Vaishnava Sadachara 4 – Managing harmoniously

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Sadāchāra, discussing fourth topic today, the topic of managing in a harmonious way, managing things in a harmonious Vaishnava way. Now, let us first understand, look at quickly at the broad purposes of management and then we will look at the principles underlying management.
Now, what all do the managing leaders of our movement have to manage? First and foremost, ours is a spiritual movement. So, the spiritual standards that the Prabhupāda has given, they have to be maintained, both in terms of the practise by individual devotees and in terms of that standards of deity worship and conducting of temples that Prabhupāda expected. So, there is individual standards of morning programme and other things and the standards of deity worship, proper offering to the deities and these standards are there.
Then apart from that, we have the temple properties and temple finances, they have to be kept in order and beyond that, the devotees need to be nourished. Devotees are ultimately volunteers. So, if they feel nourished physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, then they will move onwards in their spiritual life happily.
And then, of course, ours is an outreach movement. It is not that just we want to maintain what we have. So, we want to make sure that the outreach, the preaching programmes are going on nicely and people are being attracted to Kṛṣṇa and one of the major ways in which we expand our movement is by distributing books, so that books are being distributed.
So, these are the broad purposes of management. There is maintaining the properties, maintaining the devotees, maintaining the standards and expanding the outreach. So, now how does one go about maintaining these things? What all is required for this? So, first of all, ours is a voluntary movement and there is a beautiful letter by Śrīla Prabhupāda to Karanda.
This is Bombay, 22nd December 1972. So, the future of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very bright. So long the managers remain vigilant that 16 rounds have been chanted by everyone without fail, they are all rising before four in the morning, attending Mangala Aarati.
Our leaders shall be careful, this is important now, what we are discussing, our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary. They should try always to generate some atmosphere of fresh challenge to the devotees, so that they will agree enthusiastically to rise and meet it. That is the art of management, to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Kṛṣṇa.
So, Prabhupāda gives a sūtra-like definition over here. The art of management, what is it? To draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Kṛṣṇa. So, our movement is a movement of volunteers and people cannot be forced to do things, they can only be inspired to do things.
The art of management is that leaders draw out that spirit. Oh, I would like to do some mind vocation, I would like to do some time for Kṛṣṇa, I would like to do some energy for Kṛṣṇa, give some energy for Kṛṣṇa, I would like to take up some responsibility for Kṛṣṇa, I would like to do something for Kṛṣṇa. This one lecture in which Prabhupāda gives an inspiring definition of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
He states that if we go in front of the deities and take darshan and while taking darshan, we feel that Kṛṣṇa is asking me, what are you doing for me? So, he says if we feel that Kṛṣṇa wants us to do something for him, then that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is such a practical yet profound definition that rather than saying just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa 24 hours a day or think of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, Prabhupāda comes down to earth and gives us in a way that we can relate with. That Kṛṣṇa is our lord, is our master and we aspire to love and serve him and that we express in a way, what are you doing for me? So, Kṛṣṇa saw that feeling that people should have, yes, I want to do something for Kṛṣṇa.
The art of management is to inspire people to want to do something for Kṛṣṇa. As Prabhupāda puts it, to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Kṛṣṇa. So, to draw it out from people.
What can I do? How can you do it? So, now that is very significant. So, now what do leaders have to do for this? Actually, when people practise Kṛṣṇa consciousness, people hear the philosophy, they understand how wonderful Kṛṣṇa is and they themselves relish the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the holy name, through darshan of the deities, through prasad, through the association of devotees. They naturally want to do something for Kṛṣṇa.
In fact, many devotees have so much energy to do something for Kṛṣṇa that if they are just given a little encouragement, they will do a lot. So, there can be devotees who already have some ideas to do something for Kṛṣṇa and they just need some encouragement to do it. Or there are other devotees who have the energy and resources to do something for Kṛṣṇa, but they don’t know what to do.
So, if they are given some guidance, can you do this, do this, they will take it up and they will do it. So, generally, the first category where people already have initiative and people already have a vision of what they want to do for Kṛṣṇa, that is often quite rare. Most devotees may not have that level of vision.
So, but if they are told, can you do this, do this, many devotees are enthusiastic to do and they just need some encouragement, some appreciation and they will be happily doing service for Kṛṣṇa. So, Prabhupāda writes over here, our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary. So, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary.
