Individual independence and maya are so strong that they can stop progress at any moment

Expressions researched:
"individual independence and maya are so strong that they can stop progress at any moment"

1969 Correspondence

This morning, Sudama phoned him that if you do not like to live in the temple, you can come back and live with Swamiji. But he has not come back. Therefore, for the time being, it is to be understood that he is victimized by the stroke of maya. I do not know what is awaiting his future lot, but I am sure that his service to Krishna and to his Spiritual Master will not go in vain. But individual independence and maya are so strong that they can stop progress at any moment.

Letter to Govinda -- Los Angeles 10 February, 1969:

I had been informed by Karatieya that before his coming to our Krishna Consciousness camp he was drinking too much. So now he wanted to give me evidence that drinking was good when it is offered to Lord Christ. I tried to convince him that drinking is not at all good. The very fact that one should drink on the first Friday of each month means it is rigidly restricted; one can drink only once every month, but in the case of bread, it is said that one should pray daily for bread from the Lord. In this way there was some remonstration, but he was silently hearing from me while being not at all satisfied. I understood from Purusottama that the whole night he was not satisfied. The next morning, that was yesterday, Tamala was talking with me and I asked him to keep Karatieya for some time in his Kirtana Party. But Karatieya got immediately upset, and just within 15 minutes, he took away his bags and baggage and phoned his sister and went to her place. This morning, Sudama phoned him that if you do not like to live in the temple, you can come back and live with Swamiji. But he has not come back. Therefore, for the time being, it is to be understood that he is victimized by the stroke of maya. I do not know what is awaiting his future lot, but I am sure that his service to Krishna and to his Spiritual Master will not go in vain. But individual independence and maya are so strong that they can stop progress at any moment. So long as he was here, he was taking care of me very nicely, and I am very much obliged to him. I simply said that he may live for some time with the Sankirtana Party, and he became upset. So I do not know what to do.