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A Moderate Muslim Country
Coming to the end of a week in Malaysia, where we have just returned to Kuala Lumpar after working on the new temple in Penang state, which is four hours to the north. Having been born to Australian RAAF parents in Penang in 1969, it is also nice for me to return to the place where I was born. Some people say that there are invisible connections between a person and his birthplace, and when they return they get some strength back. I am not sure about this, but its certainly nice to go there.
The temple is to be called the Sri Sri Radha Krishna, "Temple of Devotion & Understanding" , and you can read about it here http://www.iskcon.com.my/Phases/temple-project-update.htmlThe temple is unique, in that it will have the ten incarnations of the Lord as murties surrounding the main temple area which houses the form of Sri Sri Jaganatha Baladeva and Subhadra. We are designing 16 multimedia presentation which will sit within the alcoves of the octagonal temple, showing the pastimes of the ten dasavataras, as well as Lord Rama, Balaji, Ranganatha, Varaha-Nrsimha, Lord Caitanya and Jaganatha.
The project is being headed up by my dear senior Godbrother Simheswara Prabhu, and his vision is that the project will be an educational centre to showcase the Vedic culture and philosophy to all parts of Malaysian society. Malaysia has a unique mix of races and religions. While it is officially a Musiim country, it is a very moderate Muslim country, and there is a high degree of religious tolerance. In fact, the government has recently started a campaign that they want to go beyond religious tolerance, and they are promoting religious respect. Muslim Malays, Chinese Buddhists, and Hindu Indians, all live and work together in harmony.
Malaysia gives a good opportunity to share the Vedic teachings with Chinese also. Last night I met a Chinese man who asked about my religion, and when I told him I was a Hare Krishna, he said, "Oh, I am officially a buddhist, but I also worship Hindu gods, I have faith in Hindu gods."
I asked him to tell me more, and he explained that he was once in India on a business trip, and he had a mystical experience in a Ganesha temple where he had a vision of a lotus and two eyes within his mediation in front of the Deity.
After that he brought back over 200 Ganesh muftis for his shop, and he has since sold all of them - and surprisingly 95% were sold to other Chinese. It seems the Chinese buddhists are quite open to worshipping some of the Hindu gods if they see that there is benefit there.
In our mulitmedia presentations in the new temple, we are placing the subtitles in English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese; and we will present the Vedic evidence that Krishna is the source of all incarnations, and only He can give the ultimate benediction of freedom from repetition of birth and death, and His eternal loving service.
In Penang we also attended a nice pandal program and 3 hour bullock cart Harinam procession, where the chief guests were the local Muslim rulers, and the class was translated into Tamil. It reminded me of the Caitanya Caritamrita how the Muslims are in government, but they are very tolerant of the Hindus practices.
Yesterday, back in KL temple, I heard some Bengali devotees talking, and it was the first time I had heard Bengali in 3 months, because I have been teaching in Australia for the past 3 months. It was so nice to hear it again, and I excitedly had a nice conversation in Bengali with the devotees. It was like meeting old friends again to meet the Bengali devotees - very sweet.
This morning in the KL temple I was very surprised to see Hari Sauri prabhu in the temple, and he greeted me warmly. It was so nice to see this stalwart Prabhupada disciple, and Prabhu gave a very nice class on Srimad Bhagavatam verse from second chapter about how one should not use religious or occupational duties to cultivate material gains, and if material gains do come, a practicing devotee should not use them to cultivate sense gratification.
Hari Sauri Prabhu gave a nice insight into this verse also: he said that when one Professor who was studying Srimad Bhagavatam had come to meet Srila Prabhupada, and asked Prabhupada what was the essential part of the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada had quoted this verse 1.2.9, saying this is the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam. Hari Sauri Prabhu was also saying how, as devotees, we have to very careful to weed out desires opposed to devotional service from our hearts, otherwise, gradually we lose our taste for service, and it becomes painful to be in the association of pure devotional service, and we will make some excuse or other to leave the association of devotees.
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Coming or going - the Dhama gives so much mercy
Its so easy to take for granted living in Mayapur – to take for granted the spiritually surcharged atmosphere, the beauty of the cultivation fields with pairs of bullocks yoked together to wooden ploughs in the ancient yet thouroughly practical tradition, the locals threshing grains by the side of the road (and sometimes, as in the case of coriander seeds, putting the fresh plants heaped in the middle of the road so the cars driving over them will separate the seed pods from the plants), the beautiful cows grazing here and there, the simple village life of Mayapur.
