ISKCON Constitution

Krishna Kesava writes an interesting article on Dandavats.com that examines some of the social aspects of ISKCON, especially related to the role of the temple.

In relation to the elderly, he writes:

More of our soft-hearted devotees are entering an elderly state. They won’t want to spend the rest of their days at home, but to preach somehow. They may not have disciples to care for them, but would like to stay in a temple. In Vedic family tradition, the elders are honoured.

Have we matured yet as an Iskcon family to allow our grandfather or grandmother figure devotees to live in a temple? Think of the sobriety they can lend to young asrama residents. Think of the welcome hospitality they can extend to all guests. Think of the wisdom they can impart. Are we ready for them? Of course, they will need separate amenities. Since this a family matter, does financial expediency come first?

If financial concerns are a priority over devotee needs, we are not ready to implement noble concepts of devotee care and welfare. Elderly people can cost a lot. Will the cost of caring for an elderly vaisnava be too much? Would it be sensible to have separate temples for the elderly who are still active? This scenario will materialise sooner or later.

A significant problem with ISKCON's pretension to being an alternative society is that it is fundamentally broken economically.

In an agrarian society, elderly members of the family are supported by the younger members of their family. They have children, invest their economic energy into those children during their productive life, and those children in turn provide economic support for them later in life.

In post-agrarian industrial societies, the government mandates that a portion of the economic output of each person is extracted and invested in a pension / superannuation scheme. Later in life that money is used to provide an economic support for the elderly.

ISKCON has neither of these. In their youth, full-time members give their economic energy to ISKCON. ISKCON typically does not contribute on their behalf to government mandated superannuation schemes, and does not maintain its own superannuation scheme.

Most of ISKCON exists within societies where children do not bear the same economic responsibility toward their parents as they do in agrarian societies. The children of ISKCON devotees are for the most part socialised within these societies, despite the wistful notion they will subscribe to the same agrarian utopia their parents might.

ISKCON has no economic plan for the elderly.

Personally I think that it is very irresponsible to extract economic energy from people over an extended period of time without one.

Typically, full-time members of the society are few in number, and their tenure of full-time service is typically less than 10 years. Certainly there is no possibility of ISKCON becoming a full life-cycle replacement society for any significant number of people any time in the near future. It is economically dependent on its host society.

For those members of the society whose full-time service extends over more than 10 years, such as career temple presidents and GBCs - the lack of a superannuation fund makes retirement practically impossible.

The only way they can continue to be maintained by the society is by continuing in a management role. Neither have they contributed to a government-mandated superannuation scheme, nor does ISKCON have one for them. The result is a pressure to remain in a management role long past the point of optimal return for the individual or the organisation. Since legitimate means of support are limited, most sources of financial support that do exist are illegitimate by definition.

Without facing up to economic realities, ISKCON cannot be a society.

A challenging feature of 95 Bank Rd, our local ISKCON facility here in Brisbane, is that the temple and the ashram are in the same building.

I will address two issues arising from this.

The first is that the qualifications for ashram residence and for temple residence are different, although overlapping. Only a very few people are qualified for both. It would be easier if there were an ashram separate from the temple.

Historically temples (places where Deities are worshiped) and ashram (where sages live) are two distinct things.

In addition to this, an ashram is not an impersonal space existing in a vacuum. There is no impersonal ashram as we frequently conceive of it in the contemporary context. This is betrayed by our language - we talk of "the ashram". In fact, there is only "an ashram" - Vyasadeva's ashram, Parasurama's ashram, or the ashram of any other saintly person.

Brahmacaris - the single, celibate students we usually think of when we hear the word "ashram" - live in the guru-kula, the "family of the guru". The guru is a brahmana householder. The wife of the guru is one of the seven mothers. Consider the story of Krishna's gurukula life. He lived with Sandipani Muni in Sandipani Muni's ashram, along with Sandipani wife, who acted as Krishna's surrogate mother, and Sandipani's son, Sudama.

Brahmacaris are drawn from the three different psychophysical tendencies - the financial entrepreneurs, the executives, and the pious scholars.

However, residents of a temple are drawn from only one group - the pious scholars.

So:

1. Colocating a temple and an ashram creates a sub-optimal situation for a significant number of potential ashram residents. Only pious scholarly types, whose personality is characterised by tolerance and forgiveness (ksantih in Sanskrit - vis Bg.18.42), are likely to thrive in a temple environment.

2. Having an impersonal ashram with no resident sage (who may not sleep in the building but whose presence must permeate it) is an artificial contrivance.

Sitapati recommends:

• Put only brahmanas in a combined temple / ashram situation such as 95 Bank Rd.
• Establish an ashram separate from the temple, under the auspices of a sage.

The Third ISKCON Studies Conference is on July 16 - 19 in Italy. I won't be going, because I'll be rocking it with Amala Kirtan on his Australian visit at that time.

However, I will be sure to tune in to the mp3 recordings afterwards.

This year's theme is "Education, Preaching, and Conversion"

It's billed as "a forum for presentations of research and open discussion among the participants", which sounds pretty cool to me.

