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Archive for the tag 'Greetings from Vrindavan'

Monday Morning Greetings #7 – Bhakti in Essence

February 15th, 2016

“I blew it!” The email heading was somewhat jarring. I immediately opened it.  It was from Bhurijan Prabhu. He was apologetic. He just found out the previous night that the person he asked to deliver an invitation to me for the groundbreaking ceremony of his proposed retreat center at Govardhan forgot to send me one. I read on. The function was starting in one hour! I left immediately.

I had actually never have seen the land before. It’s stunning: four choice acres facing the western side of Govardhan Hill with an incredible panoramic view of the sacred mount.

I was quite happy to be there to support a good friend. Bhurijan founded the Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education over twenty years ago to spearhead sastric education in ISKCON. Before that practically none formally existed. And for the last ten years, they have been working through the endless bureaucracy to transfer the government deed of the land they purchased, originally suited for agriculture, to a suitable designation to build a residential facility. It was finally approved. The best tithi (time) to inaugurate it had arrived.

I sat next to Bhurijan for the auspicious agni hotra (fire sacrifice) to install Ananta Sesa, the serpent form of Godhead that bears the universes on its hoods. It is an absolute must to place Him securely in the foundation of any substantial building to protect it and ensure its successful completion.

We needed to finish the yajna quickly as the auspicious time to place the Deity in the foundation would end by 11:35 AM. After an expertly done, but abbreviated yajna, we rushed by procession to center of the land where a deep pit was dug to place Ananta Sesa in a small brick enclosure built at the bottom.  We descended carefully into the pit to ceremonially assist the mason by smearing some cement and placing a few bricks on top of the cement to complete the structure.

We returned to the pandal for short taks by Dina Bandhu Prabhu, Krishna Ksetra Maharaja, myself, and then Bhurijan Prabhu. A wonderful feast was served.

A great beginning to a glorious project!

Bhurijan came up to me just after the function, thanked me for coming and said how much he appreciated what I said about how we need retreats, times of the year only for Krishna. He then offered a casual comment on the last thing I said that struck me deeply. Despite all the pomp and auspiciousness of the ceremony this was by far the highlight of my day  – for what he said was a rare jewel of a deep personal realization.

The last thing I had expressed was that I was feeling happy and sad at the same time. Happy because after so many years Bhurijan Prabhu was embarking on this wonderful offering, but sad that he was nearly approaching seventy, obviously feeling the effects of old age, and by the time the project was finished, he probably wouldn’t be around that long to enjoy it. With sincerity he humbly shared his thoughts:

“You mentioned that it is sad that I won’t be around to enjoy this project. I don’t care at all to be around to enjoy this project. It is an offering. As he said “It’s an offering” he beamed and gently moved his open hands palms up and gestured towards Govardhan as if literally offering the project to Girirja Govardhan, the sacred mount majestically standing before us.

Bhurijana has intensely studied Bhagavatam for nearly fifty years and I realized that this realization was the fruit of his studies. He was completely sincere. He really has no desire to enjoy the project. His pleasure was devotion, and devotion is for others.

I don’t know why it struck me. Isn’t that our philosophy – that real happiness is devotion, not enjoying the results of our activities? I guess it struck me because it wasn’t just theoretical, just an understanding of truth, but it was the realization of truth, where someone actually sees that truth. And I could actually see how joyful he was when he gestured with his hands to offer what he did to Krishna, a joy so different from the cheap accolades of personal accomplishment that we all hanker for. And how rare even for a devotee!

I am very happy that I got to go this morning and witness the glorious beginning of a great project inspired by a good friend, but more important I am leaving with the most precious thing, the jewel of a personal realization, a deeper understanding about the essence of bhakti.
 
 

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Monday Morning Greetings #6 – ISKCON’s Greatest Deficiency

February 8th, 2016

If you think this article is ISKCON bashing, then there is no need to read further. Practically everything I enjoy in spiritual life from most of the devotees I love, to the kirtan gatherings, to the centers of pilgrimage in India I frequent, are born from and maintained by ISKCON.

ISKCON has a great mission or purpose. Its mission, why it exists, is to lead a revolution in consciousness, both individually and the world.

ISKCON also has an amazing vision, what it does to fulfill its mission. ISKCON especially publishes and distributes sacred texts to share spiritual knowledge and it opens centers of devotion. It also has a myriad of other ways to share spiritual knowledge and inspire positive transformation from the distribution of prasadam to the Bhaktivedanta Institute for the synthesis of science and religion.