But leaving Mayapur one always appreciates the mercy and gravity of life in the Dhama; it’s not long until one is in the hubbub of Kolkata, and soon the Dhama’s shelter is far behind, and once again one is back in the kali yuga, with all kinds of allurements meant to bewilder the mind of everyone.
By the time you reach the airport you are half way back to the Western world and its culture: there is cricket playing on every television, shops stocked high with the latest liquor, and advertising promoting happiness through consumerism in every free space.
Mayapur is different at festival time: so many devotees coming from overseas. You can see their faces drinking the nectar of their first entrance into the Dhama. Lord Caitanya is so merciful to open His storehouse of love in the form of Navadvip Dhama to all of us. I think back to 1996, when I first came to the Dhama and wanted to stay. I wasn’t qualified then, and I still aren’t, but some 15 odd years of chanting has had an effect. Things that I found intolerable back then don’t trouble me: the heat, smoke, dust, horn-blaring bus juggernauts packed with hundreds of sweaty bodies, rubbish, eternal lines for government functions; all these just seem like a pretty insignificant backdrop to the real activities of the Dhama – the mercy of the Lord and his devotees flowing freely everywhere, every day. Krishna gives so many lessons living in the Dhama how we are not these bodies and minds.
One of my Godbrothers now stays in Vrindavan. He says that he likes the “slap factor” of Vrindavan. He said Mayapur is so merciful that he can get into maya here (I am sure his maya is probably my standard of serious Krishna consciousness), but in Vrindavan the Lord gives you a slap as soon as you get off the path.
For me I love the mercy of Mayapur Dhama, it is a cushion against this world and my anistha bhakti and fumbling attempts at anartha nivritti, and at my stage I feel that Mayapur has a pretty good “slap factor” compared to living in the West, where there are so many crutches available to let one forget the realities of life, both spiritual and even material.
Today, while four different parikramas are going out to circumambulate the Dhama, I am in a new Scorpio heading to Kolkata ariport. I have to go back West for a couple of months to maintain the ashram, a solo venture, the Dhama will take of the family while I am away. I had made a solemn vow to do regular puja while West to maintain spiritual focus this time, and Krishna reciprocated amazingly: I saw one of my siksha gurus for the first time in several years just the day before leaving to go West. By his mercy, and that of his servant, the Lord decided to personally accompany me to the pascatya desa. How merciful He is. Here He is, the most recent addition to our little Krishna conscious family, the most merciful Gopala-candra. May we always remain His humble servitors.
Jaya Govinda, Jaya Gopala, Keshava Madhava, dina doyala!
sitala-kirana-kara kalpa-taru-guna-dhara
taru-lata sada rtu-soba
purna-candra-sama jyoti cidananda-maya murti
mahalila-darsana-lobha
“The groves of Vrndavana are charming with soothing moonbeams. The six seasons beautify the
forests wherein the trees fulfill all desires. The blissful personality of Krsna is more effulgent than the
full moon, and one should be eager to have a glimpse of His wonderful pastimes.”- from Prema Bhakti Candrika by Srila Narottama Das Thakura
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Sankirtana - it's all about the 'congregation'
This morning's kirtan in the Mayapur temple was incredible. Niranjan Swami leading, and a rousing chorus from all the devotees. We didn't even notice the drums and karatals, the chant overtook all and the vibration was wonderful. The tune was classic and charming, and the devotees were in ecstacy.
I was thinking back to a few weeks ago when we had a abhishek in the Mayapur temple room, and I remember looking around and noticing not so many devotees chanting.
There may be many reasons why this is the case - the potency and spiritual purity of the chanter obviously have a great effect on whether others are inspired to call out to the Lord. And there are certainly other inconceivable reasons that we can never fathom; how can we understand the causeless mercy of the Lord?
But I want to bring up a few, if you like, external reasons that may have an impact on whether or not the other devotees are inspired to chant.
Firstly, I'd like to point out the seemingly obvious fact that the success of the sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy name, is dependant on the chanting of the congregation, not on the leader.
So if we are leading the kirtana we should first be asking ourselves, "How are the other devotees singing?" We should not be so concerned with how we are singing.
