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Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers
my conversations with Śrila Prabhupāda, and of his instructions. One of his primary instructions was simply to associate with the devotees, and this I gladly did. Devotees are different: by understanding that loving service to the Supreme Lord is the goal of life, they avoid getting caught up in the petty affairs of sense gratification and false ego. Visiting the temple was most refreshing. Gradually, my wife and I became friends with many devotees and wanted somehow to do some service for the movement. I sponsored a  Bhakti-yoga  club at the university, and our apartment served as a way station for traveling parties of devotees.
As we followed Śrila Prabhupāda's instructions, even our eating became purified. In India I had told Śrila Prabhupāda that I could not offer my food as the devotees do because I did not understand that Kṛṣṇa is God. So he told me simply to thank God for my food before eating. This we did, and finally our devotion matured, and we started actually offering our food to the Supreme Lord. What a wonderful feeling, to be cooking for the Supreme Lord! This actually freed us from the control of the tongue.
Finally, we were ready to become involved fully in temple life. By Kṛṣṇa's grace, I obtained a job near a temple in Texas and began to take part in all the temple programs. In this way, all the  anarthas  disappeared, just as Śrila Prabhupāda had predicted. It was like having a burden lifted from our shoulders. We were no longer servants of our senses, but servants of God and His devotees. The value of Śrila Prabhupāda's instructions had become clear. A human being is not meant to labor like an ass and enjoy like a dog. Purification means coming to a higher level of consciousness.