. To show the devotees nice quotes “copied & pasted” from Vedabase or anywhere from the net and get comments. “People should know how good a devotee I’m”, see I know such-&-such senior devotee, & because he is great & I know him personally, I also become great, that was my agenda.
Another scrap coming into the devotee community through these websites (or say internet) is using “funky language”. We can see among the comments…lols Maharaj, “good night, sleep tight Maharaj”…there are many like these. We should always remember that we are interacting with someone who owes our awe & reverence. Of course that has to be commanded & not demanded.
Stealthily maya has found an e-way to attack devotees. Maya has entered these devotees lives without their knowing. Remember maya is smarter than us, even in the usage of technology. We have to first of all put our hands on our hearts & realize the problem. It’s similar to people engrossed in materialistic way of life & justifying their position. These people never take to Krsna Consciousness. Similarly we have to realize that we are diseased and then we can see for ourselves how subtle it can go.
As I said earlier, there are devotees who are on these sites only & only to please Srila Prabhupada & Lord Sri Krsna. (Please always remember that they know what’s going on in our hearts as paramatma “without” & “within”). So please don’t justify. Others may just be fooling themselves by being in an illusion.
No offenses please…these are just my insights into the problem I faced myself. If someone is benefitted then my effort of writing this is successful.
Your servant in the service of Srila Prabhupada,
Dasi Sridevi
Very nice article Sridevi! Thank you! By this we can appreciate that, at least in this arena, you have moved beyond devotional service in raja-guna – wanting to get some result from one’s devotional service. Perhaps the intent of some is to glorify the Lord and remind others about Him. That is for each person to recognize as you rightly state. In any case we all must be mindful of the consciousness that is behind the activity. Let us give up any motivated ideas to somehow benefit from our service, and render service purely for the satisfaction of Sri Krishna. Then we will begin to relish the truly sweet taste of Krishna consciousness.
I was thinking further about this and remembered that some devotees on FB wrote about being very isolated, not having much association who they can see on a regular basis. For them FB IS their association. And from what I have seen many simply try to remind each other about Sri Krishna, and there is less prjalpa than one would experience at a Sunday Feast. So perhaps it is not all about getting noticed and appreciated, and there is a genuine element of sanga.
Did you post this article on your wall? I am curious to know the response! (maybe you won’t be tagged any more :)
Good points mataji.
I can never figure out the usefulness of this social websites. Though I’m on some of them, I may visit them at most once a month. It may be useful for sending and receiving messages, but that can also be done by email or on Skype. Its true devotees spend more time on this social websites than the personal association with the devotees. E-age has become the greatest impediments for relishing interpersonal devotee associations.
I admire you for your honesty. Thank you. I received the following from Devaki dd (Bangladesh) followed by her comments…..
“Psychologists from Leeds University say they have found STRIKING evidence
that some internet users develop compulsive habits in which they replace
real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking
sites. The results suggest that this type of addictive surfing can have a
serious impact on mental health.”
“Universities, schools and companies are forced to limit accessibility to
Facebook because some people seem to be unable to perform other tasks if
they have access to this online social network. While Facebook is often a
great way of maintaining both social and professional relationships, it
seems to take on a destructive force with certain personalities.”
“There are an estimated 350 million Facebook users around the world who have
admitted to being addicted.”
“Have you ever wondered how some members of your online community can get so
overwhelmingly caught up in online drama with people they hardly know?
Well, there could be a real, clinical reason behind it, according to a new
study: The lead author of the journal of Psychopathology wrote that
over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might
be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.”
Facebook cultivates impersonal relationships – without commitment,
responsibility and exchange of actual service. The discussions on such sites
are usually very superficial and shallow – if not to say prajalpa.
One communicates without seeing somebody’s face, body language, tone of
voice, etc. And especially if such communication is not based on a personal
relationship with commitment, responsibility and exchange of service, it
doesn’t promote spiritual advancement or change of character.
In fact, it gives some kind of an illusion that one is connected – I dare
say even in regards to spiritual leaders, however the real connection is
missing. And with such illusiory connection one is only escaping the deeper
process of purification.
Deep and meaningful relationships are being replaced with shallow internet
relationships – often with people one has never even met, and most likely
will never meet.
I came across this and thought that it might shed ¨some¨ light on the issue:
“Asking if social media could be useful for relgious organisations is like asking 100 years ago, whether the use of telephones can be helpful.”
Guy Kawasaki
Thanks Mataji, for the insightful article.
A devotee understands that it’s always between him & Krsna. Krsna knows exactly whats going on in our hearts while using these sites. No further justifications or clarifications are needed. We always have to check whether this act of mine is pleasing to Krsna or not.
anukulasya sankalpah, pratikulasya varjanam is the key.
Thanks for the timely article. Hope it sends the message to all struggling sadhakas like me & we take this seriously.
Thanks again.
Hare Krishna
ys Raj
Hare Krishna dear mataji! I appreciate many of your points of your article. But at the same time I think that depending on the use of these networks they may do benefit to the users. Personally I have gained access to great vaishnava association and if it was not because of FB It would never be possible for me to obtain. And there is lots of krishna katha for those who seek it. And about the swamis carrying the cameras instead of the dandas I guess that they also do more benefit by carrying the cameras than the dandas. That being said I again have to say that I agree with many other points.
Your servant
sudama sakha dasa
@ Guy Kawasaki
Please read the starting lines of this article.
(With due respect to devotees who are on these sites for some specific sevas.)
The gist of the article is addiction hampering our devotional services & not uselessness (or usefulness) of these sites.
Use of telephones today or 100 years ago was & will always be condemned if there is over indulgence and its hampering the services of devotees.
I think that was the message Mother Sridevi wanted to share.
Thanks Sridevi Mataji for sharing this realisation with us.Its really useful and makes a lot of sense.I just wish I always remember the points you have written and stop wasting my time on these networking websites.Hare Krishna!
yhs
kcr