Of course we must concentrate on singing nicely for the pleasure of the Lord, but ultimately, as a kirtan leader, we are a "servant-leader". Our service is to inspire the other devotees to chant and dance in ecstacy.
If the other devotees are not inspired to chant, then we are not doing our service properly, even if we are singing - to our ears - very nicely.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, when leaving this world, asked for an expert bhajan singer to be replaced by another disciple who was not so expert, but who was singing as a service.
Another consideration is the loudness of the amplification and musical accompaniment of the kirtan.
When the accompaniment is done nicely, it makes the kirtan much more relishable, but the accompaniment is just that, it is meant to support the chanting of the holy name. Mere musical performance that does not enhance the chanting has no eternal value.
On the day that I remember noticing that very few devotees were chanting, the lead singer was amplified very, very loudly through the microphone, and the mrdanga was miked at the top end, and was very loud, and cut through everything else.
It is interesting that other religious groups that perform congregational chanting, also discuss the important of balancing the volume of the leader with the congregation.
Curt Taipale, a sound engineer who specializes in installations in Christian Churches writes:
One thing you’ll find when the sound system gets too loud is that the congregation starts to lose a sense of corporate
worship. That corporate worship feel is one powerful difference that makes music in your church unique from
other types of live music. It brings a tremendous life to the worship experience.
In other words, congregational singing is a very different form of music than performance music. It requires a fine balancing of the volume of amplified sound with the level of the congregation singing.
If the sound system is too loud, the congregation is robbed of the sense of "corporate worship", or the feeling of being one small part of a larger entity.
As fragmental portions of the Supreme, we can understand why we have such a wonderful experience in kirtana when we are singing as just one voice among hundreds, but creating something much bigger than ourselves.
So the level of the sound system is very important is setting the scene for devotees to be inspired to chant loudly. If they feel the leader is too powerful throught the mic, then subtly but surely, the congregation will be uninspired to sing.
This morning the mic level of Niranjana Maharaja's voice was only just above the level of the congregation responding.
Another external factor that can influence how people respond is the tune sung. Of course it is always nice if the leader is singing an inspiring and tuneful melody, but if the tune is too difficult to catch, then the congregation will also have difficulty responding.
Last week we were fortunate enough to attend a few of the home programs that Indradyumna Swami was doing in Mayapur. Maharaja was singing the same tune he sung 11 years ago when we did the sound for his Polish tour. Although the tune had not changed, the devotees were chanting in absolute bliss as the kirtana rose to a wild crescendo. It was as if the "easyness" of the tune allowed us all to focus very clearly on the actual chanting of the holy name, and not have to expend any energy at all in trying to follow the tune.
Of course, I am not suggesting that devotees should stop singing interesting tunes: that is one of the beautiful things about kirtana, it is constantly changing and evolving as different tunes come out over the years. But certainly the ability of the audience to respond to a tune is also an imoportant factor.
There may be other factors in inflencing how we can encourage devotees to sing enthusiastically in the kirtana. But, at heart, our meditation when leading kirtana should not be, "How nicely am I singing?" but rather, "How well am I faciliting the other devotees to enthusiastically chant the Holy Names of the Lord?"
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Belpukur
Yesterday, a devotee came to our house to tell us about the temple at the birthplace of Sacimata, the mother of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, at a place called Belpukur. He said it was just past Bamanpukur, which is the first large village after the Yogopitha on the main road, not far from our house. He was the hereditary Goswami of the place, which was one of the holy sites developed by the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust, and he showed us a picture of the Deity, Who was very beautiful.
So after school, I took the kids for a ride to see this holy place. It ended up being a lot further away than we thought, and was really inside the interior villages of Navadvip Dhama. We stopped on the way and the kids had fun in the big mustard seed crops - thats the yellow flowered plants in the picture.
It was several kilometers from the main road and we didn't get back until after dark - but it was really worth it. It was such a beautiful place, very loving and spiritual feeling at that place. It is the family home of Sacimata, and her father, Nilambara Cakravarti, the astrologer who gave the name giving ceremony to Lord Caitanya.
Mother Saci is none other than Mother Yasoda, and Nilambara Cakravarti is Gargamuni from Krishna lila. You feel a very loving motherly feeling at this holy site - a very special place in Navadvip Dhama.