Here are some of the presentations that will be going on:

• Meditation as a Devotional Practice in Jiva Gosvami’s Philosophy of Education (Barbara Holdrege)
• Preaching in ISKCON: An Analysis (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa)
• Scholarship and Spiritual Life (Gopinathacarya Dasa)
• Conversion, Preaching, and Western Cultural Identity (Jan Olof Bengtsson)
• The Meaning and Form of Conversion in Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition (Kumaripriya Dasi)
• Conversion, Experience, and Narrative: Examples from the Hare Krishnas
  (Hrvoje Cargonja)
• Education (Urmila Dasi)
• Preaching Conversion or Education? The Case of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (Pranava Dasa)
• The Future of Education in ISKCON (Shaunaka Rishi Das)
• Panel Discussion: Joining Worlds of Knowledge: Secular and Vaisnava Academies

Check out the ISKCON Studies website for more deets.

Now, what would be really cool is if they could live stream video via UStream, or at least a live audio feed of the event. I'd stay up all night for that.

Public discussion of ISKCON Constitution has dropped recently. The ISKCON GBC Constitutional Committee disbanded without producing any public output, which was a little disappointing.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about the topic recently.

David Jorm and I discussed this topic in a recent podcast [1].

One thing that came out was the idea that ISKCON membership needs to be at the local level.

Here is what I currently consider to be a healthy basis for a local ISKCON constitution/membership:

• A legally incorporated not-for-profit ISKCON association in the local state or county
• Definition of membership levels, including one for initiated and uninitiated members, and one for the local GBCs
• Election of executive board
• Provision for automatic appointment of the GBC to the board
• Some structure for power of veto for the GBC
• Appointment of the Temple President by the board
• Review of staff strategic objectives performance, and contracts by the board

What you will have in this scenario is a fully volunteer, unpaid community board, with a mandate from the membership, who can employ executive staff for the local ISKCON projects.

I envison the board acting like a corporate board, meeting with the executive to jointly form the broad strategic direction, while the executive (Temple President) is on the ground making the tactical decisions, including hiring and managing paid and unpaid staff (such as monks, etc).

The Temple President's remuneration would be set by the board, and the Temple President's contract would be of a fixed term, for example two years, and reviewed with an option to renew at the end of that period.

The Temple President would be paid superannuation and so forth, and if it didn't work out, for whatever reason, then they can just get on with their life, and the board can find someone else for the service. If it did work out, and continued to work out for a long time, then when it eventually became time for the Temple President to retire, there would be no issues about them having to stay in the job to stay alive. Superannuation exists for a reason - protection of the elderly.

Local ISKCON entities could be affiliated with a national umbrella ISKCON organisation, and this would be their "authorisation".

So there you have - the rough outlines of a modern local ISKCON constitution.

Recently a proposal, developed in conjunction with a significant representation of our local Brisbane community, was submitted to the Australian GBC.

As a measure of transparency and accountability, the proposal and the GBC's response to the proposal are being published here; along with video and audio from the recent Community Meeting where the proposal and the response were presented.

Here is the text of the proposal:

• Proposal to GBC

Here is the text of the GBC response:

• Response to proposal from GBC

We have video and audio recordings of the presentations that were given, but audio only of the Questions and Discussion (the video camera battery ran out). The first question in the Questions and Discussion audio is the challenge, so you don't need to listen too far into that to get some controversy ;-). See below for the audio and video. Transcriptions are underway.

Here is the audio of the Community Meeting:

• 1. Introduction - Krishnapada das
• 2. Sitapati das
• 3. Sakhi-rai das
• 4. Murari Hari das
• 5. Questions and Discussion

Here are the videos of the Community Meeting:

On opensource.com, Jason Hibbets writes about a recent keynote address at Drupalcon, "Open Source in Government", by Dave Cole, Senior Advisor to the CIO of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Drupalcon is a conference for developers and users of Drupal, an open source Content Management System that is used to drive websites, including whitehouse.gov. Drupal is available for free, and is open source software.

It's no secret that the Obama administration is about change. I think it's safe to say, one of the main philosophies of this administration is that change coming from the bottom up is embraced rather than smothered.

Cole said:

Change comes from the bottom-up. Ordinary people get together to achieve extraordinary things. In political advocacy we called it community organizing. Here in development, we call it open source. I think that's the fit.

Hibbets goes on to explain:

This mentality directly aligns with principles of the open source way like sharing, meritocracy, and community. Bottom-up initiatives, like community organizing, aren't new concepts. This approach is embraced because it's more effective than top-down directives. The participants who opt into community-organized initiatives are more passionate, committed, and driven.

One way this change is happening is with more transparency. The whitehouse.gov site runs on Drupal, an open source content management system, and provides a platform with user features like a briefing room, blogs, special features, and live video. Cole rhetorically asked what Drupal can do for government. The response: It's helping to drive the open government and open data movements because the nature of open source fits nicely with open government initiatives like being more transparent to citizens.

Atmayogi.com is powered by Drupal.

Sankirtan das, in his post Membership?, continues the conversation in response to Kaunteya's post ISKCON Membership - What I wrote to "GBC Discussions".

