How do we see spiritualists who want to control others to maintain their own position?

From Stoka Krishna P

It is observed that people try to control situations, other people so as to maintain their positions. This is also observed in spiritual institutions wherein people try to exercise control over others/situations so as to be recognised as great devotees or have leadership positions, despite practicing Spiritual Life. However we don’t find these people getting Angry.
Does this kind of Control fall in the category of Lust or is it manipulation/duplicity?
Does duplicity has any place in Spiritual Life?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
We have to live according to the guidance of our Acharyas. Simplicity is a defining characteristic of a devotee. At the same time, we shouldn’t be too quick to judge what is duplicity.
There is a difference between duplicity and diplomacy. Duplicity means manipulating others. Diplomacy means speaking that which will best help people to get elevated.
So, that means that we can speak philosophy in a way that diplomacy is simply education. We speak according to the level of what is best for people. So, that is not duplicity.
Now, regarding people controlling others, we have to understand that control is not always bad. The parents need to control their children so that the children grow properly, know what is right and wrong. And similarly, the spiritual teachers also want to control people so that they can grow properly.
But sometimes, as you rightly pointed out, people want others to be controlled so that their own position can be maintained. Now, when this happens, we have to understand that different people have come to a spiritual institution not necessarily because of purely pure motives and not necessarily sometimes even because of spiritual motives. They may come because of material motives also.
So, in general, in the devotee association, we should associate primarily with those devotees who inspire us. Other devotees also we can respect, but if you find this kind of thing happening and we don’t feel inspired, then we don’t have to necessarily spend too much time with those devotees. We can respect them from a distance because they are seniors.
And if their particular behavior is specifically troubling us, then we can get a clarification from some other senior devotees so that we will be able to see it in a proper perspective. For that matter, some of Shri Prabhupada’s actions can also be misunderstood if we don’t understand them properly from a devotional perspective, from the guidance of devotees. At one time, Shri Prabhupada’s program was going on in Jaipur and the Matajis had arranged the program, Mataji disciples, who had gone to Jaipur to get duties for American temple.
They stayed there and they, by their kirtan and by their sincerity, they created a sensation for Indians at that time in the early 1970s to see western women wearing sarees and chanting Hare Krishna and dancing and singing Hare Krishna. It was amazing. So they wanted to do something for these Mataji devotees.
They said, arrange a pandal program for Shri Prabhupada. So when Prabhupada came there for the program, he saw that these Matajis had made pamphlets in which they had said, Prabhupada with his foreign disciples. So Prabhupada said that we should write with his American and European disciples.
Foreign is very general, Prabhupada said. And there were several other things which were not done. Prabhupada was not properly presented and glorified.
So Prabhupada was upset about that. Somebody may say, is this that Prabhupada wants to maintain his position? No, actually, Prabhupada wanted to attract people to Krishna and foreign is very general. But in India, the Indians are enamored by Europe and America, now increasingly by America.
But in those times, just pre-independence and post-independence, England and Europe was also quite a matter of fascination for Indians. So Prabhupada wanted to use that to attract people to Krishna. So we shouldn’t, by default, judge that somebody is power hungry when a person is wanting to do something in a particular way.
There may be a particular vision which may actually be for the sake of outreach. So we shouldn’t prejudge. But if at all we find that there are people who are acting like this, we can keep a distance from them and associate with those devotees who inspire us.
Regarding what this is, this is Anartha Puja Lava Pratishtha. So it is lust in a subtle form. There is gross sex and subtle sex.
So gross sex expresses a physical attraction to the opposite sex. Gross sex expresses itself as physical attraction to the opposite sex. And subtle sex expresses itself as wanting the praise, glorification and adoration of others.
Now, this has to be given up as we advance in Krishna consciousness. And if devotees don’t give it up, then they will not get proper spiritual nourishment. As I have said in a Gita Delhi article, if we aim for fame, then we miss on fame.
So we don’t want, if somebody else is missing like that, that’s unfortunate. And we have to see those devotees who are aspiring for, sincerely for pure devotion and we associate with those devotees. So, wanting others to act in a particular way is not always manipulation.
But sometimes it can definitely be. And when we see this sort of thing happening, we understand that even though there is spiritual institution, it is in the material world. And it is populated by people who still have their conditionings.
And that’s why this sort of thing can happen. So just as there are some dark spots in the moon, sometimes there can be people like this within a moment also. Sometimes they can rise to leadership positions also.
So we should associate with other devotees, the kind of devotees who inspire us. I have answered another question on the spiritualscientist.com, where the question is, how should we respond when we see senior devotees behaving in uninspiring ways? You can refer to that answer also for more details. Thank you.