But like all institutions ISKCON also has its weaknesses; its most glaring one is its culture. Culture is how an organization goes about fulfilling its mission. In too many places this is done without the fineness of behavior and presentation that characterizes Vaisnavism.

There are many ways to understand what culture is, but more than anything, even more than the philosophy espoused, culture is revealed by the feeling people have entering into a community or organization.

For example, think of an ISKCON Center that really inspires you. What do you feel when you reside in or enter that center? Do you feel cared for, welcomed, and transformed? If so, then that’s its culture.

Think of an ISKCON center that disappoints you. Do you feel ignored, uncared for, or judged? Then in spite of its noble mission and precepts that’s ISKCON’s culture there.

Generally people don’t leave, distance themselves, or reduce participation in ISKCON because they doubt its mission. Of course, some people do, but many distance themselves despite their faith in Srila Prabhupada and his mission. They drift away because visiting doesn’t make them feel welcomed or inspired.  In a similar way, people also join or return to a community when its culture and values inspire them and they feel welcome.

The tragedy of a culture not reflecting an organization’s values is that members may eventually doubt an organization’s vision of fulfilling its mission.  I think that may have happened to the publication and distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books in ISKCON, one of the pillars of his vision for spreading Krishna-consciousness.  To the extent that the activity wasn’t supported by a strong culture of reading and practicing what was in those books, devotees became less and less dedicated to fulfilling that vision. I think it is significant that Vaisesika dasa, a very respected leader in ISKCON, has been commissioned to write a book about the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books and over half of his book is dedicated to the culture of book distribution, how one distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books should live by and represent the values espoused in those books.

I think Vaisesika’s strategy is right on. Corporate and organizational studies affirm again and again that a strong culture increases morale and productivity.

Cultures of expedience, where one simply focuses on one’s mission at the expense of one’s values are bound to fail. And if they don’t fail, they will certainly morph into something that no longer represents its original mission.  A good example of the ill effects of a damaged culture on an organization was the empty churches in America in the 60s, or the growth today of mega churches based on “The prosperity gospel”,[1] a view very much antithetical to the simplicity and compassion that Jesus taught.

ISKCON was not spared from the culture of expedience, especially after Srila Prabhupada left. As a result many temples eventually emptied, books distribution waned and Srila Prabhupada’s vision of sankirtan morphed into selling paintings and wares simply to make a buck.

How to institute culture change? That’s a deep subject beyond the scope of this essay. I am including for those interested a short bibliography. * But I can share one major factor that most studies affirm. In successful and sustainable organizations, the leader helps define the organizations values and then focuses on ensuring that those values become part of the organizations daily culture through education and encouragement, even stressing adherence to the organizations core values more than stressing organization and productivity.  And this culture change almost never happens without a conscious effort.

ISKCON Chowpatty has grown into one of the major, if not the major, success stories in ISKCON. It has good managers and preachers, but more than anything else it is known for how welcomed and inspired people feel when they visit.  I think one of the pillars of its success is that Radhanath Swami, its leader, has prioritized the development of its culture by focusing on and repeating again and again to its members the foundational principle of Vaisnavism, that one must be “the servant of the servant of the servant.” I remember one parikram he led to Govinda Kunda in Govardhan where he even spoke on the subject for almost two hours. Arguably more than anything else, it’s the culture permeating ISKCON Chowpatty that has successfully sustained the morale, spiritual development, and outreach of the project.

Every year I organize several Bhakti Immersion Retreats for professional people interested in Bhakti. After studying culture change and wanting a sustainable program we came up with the following mission statement:

“Welcomed, cared for, transformed, all expertly done, in the service of Srila Prabhupada.”

That’s what we want people to feel by going to our retreat. “Expertly done” means that part of one’s culture is the quality of one’s presentation. As far as possible kirtan, cooking, fine arts and so on should be done expertly according to some tradition, or established expertise, to help fulfill its mission – the devotional transformation of its participants. A leader is thus responsible to empower the development of culture, not only in standards of behavior, but also in its arts and activities.

And the real caveat of such a defined culture is that it frees the leader from so much of the headaches of day-to-day management. When strong culture permeates an institution, the culture itself informs the decision making process and sets parameters of behavior without the over involvement of the person in charge. The leader then becomes free for activities that speak more to his passion and competency.

There are quite a few good examples of success in ISKCON, but if one looks at those examples carefully it is either naturally value based, or a leader has developed a strong culture by clearly defining its values and reinforcing them.  The former is much more likely.