Prabhupāda actually used the same three words another time, once when there was a group of book distributors, who were distributing books very well and it was very successful. They went to Śrīla Prabhupāda and then they told, Prabhupāda, we have found that if we use certain lines, speak in certain sentences, speak in certain ways, certain sentences, do certain gestures, then people get persuaded and they purchase the books. So, we are thinking of forming a team and going temple to temple and training devotees to use the same lines and to speak in the same way, then to influence people and that way we can distribute your books in phenomenal quantities.
So, Prabhupāda, when he heard this, they thought, Prabhupāda will be very pleased. Prabhupāda became great and Prabhupāda said, devotional service is individual, voluntary and spontaneous. When the soul desires, desires to do something for Kṛṣṇa, then service is performed.
So, inspire the soul to serve Kṛṣṇa. What you should do is, inspire the person to serve Kṛṣṇa. So, everyone is individual.
People are, devotional service is individual, voluntary and spontaneous. Individual means every soul is different and every soul has, in the spiritual world also, there is individual relationship with Kṛṣṇa and here in the material world also, people are different. So, our philosophy is not a one-size-fit-all for everyone.
Although, yes, we have one Mahā-mantra, we have one God, but that Mahā-mantra and that God are not meant to make us all one like Māyāvādīs. This oneness is like the oneness of treatment that brings out our individuality and there is an individuality at the material level also and because the individuality is recognised in śāstra, that’s why we have an āśrama. Okay, this person has a brahmanical nature, this person has a vaishya nature, like that.
So, people are individual and they need to be inspired and engaged while honouring their individuality and then voluntary. Again, people, they are not obliged to serve Kṛṣṇa. If they don’t feel inspired, then they stop serving.
We always need to remember that what they are doing is voluntary and they need to be encouraged and appreciated and then they are spontaneous. Spontaneous means that actually speaking… Now, Prabhupāda is not referring here to spontaneous meaning anything like rāgānugā bhakti or any of the advances of devotion. That spontaneous is more in terms of the attraction of the heart to Kṛṣṇa, of the thoughts going towards Kṛṣṇa immediately, instantaneously or automatically or spontaneously.
Here, when Prabhupāda talks about spontaneous, he is talking more in terms of how each soul is individually inspired according to one’s nature and in that sense, the performance of bhakti is spontaneous. So, now that means according basically it is according to individual, not just nature, but according to individual inspiration. So, inspiration cannot be legislated.
Now, we cannot tell that you have to be inspired by this person only or you have to be inspired by this service only. Yes, to some extent, devotees need to be trained so that they accept whatever service they are told to do, but over a period of time, if they have to become self-motivated in order to be able to keep serving Kṛṣṇa lifelong, is it that throughout their life, they will always have someone telling them, okay, now you finish this, now you do this, now you do this, now you do this. That is unlikely.
So, they need to be self-motivated to find out how best can I serve Kṛṣṇa and that’s why there has to be room for individuality, spontaneity and acknowledgement of the voluntary nature of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, when this is done, then Prabhupāda is saying, our leader should be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service. Now, how can the spirit of, how may the spirit of enthusiastic service be killed? If people are not appreciated, if their suggestions are not given due consideration, if they feel neglected or disrespected or trampled down upon, then their spirit of service will get killed and it’s very unfortunate that it’s an act of great violence.
The soul wants to serve Kṛṣṇa and we don’t care for that soul’s wanting to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is, leader should be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service. So, now, this is one aspect of management, that if devote, somebody wants to have some inspiration to serve Kṛṣṇa, then give them the, give them the, find their inspiration and they will do wonders for Kṛṣṇa.
That’s what leadership essentially means, encouraging people to use their energies in Kṛṣṇa’s service. That’s what Prabhupāda is speaking over here. And then Prabhupāda also says that while managing, so the first principle is that people have energy, use it in Kṛṣṇa’s service, but then you may find out that sometimes people start doing some things which are inappropriate and we cannot let them go on doing things.
So, there has to be some suggestions or corrections or room for improvement has to be given. We will discuss about giving corrections more in detail, but here let us focus on this. R2, we should be, it is a letter to Hamsadhara, Vrindavan 7, September 1974.
