Exploring Possibilities: Devotee Or A Fan-The Two Philosophies
Krishna, the moment this name comes across our mind, a picture of an irrepressible child, terrible prankster, enchanting flute player, irresistible lover, and a true warrior personality is created in our mind. Not only that, we all know that he gave us the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita to the world.
He was considered to be the complete and most colourful incarnation of God. An avtaar who has all these qualities has lots of followers. These followers can be of two kinds. One, the devotees and the other who are the admirers or fans. If we speak of Krishna we had two most ardent followers. One was “Radha” and the other was “Meera”.
Radha was an admirer, fan and lover. She wanted a physical proximity to Krishna. Meera was a devotee. For her physical proximity had no relevance. Radha always missed Krishna, and Meera always felt Krishna within. Meera always knew that she would never see Krishna, still she said “mere to Girdhar Gopal, doosra na koi”.
One popular song beautifully mentions that Radha got Krishna in Madhuban, whereas Meera got Krishna in anatarman(within). Radha lost Krishna , whereas Meera found Krishna. Radha used to be in best attire to attract Krishna, whereas Meera was ready to lose everything and actually renounced this world.
Radha and Meera are not just two characters, they are two philosophies of life. One is a fan and the other is a devotee. Fan or an admirer is driven by the physical presence of his/her hero. For example, if I am a fan of Ram, I will build a temple of Ram. I will show the world; how much I love him. But if I am a devotee of Ram, I will live his values. I will make those values as my guiding light of life.
I will not only live those values, but I will also spread those values to others. As a devotee I will not be worried more about success or failure as my success in that case will be within, not for the world.
We can be a fan or a devotee of any one. It can be God or his incarnation. It can be a leader, celebrity, some authority or even my boss. Let’s understand how this philosophy affects our behaviour and our contribution. Those who are followers, driven by being an admirer or fan, become independent contributors.
This means that he or she will be driven by the physical presence of his/her adorable celebrity. For instance, if Sharukh Khan goes to a town, all his fans will do everything possible to get a selfie with him. His presence will energize them all. Similarly, those who are ardent followers of their bosses, work with energy when they are in the office. Moment he is out of office, they slow down.
A devotee is an independent contributor. He is not affected much by the physical presence of his/her hero. For an employee who is devoted to a cause, the boss's presence or absence has little or no significance. This person will work with the same zeal and enthusiasm as he is driven by his values not by situation. A devotee believes in what his God/ hero believes in. Fan is driven by flamboyance, whereas a devotee is driven by value.
Imagine if we have a lovely child. As a parent we are not its fans, but we are devoted to its wellbeing. We do everything, like change its diapers, clean its shit and still say, it’s beautiful. Shit is not beautiful at all, but the devotion to the cause of the wellbeing of the child makes it beautiful. It is said that devotion is the most beautiful emotion.
So my dear friends, if we become admirers of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and several other greats, we might quote them in intellectual discussions and get short term recognitions but if we devote ourselves to their values, we will explore possibilities for life time...All the best and make the right choice...
(The author is a Certified Designed Thinking Master practitioner and Clifton Certified Strength Finder Coach, Corporate Trainer and a Leadership coach. He is based in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India.)