The blue Krishna in the photos is the Deity at the place of Sacimata's family house, and the black Krishna with Radha, is another temple we found just a little way before this place on the road. The Deity here is also very beautiful.
Photos are here
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Depending on our eternal Father
My four year old son likes to draw pictures with the Windows 'Paint' program, and today I showed him that you could save the pictures also. He loved the idea that he could keep his artworks, and we saved two of his pictures this afternoon.This evening he was doing a third picture, and I told him we had to turn off the computer now to do some other work. He looked at me with concern and said, "Daddy, can we also save this one?" He was thinking that we didn't have enough room, or that we would have to delete the other pictures.
I told him we could easily save thousands, even millions, of such small files, and he was happy.
The incident started me thinking about how we have a similar limited mentality when it comes to Krishna, and the gifts He can provide, both spiritual and material.
Like my little boy, with our limited brains, we think that we could have either 'this' or 'that', but if we depend on Krishna, we can often have both things, and much more too.
The key is that we have to rely on Krishna, and not our own mental projections and intellectual ponderings. With our limited viewpoint we cannot conceive of the solutions and wonderous outcomes Krishna can bring into our life, if we just sincerely admit our incompetence to understand things, and rely on His guidance.
In the incident of Narada Muni saving mrigari the hunter, Srila Prabhupada explains:
"The source of our income is not actually the source of our maintenance. Every living being—from the great Brahma down to an insignificant ant—is being maintained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Eko bahünäm yo vidadhäti kämän. The one Supreme Being, Krishna, maintains everyone. Our so-called source of income is our own choice only. If I wish to be a hunter, it will appear that hunting is the source of my maintenance. If I become a brähmana and completely depend on Krishna, I do not conduct a business, but nonetheless my maintenance is supplied by Krishna. The hunter was disturbed about breaking his bow because he was worried about his income. Närada Muni assured the hunter because he knew that the hunter was not being maintained by the bow but by Krishna. Being the agent of Krishna, Närada Muni knew very well that the hunter would not suffer by breaking the bow. There was no doubt that Krishna would supply him food."
If we practice to always rely on the superior intelligence of Krishna, we can always be open to His hand in our lives, and we will be ready to accept His guidance, and His plan for our happiness, which is far, far, beyond our current conception.
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Guidance at Radha Kund
It's common knowledge that the guides - "pandas" - at Radha Kunda are quite enthusiastic to engage you in seva, sometimes even when you just want to have some quiet time there alone. So when one local devotee called out "Raghunatha Das Goswami Samadhi", and pointed across the Kund, I avoided making eye contact and politely continued my business. He must have understood my intention, because he said quite forcefully, "I am not panda, I am not guide, I am Brajabasi!", as he walked by. I smiled.
He was my guide, however, because later I took his advice and sought out Raghunatha Das Goswami's samadhi, and it was well worth the effort. Such a sweet place, with nice timeless kirtana going on, and a beautiful samadhi with amazing pictures of Srila Raghunatha performing his bhajan while Krishna stood guard nearby to protect him from the tigers that came to drink from Radha Kunda.
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Is guilt good or bad?
"Rupa Gosvami says that as long as we are in this material world we have to act; we cannot cease acting. Therefore if actions are performed and the fruits are given to Krishna, then that is called yukta-vairagya." - B.g. 9.28p
From the relative viewpoint of material consciousness, guilt seems bad, but if we can step back and analyse the fruit of this consciousness we can properly classify it. If the guilt leads us towards Krishna, it is good. If it leads us into material consciousness it is bad.
For example, if we feel guilty about not chanting attentive rounds yesterday, and that leads us to chant attentively today, then that guilt helped us in Krishna consciousness and we are grateful. On the other hand, if guilt makes us want to withdraw from the association of devotees and take shelter in material pursuits, then that guilt is bad, and we don't take any notice of it.
In the Caitanya Caritamrita it is said that Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis felt guilty for being in the materialistic government, and this made them want to humbly surrender to the Lord's service. This is an example of guilty feelings leading to higher consciousness.
By using such seemingly negative emotions in the Lord's service one actually becomes cured of them, because they don't "disappear", but they become spiritualised. If we try to just negate such emotions, as some would suggest, they will continue to be there in an impure form, because it is the nature of our soul to have all these emotions in one form or another - the only choice we have is whether to have them in their pure or impure state.