Prabhupāda is saying that regarding your trip to USA, you say that you will be tactful and respectful in your dealings. That should be the motto of all GBC. So, be tactful and respectful.
So, respectful means we recognise that this person has a certain feeling, this person has a certain position, this person comes from a particular background and we respect that. But at the same time, we have to do service. So, we present things in such a way that tactfully the service moves on.
So, be tactful and be respectful. So, we see that Prabhupāda himself was this way. He is tactful, at the same time he is respectful.
When the devotees in London, they had the breakthrough and then they were able to get through George Harrison and then George Harrison produced an album for them and they became practically world famous, at least became famous in their own countries and in Europe also. Then they decided to invite Prabhupāda and they planned to build a temple. So, at that time, the temple was being constructed, but they had no idea where to get the deities from.
But somehow they got a message, it is Krishna’s arrangement, not somehow. They say something when it happens by coincidence, the coincidences are God’s ways of staying anonymous. So, Krishna arranged that, a local Hindu told that for their temple, it belonged to some other organisation, got some deities, but a finger had got damaged.
So, they decided that we cannot instal these deities. If you want, you can come and look at the deities. And Prabhupāda went to see the deities and he was so, he was so excited, so delighted.
See the deities, give me the deities for our temple. And he actually got the Mahārāja and others who were there with him. Can you check how heavy the deities, can you check how heavy the deities? And they lifted and then suddenly Prabhupāda said, so thank you very much for giving us these deities, we are very grateful to you.
And Prabhupāda was very perfectly cordial and polite and allaying this person. At the same time, he asked them to take the deities. Now Prabhupāda was concerned, now that we are building a temple and deities have also come, let us not lose this opportunity, let us have these deities and take those deities.
So some people may feel that is this appropriate to do like this? But the point is, a pure devotee is dakṣa, a devotee knows that the service of Kṛṣṇa has to go on. So whatever is required for the service of Kṛṣṇa, do it. So anyway, that person wanted to give the deities, but Prabhupāda was concerned that in all the formalities of that organisation sanctioning and then getting it through, something may get stuck up.
We don’t really know what Prabhupāda was thinking, but we can clearly see from his actions that he considered it urgent. Now that we have got a chance to get the deities, don’t put it off for the future, just take it right now. We may not apply the exact thing that Prabhupāda did, but we can learn the principle that we can present Kṛṣṇa consciousness in such a way, or we can do our service in such a way that we respect others, but at the same time, we make sure that our things, the service that we want to do gets done.
So that now this applies not only to this, to getting things done by living with others, but also to engaging others. So sometimes people want to do particular things in particular ways, and then if Kṛṣṇa, if it is found that what the institution requires at a particular time is something different, then we have to be respectful. Okay, this is what you want to do, that’s good.
Right now we need to do this. Be tactful, be gentle, but make sure that things move forward. There is a letter to Upendra where Prabhupāda says that, you must always remember the leader in charge of a temple must learn to successfully deal with the other person there.
No one is working as a paid servant. So if the dealings are not friendly, everyone will decide to leave. So again Prabhupāda is reminding us again and again that the devotees who are practising are volunteers, and they cannot be forced.
If the dealings are not nice, they will leave. So management means that through warm dealings, people feel inspired to serve. So now there is a famous verse that, prasangamacaram pāśyam ātmanāṁ kavayau viduṁ saiva sādhu-śukṛto mokṣa-dvārama-pāvṛtam.
So this verse talks about how attachment to material things and attachment to material relationship specifically, that is something which binds the soul. Prasangam, ajaram, pāśyam, prasanga is attachment. Ajara, jarā is old age.
Ajaram is that which never grows old. Now we may grow old physically, but our desires don’t grow old. Prasangam, ajaram, pāśyam, pāśya, that shackle, so the attachment is like a shackle which never grows old.
Prasangam, ajaram, pāśyam, ātmanāṁ kavayau viduṁ. The kavayau, the wise people, they know that this is a very difficult to give up shackle, shackle of attachment. So saiva sādhu-śukṛto, that if it is directed towards the sādhus, then mokṣa-dvārama-pāvṛtam, the doors to liberation open by that.
Mokṣa-dvārama, doors. Now what this essentially implies is that actually mokṣa-dvārama, we can say, does this apply only to advanced devotees, pure devotees or the spiritual master or some pure devotee. I feel attracted to that devotee.