There are also far too many examples of dysfunction in ISKCON where coldness and disorganization are projected, where temples are either relatively empty or hide their failure by overly catering to the Hindu diaspora. Unfortunately, in far too many places this lack of culture remains ISKCON’S greatest deficiency.

My sources are:

  • Soultools.org
  • The Culture Blueprint by Robert Richman
  • The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

 

[1] “The Prosperity Gospel” is a preaching that promotes the worship of Jesus on the basis that the result of worshipping Jesus is material prosperity. Serious Christians condemn this approach.

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Monday Morning Greetings #5 – Thou Shalt Not Kill

February 1st, 2016

A good editorial writer is not only concerned with speaking truth, but more importantly having truth understood. He has to constantly ask, “What are the readers understanding?” Sometimes, he may even be pondering the objections of a few people to see if he can potentially clear their doubts, or he may decide their prejudices are too deep and why bother. This brings me to my last piece, Archbishop John, My Good friend. While writing, I considered whether to answer the question posed by a particular type of reader:
 
“You are glorifying the character of this particular Christian, but does he eat meat? And if so, how can you describe him as saintly!”
 
I had thought of such a reader and decided it was beyond the scope of my essay to address, but I will briefly state my opinion here.
 
I have seen otherwise very decent people not pick up on what should be a very clear tenet of their moral values whether they are Christians or even Atheists – that to unnecessarily kill innocent creatures just for one’s palate is abominable. At the same time, I see that when people are fed a philosophy and culture that justifies such activity they can eat meat without considering its moral ramifications, and otherwise be of high character and devotion. For those people, especially Christians, like the one I wrote about, I am sharing an old and very biting poem by Madan Oppenheimer on the cognitive dissonance of eating meat and practicing Christianity.
 
 
Separation of Church and Steak
 
Which part of ‘kill’ don’t you understand?
Doesn’t ‘Thou shall not’ sound like a command?
 
Amidst the screaming and crying
You only hear your greed
Drowning out the voices
Of those on which you feed
 
Hurting them to help yourself
Taking care of your own hide
You have dominion over them
And you feel justified
 
Which part of ‘kill’ don’t you understand?
Doesn’t ‘Thou shall not’ sound like a command?
 
Chewing flesh, saving souls
A lie that I don’t buy
Your heart is full of contradiction
Search your soul for why
 
Give it up, walk away
Turn the other cheek
Find the love within your heart
And show it to the weak
 
Which part of ‘kill’ don’t you understand?
Doesn’t ‘Thou shall not’ sound like a command?
 
Meat is murder, God is love
Where is the connection?
Docile stare, knife-blade glare
Crime escapes detection
 
Words of truth interpreted
Ask your fellow man…
 
Which part of ‘kill’ don’t you understand?
Doesn’t ‘Thou shall not’ sound like a command?
 
 

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Monday Morning Greetings #4 – My Friend, Archbishop John

January 25th, 2016

I was surprised when Archbishop John decided to stay this week in Isopanthi, their Catholic retreat center in Puri, especially as we had rented it out as we do every year for our Bhakti Immersion there. After-all, Archbishop John is the head of all Catholics in Orissa. That means one million Christians and 40 churches are under his care. He told me he was staying to recover from a heart operation. He seemed sincere, but in the back of my mind naturally rested some suspicion.
 
Any apprehension I had of him being with us was soon abated. He took Jagannath prasad one day and even attended our kirtan led by Jahnavi. He smiled and clapped through the whole thing. He mixed with the devotees and effusively glorified our music and devotion to them and also to his visitors, although our daily amplified three or six hour kirtans in the courtyard blared into his room.
 
My room was next to his. We thus had opportunity for many exchanges and talks and I met many of the people visiting him. He never seemed to put himself above anyone and was not pretentious in the least, as were the brothers who managed the center. I could see that John, however, commanded respect, by humility. Unlike too many adherents of faith, his personal culture and that of his brothers reflected the true values of his lineage, in his case the compassion and kindness taught by Christ.
 
I remember when I first met John, I asked him his name. He sheepishly said, that his title is His Grace, but people should just call him John.
 
I admired how he embraced the essence of religion. From the heart he told me:
 
“This is not our center. It is your center. Its belongs to God and we are all brothers.”
 
Meeting John, now my friend, confirmed and reinforced my own understanding of dharma – that dharma, or religion, is not a faith but the nature of the soul. We are not devotees by the label we have, but by the sincere expression of devotion in our heart to God and others. Archbishop John is a genuine devotee. I don’t need to convert him, but need to convert my own heart to humility and dedication.
 

