by Haripada dasa
Srila Prabhupada said in 1972 in Kartika in Vrindavana that we must always be ready to offer respect to everyone, because each living entity is originally a devotee of God or Krishna, but circumstantially the soul being covered by ignorance, is acting as a demon. In this world there are divine and demonic people. Divine people obey the laws of God or Krishna and demonic ones do not. But everyone’s original nature is to be a devotee of God or Krishna.
The first thing to do in devotional life is to purify the designations. The designations mean the things that we are not but that we think we are. For example, people in general think that I am the body, and therefore I am Spanish, American , Hindu, etc., I am the master of everything, my house and my family belong to me, I am the enjoyer, the controller of everything, this woman is my wife, here is my son, here is my brother, etc. These are designations. The result of living with designations is that the person lives full of fear, envy, ignorance and is very conditioned. A soul free of designations believes and experiences that I am not the body, but an eternal spiritual soul, a loving servant of God or Krishna and His devotees, my relatives are also children of God or Krishna, my house and everything I own belongs to God or Krishna and I use everything for the service of God or Krishna. The result of having that God consciousness or Krishna consciousness is that the person lives happily and freely.
In devotional life there are three kinds of devotees of God or Krishna, the neophyte, the middle stage, and the perfect devotee. First you have to understand what faith is. Faith means having complete conviction that chanting the maha-mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare will automatically fulfill all duties and complete all godly activities. The neophyte devotee exhibits a faith that is formal, even worldly, worships Deity but has not developed an interest in serving the representative of God or Krishna, the authorized spiritual master. The devotee in the middle stage develops loving affection for God or Krishna, makes friends with other devotees and has compassion for innocent people and avoids the company of atheists (an innocent person is one who believes in God or Krishna but is not advanced in spiritual life). The perfect devotee is one who he sees God or Krishna everywhere, and God or Krishna is his life and soul. His life revolves around the maha-mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. For him, the Holy Name of God or Krishna is the essence of everything.