Guilt - from Nectar of Devotion 29
When a person blames himself for committing an inappropriate action, his feeling is called guilt.
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Knowledge, skills and values: modern educational theory fits within Vedic viewpoint
The Vedic literature describes three phases of education in spiritual knowledge. They are:
sambandha or knowledge of the relationship between things, especially between the Supreme Lord and His various energies; abhidheya, or the process of attainment and skills required; and prayojana, or the ultimate goal or value to be obtained.
These three principles of Vedic education can be seen throughout the writings of Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas:
The original and primeval spiritual preceptor of the universe, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, has declared that Vaiñëava theology has three fundamental principles: sambandha, relationships; abhidheya, the means of attainment; and prayojana, the prime necessity and goal.
The Vedas stand as the authoritative guide and reference (pramäëa) and they prove nine different topics, which may be classified into sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana.
Krishna explains in the Bhagavad gita that all souls are on His path.
mama vartmänuvartante
manuñyäù pärtha sarvaçaù
“Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Påthä.”
Thus there is actually only one path of education or upliftment, with Godhead at one end and hellish life at the other; and all living beings are following this path laid out by the Lord.
So if the one path of devotional service can be described by sambandha, abhideya and prayojana, and everyone and everything is on the path described by Krishna, we should also see these three principles in all aspects of the world.
And actually it is a fact: we can see these three principles working throughout the Lord’s creation.
For example, when we meet a new person, we first need to know something about them before we can act in any relationship with them. Srila Prabhupada also gives this example:
Sambandha means we have to understand our relationship with Kåñëa. Just like if we want to make some relationship with a friend, then we must know about him, what he is.
Another example would be a sports team. At the start of the game the relationships are first setup: players on the same team wear the same colour shirt, and different players take different positions in the team. Once these relationships (sambandha) are set up, then only can the actual activity (abhideya) of the game take place within these relationships, to attain the goal (prayojana) of scoring a goal and winning the game.
In discussion of group dynamics, the common aphorism ‘storming, norming and performing’ is used to describe the process of first establishing relationships within the groups (storming and norming – sambandha), before productive activity can occur (performing – abhideya), to achieve the group’s goals (prayojana).
In basic education theory also, these principles can be seen in the concepts of education as being in three phases of knowledge, skills and values.
Sambandha Abhideya Prayojana Knowledge Skills Values What How Why The sambandha principle is then the basic knowledge of a situation, and WHAT are the relationships between the different elements.
Abhideya is the application of that knowledge into action. It is the skills needed, it is the HOW something is done.
Prayojana is then the WHY we act: what is our ultimate motivation, what do we value about the situation.
The whole Vedas are divided into three states. Sambandha, what is our connection God. That is called sambandha. And then abhidheya. According to that relationship we have to act. That is called abhidheya. And why do we act? Because we have got the goal of life, to achieve the goal of life.
So one might ask what is the value in seeing in this way? Why would we want to see the mundane world, modern educational philosophies etc. in terms of the Vedic guidelines of sambandha, abhideya and prayojana?
Firstly, because it is our duty to try and see everything through the eyes of sastra, which gives us practical realization of how everything is actually the Lord’s energy, and is working under his direction, mayädhyakñeëa prakåtiù. If see everything in the way Krishna and the acharyas describe we see things we are always with Krishna.
In fact, we can describe the benefits of seeing in this way by using the principles of sambhanda, abhideya and prayojana themselves.
For example, if we are studying education and we are looking at things in terms of knowledge, skills and values, our sambandha or relationship we are setting up is that we are a disciple of modern educational theory. Acting in that relationship (abhideya), we will be moving towareds the ultimate goal (prayojana) of modern education, which is atheistic, moralistic sense gratification.
On the other hand, if we use the same principles of education given by the modern theorists, and frame them in our own Vedic perspectives, we are setting up the sambandha of being disciples of the Vedas, who simply use the tools of modern theories to further the ends of the Vedas.
This isn’t to say to say that any devotee who uses modern theories is being certainly degraded, because one can still use these theories, or anything in the world for that matter, in Krishna’s service. But it is just to make the point that we should, wherever possible, see the overarching principles of what we are working with in terms of the Vedic conception, or at least use the modern and Vedic terms interchangeably in our teachings. This will keep us focussed in sastra-caksusa, or seeing the world through the eyes of scriptures, and be an example to our students of how one can see everything as working under the laws of God, as described through His most perfect scriptures, the Vedic literature.
If our sambandha is always fixed as a follower of the Vedas, then our path to the ultimate prayojana of the Vedas, loving service to the Supreme Lord Krishna, is always kept clear.
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Does the soul or material nature act?
A friend of mine sent me this interesting philosophical question. Here it is with some thoughts I had on it below.
Question:
SB 10.87.25 Purport (Part)
Śrīla Vyāsadeva refutes this idea in the section of the Vedānta-sūtra (2.3.31-39) that begins, kartā śāstrārtha-vattvāt: "The jīva soul must be a performer of actions, because the injunctions of scripture must have some purpose." Ācārya Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, in his Govinda-bhāṣya, explains: "The jīva, not the modes of nature, is the doer. Why? Because the injunctions of scripture must have some purpose (śāstrārtha-vattvāt). For example, such scriptural injunctions as svarga-kāmo yajeta ('One who desires to attain to heaven should perform ritual sacrifice') and ātmānam eva lokam upāsīta (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.15: 'One should worship with the aim of attaining the spiritual kingdom') are meaningful only if a conscious doer exists. If the modes of nature were the doer, these statements would serve no purpose. After all, scriptural injunctions engage the living entity in performing prescribed actions by convincing him that he can act to bring about certain enjoyable results. Such a mentality cannot be aroused in the inert modes of nature."
How does this relate to “Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah” Bg. In SB purport above it states that the soul is the doer whereas the Bg states that soul is not the doer but the 3 modes of Material nature are the doers?
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Answer:
In Hrdayananda Maharaja's purport to the verse above, it is stated:
"Although the soul is in truth both conscious and active, the proponents of Sankhya philosophy wrongly separate these two functions of the living force (ätmani ye ca bhidäm), ascribing consciousness to the soul (purusa) and activity to material nature (prakrti)."This is the point that Vyasadeva is refuting, namely the atheistic Sankhya philosophy's proposition that the soul is only conscious, but is not active; or in other words that it does not have desire and is simply a passive witness to the desires of the subtle material body.
This leads to the erroneous conclusion that the soul is basically impersonal, and perfection is attained in a sort of impersonal non-desire state where is the soul is inactive but conscious.
Thus the Vaisnava acaryas reject this philosophy of the soul being inactive, because they are experiencing the spiritual activity of the soul, in loving, perfect, service to the Supreme Soul, independant of gross and subtle matter.
The Bhagavad gita verse prakrteh kriyamananai etc, is making a different point, namely that the souls are not actually the controllers of material nature, it is the modes themselves that are making the world work, not us. However, by the influence of false ego or identity, we identify our soul with the actions of the world. Thus Krishna is explaining that to think that we are the doer is false ego and foolish.
So in prakrteh kriyamanani, Krishna is pointing out that we act out of a false sense of self, not that our self has no propensity to act, as the atheistic sankhyaites are saying.
B.g. 13.21 nicely reconciles this point, "Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world."
And in the purport Srila prabhupada explains: "According to one's desires and activities, material nature places one in various residential quarters. The being himself is the cause of his attaining such residential quarters and his attendant enjoyment or suffering. Once placed in some particular kind of body, he comes under the control of nature because the body, being matter, acts according to the laws of nature. At that time, the living entity has no power to change that law. Suppose an entity is put into the body of a dog. As soon as he is put into the body of a dog, he must act like a dog. He cannot act otherwise."So the prakrteh verse is stating that the material nature is the cause of the various interactions, but it is the soul itself who is the cause of his own sufferings, because it is his desire to be here, and it is his desire alone which will make him decide to want to get out from this encagement, after hearing from the scriptures.
In other words, the soul does not directly affect the workings of the modes, they act under the laws of nature, but the soul does have the ability to desire to situate himself in a certain situation within the modes, or beyond the modes, and work towards that situation under guidance of scripture, as stated by our acharyas in the Bhagavatam verse you have quoted above.
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ISKCON’s Future: Could a Bi-cameral GBC Help?
When the founding fathers of the United States gathered to formalize the Constitution in 1787, there was a sharp divide between the proposals put forward by the Union’s larger and smaller states.The larger states favored the “Virginia Plan” whereby the number of representatives in the parliament was based on population, thus giving stronger representation to the larger states; while the smaller states favored the “New Jersey Plan” which gave equal representation to each state, regardless of population.
After almost six weeks of vigorous debate, the States finally agreed to a compromise: the new government would be a bicameral system made up of two chambers, an upper house, the Senate and a lower house, the House of Representatives. In the upper house, each State would have an equal vote; in the lower house, representation would be proportional to population, with each State having one representative for every 40,000 inhabitants.
Following the example of the United States, federally based systems around the world have adopted a bicameral legislature, where the two chambers have differing methods of representing the constituents. These are generally along the lines of the U.S. system of having an upper house with equal representation for States, and a lower house with representation of geographical areas based purely on population. Examples of this can be seen in the political systems of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico and many other countries.
Bicameralism has also been used to fuse together an aristocratic and democratic system. The best known example of this is the British system, where historically the House of Lords was made up of hereditary positions representing the Nobles, while seats in the House of Commons were elected positions, representing the common people.
Underlying all of these uses is the practical fact that having a bicameral system allows for a second chance to modify important legislation, and allows for a different perspective on the legislation.
So how is all of this relevant to ISKCON and how, if at all, could ISKCON take advantage of the political apparatus of a bicameral system?
Many devotees, senior leaders and more junior members alike, are seeing the need for a plan of succession to lead ISKCON into the future, but there are two seemingly opposing imperatives that need to be reconciled: ISKCON needs to retain the strength of its traditions and the maturity and wisdom of its elders, while simultaneously empowering the next generation to take up the mantle of leadership and push on the movement in new and dynamic ways.
In the same way that a bicameral system facilitated representation of both aristocracy and commoners in Britain, and small and large States in the U.S., a bicameral system for ISKCON may facilitate the elders to oversee the ISKCON legacy, while facilitating the younger generation to take the reigns of management with youthful vigor, as their predecessors did in the 1970′s.
So what would such a system look like, and how does it fit in with Srila Prabhupada’s vision for ISKCON?
Srila Prabhupada set up the GBC as the “ultimate managerial authority” for ISKCON, and therefore it would be inappropriate and problematic to set up another body higher than the GBC. However, it would be possible to modify the structure of the GBC while still following Srila Prabhupada’s will of having the GBC as the ultimate managerial authority.
One proposal would be to create a bicameral GBC, with the lower house being called the GBC Assembly, and the upper house the GBC Senate.
The lower house would be comprised of the GBC Secretaries who are directly managing their zones, and the upper house would be comprised of the GBC Senators. Resolutions passed by the GBC Assembly would need to also be approved by the GBC Senate, before becoming ISKCON law. The Senate would be able to make proposals, but they would also need to pass both chambers.
GBC members who don”t want to be engaged in direct management can continue to serve on the GBC Senate and make a very meaningful contribution to the running of the society. At the present moment, the title of GBC Emeritus has been awarded to such senior members, but some of these members themselves note that they are “out of the loop” and don”t have much direct involvement in framing ISKCON policies and laws. Under this system we have had such senior, experienced devotees as Hridayananda Goswami, Mukunda Goswami, Bhurijana Prabhu and Giriraja Swami having little involvement in GBC matters. It may be easier for such experienced devotees to share their vast wisdom and experience with the society, while at the same time not being overly burdened with daily management tasks, if they were GBC Senators.
For the younger generation, a bicameral GBC would allow more scope for them to take ownership of the mission by becoming GBC secretaries, while having the guidance of their superiors above them.
In the legal document “Direction of Management” issued by Srila Prabhupada on May 28th, 1970, which set up the GBC, the document listed 34 centers of ISKCON, and Srila Prabhupada named 12 GBC members to govern the society, a proportion of roughly 3 centers for each GBC secretary. While you would not expect this exact proportion of GBC’s to centers to continue indefinitely, it is interesting to compare this situation to that of today.
Today ISKCON is made up of 300 temples, 40 rural communities, and 80 restaurants in 71 countries; over 400 centers worldwide, with around 40 GBC’s responsible for the entire organization. If the same proportion of GBC’s to centers was maintained as in 1970, the current number of GBC secretaries would be around 130. While this fact alone is not a strong argument to greatly expand the number of GBC secretaries, it does lend weight to the idea of a bicameral GBC with many more secretaries to represent the devotees. Such a system would allow for newer members to contribute and take ownership of ISKCON’s future, while also facilitating much better representation of devotees in GBC decision making processes.
One proposal would be to have a GBC Senate consisting of roughly 40 or so senior devotees, with a GBC Assembly of approximately 80 devotees who have shown their expertise in managing the society.
Varnasrama considerations
This system can also be analyzed as being closer to the ideals of the Vedic social organization as given by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. In a broad sense of social organization, the GBC Senate would represent the brahminical principles of wisdom and guidance without getting too involved in daily management. At the same time, the GBC Senate would institutionalize the notion that the brahmanas can, when required, use their brahminical tejas to rectify the ksatriyas, and ensure they are correctly applying the sastra.
The GBC Assembly would naturally be more akin to the ksatriyas who are engaged in day to day management and leadership, and therefore are working under the principle of utility to get the mission achieved in a practical way.
At the present moment, the same group of devotees is taking the brahminical role of being the spiritual head of society, while at the same time acting as administrators. This is not ideal according to the prescription for peaceful working of society as given in the Vedas, which is founded on a separation of the roles of brahmanas and ksatriyas.
The Srimad Bhagavatam deals extensively with the relationships between brahmanas and ksatriyas, and how they cooperate synergistically to order society in a progressive fashion. While we all have to “do the needful” as the mission requires, in later years especially, Srila Prabhupada repeatedly stressed that he wanted ISKCON to implement the essential elements of the Varnasrama system for the peaceful organization of the society.
There has been much talk within ISKCON about implementing Varnasrama Dharma on many levels, but it can be argued that if Varnasrama is not implemented on the top level, i.e. by separating the brahminical and ksatriya functions of the governing apparatus, then it is almost impossible to implement these principles throughout the rest of the ISKCON society.
The system of bicameral chambers of the GBC also has implications for the functioning of the ashrams. At the present moment, the executive management function is primarily being handled by sannyasis. In the early days of the movement, Srila Prabhupada had his householder devotees perform most of the direct management, and there are many cases in ISKCON history, under Srila Prabhupada, where devotees who took sannyasa also gave up their managerial functions to be free to preach and travel unhindered. Srila Prabhupada also many times stated that the sannyasis are the natural spiritual leaders of society, while the householders were natural administrators, being already involved in the care of the social fabric of families, women and children.
While we have unbounded respect for the individuals who are the spiritual leaders of the society, looking from an objective perspective, it is not ideal to have a society which is primarily administered by (on a purely Varnasrama analysis) persons in the role of sannyasi-ksatriyas. Such a situation can lead to dissatisfaction for all concerned: the sannyasis can get caught up in the minutiae of daily management and dealing with social/householder issues, rather than being free to preach on the spiritual platform and travel with a peaceful mind to enlighten the householders, while the householders may tend to feel that the leadership does not understand their issues. Ideally, sannyasis would act as trusted counsel to householder administrators. In this way, they maintain their influential role in society by giving much needed advice to those who take on the burden of daily management. Moreover, many of sannyasis would act as diksha guru for the grihastha ksatriyas; thus they’d naturally assume a role as a spiritual mentor.
Conclusion
It may be observed that when the movement was progressing very dynamically in the 70′s, the system of management was in fact more like the system discussed above. When Srila Prabhupada was personally overseeing the movement, enthusiastic young devotee managers took the role of GBC’s and spread the movement very dynamically, while Srila Prabhupada gave them all encouragement and responsibility, but still oversaw their work and retained the ultimate right to occasionally modify or annul some of their resolutions if he saw the need.
It may be that instituting a bicameral system for the GBC could help to continue a healthy and dynamic managerial process for ISKCON into the future; allowing for the preservation of ISKCON’s strength and traditions, while facilitating the next generation to take responsibility for expanding the mission.
Eternal Youth Media presents the devotional offerings of Deva Gaura Hari das - a disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja, and grand-disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
He joined ISKCON in 1994 in Australia, and currently lives in Sri Mayapur Dhama with his wife and four children, where his services include Acoustics Co-ordinator for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, Secretary for the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry, and Co-ordinator of the JPS Archives.