That is fine if I feel attracted to exalted devotees like Prabhupāda or some of his exalted disciples. But in terms of practical day-to-day functioning, the devotees will be relating with others in their community, their community leaders and others. So if they have a good relationship with them, then that principle of relationship will be like a knot which ties them together.
And this tying together is good because by this tying, so when the subordinates are attracted to the leader, are inspired by the leader, then they want to do something for the leader. Then when the leader is moving towards Krishna, if the subordinates are attached to the leader, then subordinates being attached to the leader will also move towards Krishna. So that meanings need to be pleasant.
And Prabhupāda writes in Act of Instruction that actually the six-fold loving exchanges are what nourish the Krishna consciousness movement. It’s a very profound point that now we say what is it that nourishes the Krishna consciousness movement? We could say it’s remembrance of Krishna, the chanting of the holy names at the worship of the leaders. From different perspectives, there are all two also.
But in the context where Prabhupāda is saying that ultimately the Krishna consciousness movement, what makes it a movement is those who are moving. And those who are moving are its members. Of course, they are moving because they are inspired by Krishna, because they want to serve Krishna and because they want and feel more, they want reciprocation from Krishna and they feel reciprocation from Krishna.
So what makes a movement a movement is its movers. And the movers are its members. So the members, to the extent they are inspired to do something, to move on, then to that extent it will be a movement.
Otherwise, it will just become something stagnant. So to keep devotees moving, it’s important that they themselves to some extent have an inspiration to want to move on and then the leaders guide them how to move on. The leaders give them instruction by which they can move on.
But the six-fold loving exchanges ensure that devotees become bonded to each other nicely and then they can move on in their devotional service, move on and do lots of service for Krishna. So we see that Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, when he met Rūpa and Sanātana or basically when he loved the Goswamis, now Chaitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to go to Vrindavan, but his mother requested him to go to Puri. So he came to Puri and he made Puri his stronghold, where he got many of his associates.
He converted Sarvabhattacharya, who was a leading scholar over there. And he made, to a large extent, from a functioning perspective, Jagannath Puri became the headquarters of Krishna Consciousness, converted Pratap Rudra also, delivered him. So in that way, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu made Jagannath Puri an enclave, a stronghold of Krishna Consciousness.
But at the same time, his heart, his heart still desired to make Vrindavan also a vibrant place of Krishna bhakti, so that the place where Krishna had appeared in pastimes would be preserved and glorified. So then what did he do? He met the Goswamis. Now if you look at the Chaitanya Chaitanya carefully, the Goswamis met Chaitanya Mahāprabhu only on very few occasions.
But on each of these occasions, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu had special interaction with them. So he heard from them, he shared his heart with them, he gave them special gifts, he had prasad with them. So what Chaitanya Mahāprabhu did was, he had prasad with him.
Now of course, some of them did not really take, literally take prasad, they had so much awe of him. But he ensured that they also got prasad and if they brought some offerings, he took that from them also. So when Sanatana Goswami’s body was covered with pus, at that time he did not want to go near anyone at all.
He felt that my body is so smelly and messy and dirty. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu not only went to him but embraced him. And if you look carefully at what happened over there, what touched Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, what touched Sanatana Goswami was not just the fact that by the touch of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu his boys disappeared.
He says, yes that was miraculous. But for him the special miracle was that even when he had such boys, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was ready to embrace him. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu loved him so much and this was a memory which stayed with him for a long long time.
Similarly, when Rūpa Goswami comes. So at that time what does Chaitanya Mahāprabhu do? Now he takes all his venerable associates with him and they all go to study the poetry of Rūpa Goswami and they all profusely praise it. So that moment, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and his associates, those moments, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu associates, they appreciate Rūpa Goswami.
Those become permanently embedded in the heart of Rūpa Goswami and remembering them, cherishing them, he in Vṛndāvana keeps writing more and more and more of his books. And he created thus the foundation of the legacy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, especially in terms of Prasādhi and Bhaktasāmbulas and Jwal Mila Mani and other books. The point is that Chaitanya Mahāprabhu did a revolution not only in Puri by his personal presence but he also did a revolution in Vṛndāvana by the inspiration that he imparted to those who interacted with him only on few occasions.