Sankirtan makes good points and raises good questions.

He makes an argument against the use of citizenship of a country as an analogy for ISKCON membership, and raises the fundamental question: "(W)hy now is there a need to define membership? What is the purpose?"

Without answering that question, it is difficult to really adress the membership issue.

At the risk of going a little off-topic, one area where I think we can work within concretely defined boundaries, and where it is useful to do so, is in the issue of full-time staff of ISKCON. It is easier to define who is a full-time staff member than it is to define who is a member.

Sankirtan asks about the rights and responsibilities of members, and talks about the rights and responsibilities of citizens to show that the citizenship analogy falls down.

On the question of full-time staff members, the analogy with employees of a corporation has more points of congruence than the analogy of citizens of a country to members of ISKCON does.

In the case of a full-time staff member, a person is surrendering their time and energy to the organisation, just as an employee of a corporation does.

Modern labour laws have evolved over time to formalise the reciprocation between the two parties involved in the labour transaction. There is a duty of care on the part of the employer toward the employee. Since the employee is giving their energy to the cause of the employer, the employer becomes responsible for providing reasonable means of subsistence to the employee, and there are legally guaranteed minimums. Many countries also have compulsory superannuation schemes that employers contribute to on behalf of the employees, in order to provide economic support for retirement of the population.

In the case of ISKCON, some people choose to give a few years in their youth as volunteer service. It is easier to define who is a full-time volunteer than the more ambiguous "member". It is even easier to define who is an official staff member, for example a Temple President, a head pujari, a cook, etc. Some of these people will not just give a few years of their life, but a large section, and even most or all of their adult working life.

Modern Western societies have evolved mechanisms, enshrined in labour laws, to deal with issues such as retirement, career advancement, retrenchment, extent and limit of responsibility and duty of care. ISKCON has none of this. One of the problems that comes from this is that career ISKCON staff have no retirement prospects. They have given all their adult life to the organisation, but there is no superannuation. In many cases they are stuck in a position where they need to hold on to the post, and more or less effectively execute it operationally, merely in order to continue subsisting. Hardly an ideal situation, and hardly protection of the elder members of society.

Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

I think that full-time volunteer staff should have some money put aside for them in a trust account, and this money should be disbursed when they leave. So a young man enters into the ashram and stays there for two or three years. In that time the organisation draws on his energy, and intelligent managers should put him into play such that he develops personally, and so that his activities benefit the community. If the situation is structured correctly then either through standard economic reciprocation (for example, public buying meals in a restaurant) or through volunteer contribution (for example, congregational donations) the organisation should capitalise on his contribution at the same time. Some of that capital should be stored on his behalf, and given when he leaves.

In this way the organisation discharges its spiritual duty of engaging him in a way that is beneficial for his personal development, and for the spiritual upliftment of society; and the organisation discharges it duty of taking responsibility for his physical maintenance in exchange for his service.

In the case of full-time staff members and what are effectively career professionals such as Temple Presidents and other management staff, there should be a clear economic arrangement that takes into account all of the factors that modern labour laws have evolved to support. It is irresponsible to accept full-time service, especially over years and decades, without having a system in place for the maintenance of the person. Modern labour systems divide whole-life maintenance of the person into portions and make the entity utilising the service of the individual liable for the corresponding portion of that cost.

If you don't encode economic concerns such as this explicitly and clearly, then each person will be left to fend for themselves, and the inevitable result will be that people who are able to seize access to economic resources will hold on to them for dear life. As well, unclear economic arrangements will arise.

In conclusion, two points:

• It is the logic of half a hen to talk about the contribution of a person without considering the economic maintenance of the whole person.
• If there is no legitimate means of economic existence, the only available ones are illegitimate.

Apologies for the lack of editing. Just jotting some thoughts before heading off to the tour rehearsal for Madhava's Australian Kirtan Tour. See you there!

In this week's podcast we discuss James Cameron's new movie, Avatar - the most expensive movie to produce of all time at $300 million.

We also discuss Leadership.

Here's the podcast file:

• 09-12-19 Red Hill Podcast - Avatar 3d and Leadership

Here are my free ebooks on Leadership that I mention in the podcast:

• Bhagavad-gita Small Group Resource
• On Leadership
• Leadership Lessons From Bhagavad-gita

Here's last week's podcast on ISKCON Membership, including live callers. Aniruddha prabhu, temple president of Melbourne, and Dhruva prabhu from Byron Bay called in.

• Podcast on ISKCON membership Part A
• Podcast on ISKCON membership Part B

Tomorrow (Saturday 5th December) at 10 am AEST (GMT+10), David Jorm and I will be continuing with part two of our discussion about ISKCON membership.

We will be discussing David's recent blog post Membership in a confederated ISKCON structure, and the 2007 Church Plant Survivability and Health Study by the Center for Missional Research, North American Mission Board.

You can listen live here: Kirtan Radio, and you can participate in the conversation as it takes place via facebook and twitter (@sitapati).

So it's Saturday, 5th December at 10am AEST. Here's the current date and time in Brisbane: