Leadership

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

- George Bernard Shaw

Of course you can be sensitive in how you do it - but at the end of the day there has to be an uncompromising core.

Salient points from a recent sermon, courtesy of Pastor Perry Noble - see if you can work these into a class:

• The definition of diligence is doing a little thing a long time until something big happens.
• You will never win if you keep quitting!
• When you are preparing you are out of step with today but in step with what is happening tomorrow.
• The church waits on the world to create a problem & then responds to it–we need to do church in a way that puts the world on its heels!
• Having to be inspired to do what is right is the lowest form of maturity!
• There are people who don’t mind if you fail…but it really bothers them if you succeed.
• Gossip is a symptom of an unfulfilled, boring life. The only way you can focus on my life is because there is nothing happening in yours!
• I want you to be so focused on your future that you don’t have time to talk about other people’s past!

I'm going to Cairns in another day, and while I'm there I'm hoping to get some time to continue working on my book. At the moment the working title is "Leading with Purpose and Passion".

We need to lead to fulfill the Lord's purpose for this world - to provide a platform for the conditioned living entities to go back home, back to Godhead - and we need to do it with all the passion (utsahan) we can muster.

I read an awesome analysis of the book of Nehemiah on TheResurgence.org.

I'll reproduce it principle by principle, and maybe add my own five cents. Here's principle one.

Principle One

Christian leaders are deeply concerned about the fulfillment of God's plan and purpose. In dependence on Him, they do something about it.

As the curtain goes up in chapter one, we find Nehemiah who was taken captive and is now serving the king of Persia as his cupbearer. He asks someone a question about the state of Jerusalem and the Jewish people living there who had escaped captivity. Upon hearing the bad news, his first response was not to draw up a strategic plan, nor begin enlisting people for the cause. Rather, he began by weeping, mourning, fasting and praying for many days. He confessed sin, reminded God of His promises and sensed a call.

Leadership always begins with God; the fact that He's up to something and wants me to be a part of it. True spiritual leadership is getting on my heart what God has on His. I want to know where God is at work and where and how I can join Him in that work.

It was Robert Kennedy who said, "Some people see what is and ask why? Others see what could be and ask why not?

After reading about Nehemiah and his response to the news, I wrote this in my journal.

"Lord, break my heart with the things that break Your heart. Do I mourn, weep and seek You over the state of the church and the Great Commission. Am I deeply concerned with what concerns You, or am I passively asleep in the light?"

I am challenged by his humility, his getting with God before getting into action, and his starting with God's character and promises.

Some questions to ponder:

1. What impresses you about Nehemiah's response to the report he received?
2. What does it mean to have on your heart what the Lord has on his?
3. What prevents you from being dependent on the Lord?
4. Do you know what the Lord's purpose for this world is?
5. Do you know what role you have to play in that purpose?
6. What are you doing to find out?

My five cents

Take a look at the book "Preaching is the Essence" put together by Ramesvara prabhu. This book brings together a lot of really powerful expositions by Srila Prabhupada on the innermost desires of the Lord for this world.

Here are some excerpts:

The Lord wanted to create the cosmic manifestation to give another chance to the conditioned souls who were dormant in forgetfulness. The cosmic manifestation gives the conditioned souls a chance to go back home, back to Godhead, and that is its main purpose.

The special function of Srila Rupa Gosvami is to establish the feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu. These feelings are His desires that His special mercy be spread throughout the world in this Kali-yuga. His desire is that all over the world everyone, in every village and every town, know of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His sankirtana movement. These are the inner feelings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

because He [the Lord] wants to maintain the creation, He desires the mass of people to follow the right path of self-realization, which enables the living beings to enter into the kingdom of God. The Lord wants the suffering human beings to come back home, back to Him, and cease to suffer the threefold material pangs. The whole plan of creation is made in that way, and one who does not come to his senses suffers in the material world by pangs inflicted by the illusory energy of the Lord.

The compilation "Varnasrama-dharma", put together by Hare Krishna devi dasi, also contains many clear instructions transmitted by Srila Prabhupada on how human society must be organized and lead according to the Lord's arrangement.

All that remains is for us to become instruments in making this happen.

Vyenkata Bhatta is working on a piece for ISKCON News.com about "the furore surrounding Bhakta Corey / Caitanya das' blog" and the GBC response.

Ekendra das asked me for my input on the matter. There are many angles that this can be approached from, such as the gender roles issue (for a more thoughtful consideration of that issue by a contemporary younger generation devotee see Triyuga's recent posts here and here), or the dynamics of relationship between spiritual master and disciple (Caitanya das has publicly distanced himself from his spiritual master).

However, I focus more on the way in which the Internet changes the balance of power, and thus the constitution of ISKCON. It's a classic decentralized vs centralized organizational struggle. The GBC and "the ISKCON institution" represents a centralized organization (albeit a very disorganized one), while the burgeoning ISKCON community represents a decentralized one. My video podcast review of "The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations", a recent study on the dynamics of conflict between centralized and decentralized organizations, contains some insight into why the GBC is particularly vulnerable to this dynamic.

Here's the author speaking on the book, then me riffing on it.

Pursuant to the military analogy in that video, the GBC statement represents the old school centralized response of sending a B52 squadron over to bomb a foreign country. What they needed were special forces to do a surgical strike. Unfortunately they don't have any special forces.

Here's me. This was the first video podcast I ever did - I already got the feedback on how bad it's filmed thanks. :-)

Since I made this podcast Atma Yoga has become more powerful economically. We are now working on efficient structural evolution without centralizing, which is currently the only model ISKCON has. More on that soon...

Here's the comment that I submitted to Dandavats.com about the recent GBC EC statement, along with further commentary exclusive to Atmayogi.com:

I wrote to the author of this blog (who is an ISKCON member - a new devotee and a young American male) and his ISKCON spiritual master about this some months ago. His spiritual master has been in contact with me keeping me informed of his personal engagement with this devotee and his guidance to bring him around to a more socially harmonious way of expressing himself as he matures personally and in devotional service.

I would have characterized the writing as "immature" and the mood as "arrogant", which is not unexpected for a new devotee of the physical characteristics of the author. However, "misogynistic" and "sexist" are dangerous labels to use, because the risk is there of characterizing Srila Prabhupada's social position according to contemporary social values.

It was the presentation and perhaps the personal qualification of the presenter that were lacking, not the subject material, which was principally quoting Srila Prabhupada.

This statement hasn't drawn a clear distinction between the two. The danger here is that the author cannot separate his own agenda from Srila Prabhupada's. They may speak the same words, but their intention is subtly different. Now the author may feel Srila Prabhupada is being condemned, rather than understanding that he himself is not a pure devotee, and he is injecting his own conditioning into his monologue.

At the same time, readers may be confused about what is being condemned here. Does the GBC EC say that it disagrees with the quoted statements of Srila Prabhupada, and that these are "misogynistic" and "sexist"? These are both very loaded terms with underlying assumptions and value structures that are in some cases incompatible with our Vaisnava social sankhya.

I'm all for respecting persons as persons and valuing the unique and significant contribution of everyone, but we don't need to buy lock, stock, and barrel into contemporary analyses to do that.

It seems that the GBC has too easily and fully accepted the characterization of the shrill public voices decrying the blog and using these terms.

"Immature", "inexpert", "easily misunderstood", "with a different intent from that of Srila Prabhupada" are characterizations that I would have used.

-------

I dropped this blog from Planet ISKCON and changed the policy with respect to blogs from brahmacaris. (Hey go hardcore as much as you like, but keep it inside your own ashram).

Here are some more posts related to this blog:

• Etiquette and Planet ISKCON
• Feeling a little put out

I sent a letter to the GALVA (Gay and Lesbian Vaisnava Association [web site]) mailing list about this blog and my interaction with the author and his spiritual master, and I also forwarded that letter to Chakra.org, where like Pandu's it was not published.

Reading the coverage on Chakra I could see that it was very slanted, and not very "inclusive" at all.

In fact, I got a similar feeling from interacting with both the author of the blog and the editor of Chakra - "I am right. You are wrong". Exactly the type of dogmatic mentality that Dawkins descries so effectively as being the "fruits of religion".

Anyway, my point is not to run anyone down. Both Chakra and the other websites that give voice to the members of ISKCON serve an important role in helping the society to become aware of itself. It's diverse. Not everyone is the same. Not everyone has to live in the same room of the house that Srila Prabhupada built in exactly the same way.

Let there be mutual respect, boundaries, and coexistence within the meta-framework of the society.

In this sense, I feel that the GBC response could have been a little more along the lines of creating that metaframework and focusing more on process - how people interact - rather than content - what they are "allowed" to say.

When we dropped Bhakta Corey's feed we focused on the appropriateness of the way and where he expressed himself, rather than what he was saying and his right to say it.

As an example, I'm happy for gays to be Vaisnavas. Overjoyed in fact. Let every gay in the world become Krishna Conscious. But they don't have to inhabit the same space as sannyasis. Some space is shared, and when we are in shared space we should emphasize common things, like harinam and Krishna-katha. Otherwise in our own spaces we have to give support to our peers in terms of their social and psychological needs.

So we need a dynamic that can keep everyone together without making it exclusive. Respect for difference, allowing others to be themselves in their space, and being totally ourselves in our space, and on good behaviour in shared and others' space is the process to do this.

Actually Rick's talking about "renewal", but points number 5 and 6, in fact all of them, relate to my recent piece on ISKCON Constitution.com

Here are Rick's points, via Dave Ferguson:

When God wants to renew a church, a country, a movement he always takes you through five moves:

1. PERSONAL RENEWAL
It is suddenly not about religion, but it's about a relationship. You realize that God is fond of you and you fall in love with Jesus.

2. RELATIONAL RENEWAL
After I end the war with God, I end the war with others. These first two renewals are all about loving God and loving others. There are two tell-tale signs of relational renewal: First, the singing gets better. Secondly, people hang around longer after church is over.

3. MISSIONAL RENEWAL
The church rediscovers that it has a cause and we get all the purposes of the church in alignment.

4. CULTURAL RENEWAL
You can not bring cultural renewal unless there is already personal, relational and missional renewal. Once that has happened then you are ready to bring cultural renewal in your church. The preaching will change the culture of your church more than anything else.

5. STRUCTURAL RENEWAL
There is no perfect structure for a church, that is why the Bible doesn't give us a structure.

6. INSTITUTIONAL RENEWAL
(This is an extra) Institutions are there to preserve the change of the previous generation. So this will be the last to change.
-----------------------------

A key harmony between Rick's points and my piece: Larger organizational structures arise from the interactions of individuals. Change starts with you.

A great recent article from Leadership.net:

Ministry Team Diagnostics - How to avoid the 5 most common dysfunctions of a ministry team.

Here are the five, with some pull quotes:

• Absence of Trust

When a leader admits to his or her weaknesses, they are inviting others to participate in leadership to fill the gap of what the leader cannot do. No one can do everything, and this kind of vulnerability allows for everyone on a team to contribute in meaningful ways.

I have worked for leaders who led from a façade of omni-competence and the best I could hope for was to be an implementer of their vision and their decisions. I have also worked for leaders who, because of their appropriate admission of weakness, have invited me to participate as a peer and really lead. I'll take the latter any day.

• Fear of Conflict

Les and Leslie Parrot, Christian psychologists who work primarily in the area of marriage, insist, "Conflict is the only way to intimacy." That startling claim has enormous implications for teams as well as marriages.

Avoiding conflict almost guarantees that we will fail to build relationally deep teams, and that we will be unable to make the best decisions for the organization. When teams don't engage in healthy, passionate, unfiltered debate around the most important issues, they inject more politics into the organization and make mediocre decisions that will deliver mediocre results.

• Inability to Make a Commitment

Different decisions require different amounts of time to debate before commitment. Great leaders help their teams calibrate the importance and time needed and then move the discussions toward that end. Once a decision has been given an appropriate amount of time, research, discussion, and input, great teams make commitments based on what emerges as the best decision possible.

Then, there is consistent execution based on that decision, rather than continual debate, second-guessing, or sabotaging the original decision. Doing the hard work before the decision allows you to release your full energies toward implementing the decision.

• Avoidance of Accountability

Holding people accountable is hard work, and it's not usually fun. In fact, I worry a bit about people who enjoy it too much. But we need it. And you don't have community or leadership without it.

In fact, most of us who have been leading for very long will have memories of a time when a leader we respected held us accountable. What might have been an awkward and embarrassing conversation, in retrospect, was a turning point in our development. Everyone needs that, and community is obligated to do that.

• Inattention to Results

Great leaders perform autopsies on poor results. They are constant learners and listen to God, as best they can, and relentlessly pursue doing things better and more effectively. They are passionate about results, because results affect people. Sometimes results are people.

What could we have done differently? What did we learn from this, for future decisions? Has this ministry been allowed to go past its prime, and is there, perhaps, a new and better way? These are the questions of a team that build great ministries that deeply impact people for Christ.

Jayananda Thakura demonstrates the character of a devotee who is natural in his relationship with both siddhanta and other living beings. He was unusual at the time because he was in his 30s, whereas most of the new devotees were still in an adolescent phase of life.

Hari Vallabha: We came to the temple, and the car pulled up right in front of the carts. They had three carts up the hill in a little alley by Frederick Street near Kezar Stadium. We were getting out of the car when, all of a sudden, this person comes walking down like King Kong with all this power and force. Jayänanda walked right up to us. “Who’s this devotee?” I was buff. I was a surfer.

They said, “That’s Bhakta Harry.”

He says, “I want him.”

I said, “Hey, I thought I was going to work in the kitchen?”

“Well, Jayananda needs men, you know. He needs strong guys. He’s building the carts.”

So I started working with Jayananda. As soon as he saw me, he wanted me. It was very active service, and I really felt someone was engaging me. We were buddies right from the beginning, building the carts. From the first time you met him, he made you feel like a friend. He was so interested in you. Jayananda would quote Prabhupada, but he was always really interested to hear what you had to say.

“Oh, you surf? Wow! What’s it like to ride those big waves?” He’d get right into it with you. He didn’t say that surfing is maya. He was never like that. “Yeah, I’d like to do that—ride those big waves.” He would just be your friend. He wasn’t a fanatic obsessed to only preach. He hardly ever preached in the formal sense. He’d always give me a hug and talk to me and make me feel wanted.

-- Radha-Damodara Vilasa, Vaiyasaki das

A few weeks ago I had a realization that it's healthy to be proud of something that's worth being proud of. That's kind of axiomatic, isn't it? Pride without something worth being proud of, however, is pathological, and that's the kind of unrealism that gets people into trouble.

Here's something worth being proud of:

Staff Sgt Aristotle Sonnenberg, aka Partha-sarathi das, a US soldier deployed in Iraq, was recently awarded a medal for exemplary bravery and leadership in combat conditions. This award recognized his pivotal role in saving the lives of 56 injured Iraqis while under fire.

Here's the official write up (click for the bigger version):

SSGT Sonnenberg showed exemplary leadership under fire, with incoming artillery sometimes as close as 15 meters. Due to his actions the lives of these Iraqis were saved.

Of course as followers of the Vedic philosophy we understand that karma and the will of the Lord are at work. Even so, what is really exemplary about this is how it shows that in any situation you can be Krishna Conscious.

Partha-sarathi prabhu is a vigorous preacher, and distributes books and prasadam to his fellow troops. He also holds a mangal-arati program every morning which is increasing in attendance.

Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that one can attain perfection by following his qualities of work (Bg. 18.45). The qualities of the ksatriyas are "heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership" (Bg. 18.43). Krishna explains that "by worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work." (Bg. 18.46).

Partha-sarathi prabhu is displaying devotional leadership - he's showing people how to be themselves and be Krishna conscious. We must have leaders in all spheres of life, and Partha-sarathi is a "saint amongst the soldiers".

It's not that every devotee should become a soldier, but every soldier should become a devotee. Other soldiers are taking note and gaining inspiration from Partha-sarathi prabhu's example, such as Captain Antony Alexander, and Mitravinda devi dasi.

Regardless of external details, such as political and economic analysis, we learn from Bhishmadeva and Vrtrasura that no matter which side of a battle you are on, it is the consciousness with which you face your karma that determines your destination.

Partha-sarathi has a right to be proud of how Krishna and Srila Prabhupada are using him as an instrument to spread the sankirtan mission, and we have a right to be proud of him as a member of our community, too.

What to do when the guru falls? What to think? How to feel?

Of course no-one wants this to happen, or even to think about this happening to them, but we have seen in the short history of ISKCON that many people find themselves having to deal with the unthinkable. And many other people have an underlying fear as a result.

We need some guidance on this matter, because our process is to follow the footsteps of the mahajanas, rather than rely on just our own experience or limited mental powers. These two things have their place in bhakti, but properly within the context of guru, sadhu, and sastra:

Making the words of the guru, sadhus and sastras one with my heart, I constantly float and swim in the ocean of pure love.

- Narottama das Thakura, Prema Bhakti Candrika

In our Gaudiya Vaisnava system authority rests on the three legs of guru (spiritual master), sadhu (saintly persons), and sastra (scripture). Therefore sadhu and sastra are the two legs that support and validate guru.

That our understanding of this situation must be based on sastra, rather than our own limited ideas, or an emotional reaction arising from a sense of disillusionment or betrayal, is reinforced by this statement by Srila Rupa Goswami:

"Devotional service performed without reference to the Vedas, Puranas, and Pancaratras must be considered sentimentalism, and it causes nothing but disturbance to society."

- Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu 1.2.101

This statement, quoted by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, emphasizes the importance of following the guidelines laid out by previous saints:

"The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated, self-realized person. Consequently, as the sastras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahajanas advocate."

- Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya-lila 17.186

In our tradition we accept as sruti, or Vedic evidence on the level of sastra, the songs written by our Vaisnava acaryas:

The Narottama dasa, he has sung so many Vedic songs. Narottama dasa's song, although it is written in Bengali, it is considered as sruti, Vedic.

All Vaisnavas, songs are like that, Vedic evidence.

- Srila Prabhupada

With respect to the situation where the guru falls down, Srila Narahari Sarkar, the 40th branch of the Caitanya tree, has specifically addressed this in his book Sri Krishna Bhajanamrita.

This work explains what to do when the guru deviates from sad-acar, or proper behaviour.

That Narahari Sarkar writes about this subject demonstrates that this is a very real occurrence, and part of the manifestation of Guru tattva. It is not something unique to modern history or to ISKCON. The guru is empowered by God, and at the same time is a human being - he has a human side and is fallible.

The specific instructions that Narahari Sarkar gives are the Vaisnava etiquette for dealing with this situation. He says that the guru is *not* to be given up out of hand, but the disciple should work with them to help them rectify the situation:

"If the spiritual master commits a wrongful act breaking Vaisnava regulative principles then in that case one should in a solitary place, confront him for his rectification using logic and appropriate conclusions from sadhu, sastra and guru references, but one is not to give him up. "

- Sri Krishna Bhajanamrita 59

When the guru does fall down, as many in ISKCON have unfortunately experienced, it is the duty of the disciple to help him pick himself up again. Srila Prabhupada once said that he considered all his disciples as being sent by his own Guru Maharaja to help him, so this is a case where the disciple must instruct the spiritual master, by reminding him of the teachings that he himself gave to the disciple. Yes, sometimes this does happen, as I'm sure those of us with kids have experienced - sometimes we find our own children reminding us of what we should be doing...

One should not be hesitant or fearful because one is confronting or challenging a spiritual master.

"For it has been prescribed that one must appropriately discipline even a spiritual master who is:
*bewildered about what he should or shouldn't do;
*who is inexperienced or ignorant:
*who has deviated from the Krsna conscious path;
*or if he is bewildered by false pride."

- Sri Krishna Bhajanamrita 60

Sri Narahari Sarkar makes it clear that this statement is relevant to our contemporary times:

This statement of the revealed scriptures is applicable at all times and under all circumstances.

- Sri Krishna Bhajanamrita 61

While waiting for the guru to pick himself back up, and offering support, the disciple should continue taking shelter of previous instructions, their own intelligence, scripture, and other saintly Vaisnavas:

The natural behavior of the Vaisnava devotees is to take complete refuge of Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepting Him as their principal and real shelter. The very life of the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord is singing the glories of Lord Sri Krsna, describing and expanding the fame of Lord Sri Krsna, and discussing the nectar of His transcendental pastimes.

The authorized course of action is to continue, as before, with one's prescribed devotional service. One may take guidance through or instructions from the Vaisnavas, as all Vaisnavas are considered guru or "spiritual master," or one may use one's own intelligence, duly considering the relevant instructions from sadhu, sastra and guru. In all cases one should continue in one's devotional service.

- Sri Krishna Bhajanamrita 62-63

The guru, as Srila Prabhupada explained, is a peon - he is a postman whose duty it is to deliver the message. The message is the important thing. The postman may go astray, but the message stays the same.

At the same time the disciple naturally feels indebted to the guru for delivering this message to him.

The spiritual master should only be rejected under certain circumstances, where he has become definitely deviated and will not rectify himself:

Specifically, if one's guru acts contrary to his duty, has misconceptions about the Supreme Lord, is indifferent to the fame of Krsna, does not accept the reality of Krsna's pleasure pastimes, is inordinately proud because ordinary people flatter him, or imitates Krsna--then he should be rejected.

Under those circumstances one should not doubt, "How can I give up my spiritual master?" "

- Sri Krishna Bhajanamrita 65-66

Earlier in this work Narahari Sarkar draws a parallel between the relationship of guru and disciple and the relationships between husband and wife, and father and son. The same principles are in play. The husband may make a mistake, and the wife should not simply immediately divorce him. Instead she should help him to get back on track. Similarly for a father and son, the father may make a mistake, but the son should not renounce his father. He should help him. The relationship between guru and disciple is a familial relationship, a spiritual one. The guru is the spiritual father, and the Vedas are the mother. So the son should help his father if the father comes into difficulty. And if the father should fall from grace completely, then the son should redeem him with his own character.

We all need help, always.

I hope this always remains a theoretical consideration for you, but if it doesn't, I pray that you deal with the situation with maturity and gravity, and that you continue your service with determination to achieve the goal in this lifetime, and help others to do the same.