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Monday Morning Greetings #3 – Does a fallen soul have to be depressed?

January 18th, 2016

A saintly soul prays in the mood of dhainya, utter humility:
 
“For my own pleasure I never fear to commit any sin. I am devoid of pity and full of selfishness; I’m sorry at others’ happiness and am an inveterate liar. Indeed, I take delight in others’ miseries.” Amara Jivana – Bhaktivinoda Thakur
 
If the great devotees feel likethis, shouldn’t the actually fallen practitioner of bhakti feel depressed and ridden with guilt?
 
Remorse is certainly healthy, but does the sincere and weak need to feel shame? I don’t think so. I found a reference to support this.
 
“Having awakened faith in the narrations of My glories, being disgusted with all material activities, knowing that all sense gratification leads to misery, but still being unable to renounce all sense enjoyment, My devotee should remain happy and worship Me with great faith and conviction. Even though he is sometimes engaged in sense enjoyment, My devotee knows that all sense gratification leads to a miserable result, and he sincerely repents such activities.” [emphasis mine] (Bhag. 11.20.27-28)
 
I like the balance. We do need to be humble and repent if we cannot maintain our practices. We shouldn’t, however, embrace the type of shame and excess guilt that is depressive and lowers self esteem, that makes the adoption of spiritual life miserable and debilitating.
 

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Monday Morning Greetings #2 – Thoughts in the Shower

January 11th, 2016

Best place I have ever stayed in India. Everything is new, well built, spotless and spacious. A two foot wide covered veranda encircles the fourth floor penthouse protecting the place from sun and rain. And it is quiet, very quiet. I can even see from my window beyond the pakur (pond) and open field the spiral of Sri Caitanya’s birth place. This couldn’t be better for my meditation and study. That being said there is also a beautiful simplicity to the place. The water is solar heated. It works pretty well, except for the morning bath following an overcast day, which brings me to my point:

The shower this morning wasn’t cozy. The water was tepid and the room cold. When I got out there was some discomfort. It was a good chance to practice what I preach, tapasya, neglecting the irrational impulses of the mind and body. Understanding that ultimately happiness and distress is just in the mind, I mentally abstracted myself from the situation. By practicing tapasya I was not affected by any discomfort. A thought came: Shouldn’t I do the same in a delicious steaming shower in my usual comfy heated room? Shouldn’t I just enjoy? Ahhhh! No! I should abstract myself in both situations. I should be equal in happiness and distress. Why?

The body is a place of suffering. Think of the myriad diseases that threaten us, think of inevitable old age and ultimately the loss everything dear, the pain of death. For every unneeded indulgence, for every excess and unnecessary adjustment for comfort, for every deviance from our quota to keep the body and soul together, we dive deeper into the bodily concept of life. We then not only absorb ourselves in petty pleasure, but also feel the natural discomforts and agonies of the body more. A pinch of pain is felt more than a ton of pleasure. Are the indulgent, unneeded, and unnecessary excesses of life worth it? Should we thus not also extract ourselves from those excesses so that at the end of life we can abstract ourselves from the agony of the temporary body and think of Krishna? Just some thoughts in the shower.

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Monday Morning Greetings #1 – Reviving Greetings from Vrindavan

January 4th, 2016

January 1, 2016

My last journal entry was more than six years ago. Many people inquired why I stopped journaling and implored me to continue. I’ll try, but I have doubts if this is what I should be doing now. Times have changed. When I started the journals seventeen years ago, by fate I had time on my hands.  Often, especially in Vrindavan, I wouldn’t see a soul until late afternoon. Today there is not a day that goes by that I am not hosting a group, a contact, or a friend. Not only has my destiny changed, but my mood has changed as well. My chanting has substantially increased and I am more and more comfortable in the inner world. Journaling puts the camera on your life. It is not quite reality TV, but an intrusion of privacy nonetheless. Journaling puts one too much on stage, at least in my mind. When journaling I tend to see the world to retell it, tinged subconsciously in the identity that I am the center, the hero. Is that good for bhakti?  Those are my doubts, but I have decided to give it a try anyway. After all, I am a preacher. My duty is to be out front, so why shy from the spotlight when what I have to say can help others? As far intruding on my privacy and stroking my ego, I will try my best to do it in a way that is more consistent with my spiritual aspirations. Expect postings once a week on Mondays. Looking forward to seeing you next week.
 
Dhanurdhara Swami
 

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