But those interactions were so inspirational, so transformational that they created memories which lasted for years and decades and lifetimes in the hearts of those people, the Goswamis and inspired them to live a life in selfless service for Krishna, for Lord Chaitanya. So this is Chaitanya Mahāprabhu in one sense did no management but still he managed expertly. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was never officially the institutional head of any matha and in many ways actually the survival and the spreading of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is a historical miracle because Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, he did not officially start an organisation.
He did not write a book that gave his will in a very formal way nor did he appoint any successors in any way. Now for any leader to ensure the perpetuation of his mission, these three are very important, to appoint successors, official successors, to write a testament, a will and to create a structure, to create an organisational structure by which his vision can be covered on. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu did none of these and still his legacy went on and on and on.
It is still going on and it is expanding. How did this happen? At least during his times, it happened because he inspired so many hearts that the love of the hearts and the love of those hearts, love in those hearts for him and the inspiration therein to serve him endured even after he departed from the world. So that is how the art of management is not so much of technicalities, this rule and that rule and that rule.
Now of course, there can be practicalities in terms of policies and other things which managers have to evolve so that there can be transparency and then there can be consistency. Transparency means people know this is why this was done, this is why this was done, this is why this was done. And consistency means people say okay this is the policy and this is how things are happening.
So people do not feel that oh the managers are arbitrary and they do whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. That discourages people. So people need to see transparency and consistency.
So the policies are important for that. But beyond that or foundational to that we could say is that there is the desire to inspire devotees and that actually comes from spiritual purity. When the devotee is sincerely serving Krishna and is trying to go closer to Krishna, then Krishna through the heart of the devotee attracts others to him also, others to him and through him attracts them towards Krishna.
So this way we can keep devotees engaged in Krishna’s service and we can inspire them to move ahead just like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inspired, Shashila Prabhupada inspired. And then lastly, one aspect of management is that we should not overstep our jurisdiction. So everyone, various different devotees have different roles to play in in the movement and every devotee needs some level of some rule, some freedom where the individual creativity, the individual initiative, the individual energy can be executed.
So if somebody is constantly poking one’s nose into somebody else’s business and devotee feels intruded, mistrusted and overall uninspired to do anything substantial. So there is a fine line between giving too long a rope and giving too short a rope. Giving too long a rope means people do whatever they want and there is no sense of accountability.
And too short a rope means, this long and short rope actually basically comes from the West, one of the ways it comes from is like a dog is given too long a rope, the dog will go far away and pull here and there, too short a rope, the dog will feel strained. So, or it can apply to a horse also, when a person is riding a horse and a person is taking a chariot, whichever way. The point is, it has to balance that the leader should not feel that the subordinates of the leader should not feel that we are being constantly intruded upon.
There is a letter of Prabhupada to this effect, actually Prabhupada states that GBC does not mean to control a centre, the president, the treasurer and secretary are responsible for managing the centre, GBC is to see that things are going on nicely, but not to exert authority, that is not the power of GBC. So, the point is, here Prabhupada is just giving an exam, one quote, there is no need to go into the context, because that is very specific, but the general principle is that there are jurisdictions and it is very good to have wherever there are going to be overlapping areas of influence and control and possible conflict are going to be there, it is good to have some operational policies defined by which we can know, this is under your jurisdiction, this is under my jurisdiction and that way and whenever there is some major issue which needs to be considered, there can be discussion, but to manage means that people need to be given adequate freedom and one of the ways Prabhupada was able to spread Krishna consciousness so wonderfully was because he gave initiative, he gave freedom to people. So, that is how we see that our movement spread so miraculously fast in its first 10 years, 10 to 15 years.
Prabhupada gave devotees the inspiration spiritually and then he gave them freedom, how do you tell that, so you take whichever country you want and go and deliver that country and now people were thrilled, what an idea, you can go to a country and deliver a country and Prabhupada gave them that initiative. Now, of course, because they were young and sometimes some mistakes happened, but the important thing was that beyond those mistakes, to see many of those devotees were sincere, they sincerely shared Krishna consciousness, they attracted many many more sincere souls also. So, essentially the management is not about learning from some management books about how to do this, this, this, all of these principles may be useful in a particular context, but overall management means that we inspire devotees to serve Krishna and that we tactfully and respectfully ensure that the services are going on in a proper way and that we don’t step on someone else’s shoes, but give them enough room so that they can also serve Krishna enthusiastically.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.