The Servant Leader
BY: MAHAPURUSHA DASA
Oct 20, 2011 — USA (SUN) — I just wanted to comment on several articles that have recently been posted on the Sun. The first one is by Pusta Krishna dasa and the other one is by Jahnava Nitai das about Food for Life. I feel that they contain a similar theme and mood that is plaguing ISKCON and the world at large: entitlement and elitism.
First, it is absolutely appalling to hear about leaders in ISKCON, and specifically Bhakti Vikasa Swami (he is actually the main person being criticized in the article), criticizing Food for Life. This could only possibly come from the mind and heart of someone who is totally out of touch with the world and his own personal history. I have heard many senior devotees openly criticize Food for Life as mundane charity work. Comparing Food for Life to Ramakrishna missionary work seems to be a common theme amongst the critics. I was personally criticized by the wife of Ravindra Svarupa dasa, Suadamani dasi, for my humble attempt to distribute prasadam to homeless people in Philadelphia as a young devotee. She told me that we don't want to attract "those" people.
It's amazing to see how entitled people can get, especially when considering the history of ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada literally scraped a bunch of homeless hippies off the street and nursed them back to life with prasadam. "Those" people referred to are actually many of the Srila Prabhupada disciples in leadership positions today! But it is real easy to forget how desperate and broken one once was, when propped up by false positions and wealth.
It's funny how the elitist and entitled leaders of ISKCON, who solely live at the charity of others, can be so completely uncharitable themselves! Where would any of us be without the charity of Srila Prabhupada! But it's easy to forget when there is a roof over YOUR head and YOU have a belly full of maha prasadam that was completely provided by the mercy of others! Pretty much none of these leaders in ISKCON actually work for their money. No, they are sole recipients of other people's charity. This is the mood of an entitled person, however. They feel that they deserve something more than other persons do. This is totally contrary to the principles of Vaisnavism. This is not the mood of a humble servant who feels that he is undeserving of the Vaishnava's mercy and feels the only way he can repay that debt is to be charitable and merciful to others. This is, of course, the mood of the Spiritual Master. We sing it every morning to Srila Prabhupada, that he is "the friend of the poor and lord and master of all the devotees". He showed this by his direct example of saving so many persons in absolutely deplorable conditions.
I think the mood of Pusta Krishna dasa is very similar to other elitist leaders in ISKCON. He doesn't feel that he ever did anything wrong and objects to Rocana das's advice to have some repentance. Are you kidding me? As soon as the Lord gives you even a drop of His mercy, you start to understand how fallen you really are and how desperate a situation we are all in. He might think that this is a "Catholic" sentiment and that actually we should just engage in service, and that is enough. But the fact is, that devotional service should cause the revelation that we are unworthy, fallen and devoid of any qualification. This is not false humility; this is our actual situation in the material world.
We are all implicated karmically, on so many levels. How could a person not feel desperate in such a situation? The only way that this is possible is that one is totally bewildered and is at a very low level of realization. What to speak if a person has lorded it over others, especially the devotees of the Lord? I don't know Pusta Krishna das personally but I do know, from his letters, that he was a sannyasi. How could he not feel totally ashamed of accepting obeisances from anyone when he was a sannyasi and accepting service from others? I know you definitely did, because that is the culture of sannyasa in ISKCON. You were obviously completely unqualified, so don't you feel total repentance at least for that? And, of course, you know how fallen you really are, just like everyone really knows how fallen they are, because we are all in this material world and have made so many mistakes. Without that mood of repentance, prabhu, it is impossible to be forgiven. The price of forgiveness is feeling sorry for what you have done wrong, whether big or small. When one gets that mercy of forgiveness from the Lord, he is able to appreciate that mercy and then be merciful to others.
This mood of entitlement and elitism is pervading ISKCON's leadership culture. This is the real disease that has destroyed our movement in so many ways. As soon as a person feels they are more deserving of the mercy of God and His devotional facilities than others are, he is completely disqualified to be a spiritual leader. Everyone knows where everybody came from. Srila Prabhupada did not discriminate in his mercy or none of us would be here today. It is a fact that ISKCON leadership is generally unrepentant and uncharitable. Krishna, in His form of time, has already shown us what the character and culture of this leadership is. Pretty much every atrocity has been committed by the leadership of ISKCON, at one time or other, and you never hear an apology or explanation. Then you hear leaders giving seminars openly criticizing distributing prasadam to poor people? It is just unbelievable how callous, cold and unmerciful that is, and it reveals everything about the mood and culture of our leadership.
I believe that this is a reaction of being all too willing to be served by others instead of being a servant. The reaction is that you become spoiled by that service and become addicted to the charity and praise of others. The natural consequence is that you justify this position with entitlement and lose your ability to be merciful and perform charity. This consciousness solely rests on the complete illusion that somehow you are better than anyone else. This is, of course, a complete illusion because everyone is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and is equally entitled to serve the Lord and receive His mercy. It is just amazing how a person can forget how they came to spiritual life. It should really be a wake up call for all of us to see how powerful Maya really is.
When everyone is a fallen servant, we are equal in that servitorship and can work together to serve the Lord and His mission. This is literally Srila Prabhupada's final instruction, that we all work together. We can see that the course ISKCON leadership took us completely opposite to this, and I believe it is becoming more and more apparent every day. When you become addicted to the service of others, you forget you are actually a servant and feel that you are above apologies, remorse and repentance. It is the absolute worse example to set for others because you can only approach the Lord with the humble heart of a servant.
Unfortunately, we replicate our chosen models and our devotee society is suffering the consequences of this. Anyone who has ever lived in a temple knows that there is a pervading mood of chastisement and lording it over others. From Temple Presidents, to Temple Commanders, to Sankirtan Leaders, we have all personally seen how this dictatorial unrepentant elitist style of leadership, devoid of proper checks and balances of power, has destroyed devotional communities. The irony of spiritual leadership is that the person who is the biggest servant is actually the master and leader. Srila Prabhupada actually stated that his only credit was that he always remained the servant and never tried to be the master. He served all of us so much more than we could ever serve him. He also showed unbelievable charity, by his own personal example, and saved the most unfortunate unqualified souls.
Unfortunately, the leaders of ISKCON have chosen mostly to teach us what NOT to do.
The history of ISKCON after Srila Prabhupada's departure should prove to all of us that as soon as you think you are better than others, allow yourself to be worshipped, and are enthusiastic about accepting the service of the Vaishnava, YOU ARE FINISHED. I feel that this is the only way to positively spin ISKCON leadership's terrible history and learn from the example and mistakes of others. Sometimes the example of what not to do is just as, or even more important than what to do.
According to Srila Prabhupada, we came to this material world to lord it over material nature and imitate Krishna's Godhood. It should be no surprise when anyone falls under the sway of entitlement, elitism and mastership. It is far safer to be a fallen servant than an almost perfect master and constantly meditate on our insignificance and lack of qualification. Indeed, this is our real significance and qualification to enter the Lord's association. In this way we can chant the Holy Name of God in the mood of contrition and repentance and the Lord reveals Himself more and more. And developing empathy and sympathy for the suffering of others is absolutely essential in our missionary activities to save people from the material clutches.
It is really sad when one loses that vision because of entitlement. Those leaders who can't sympathize with the plight of our fellow earthlings need to resign immediately from Srila Prabhupada's preaching mission. The road to hell is crowded with those who are eager to accept service from others. Our core belief as a Vaishnava is to be the servant of the servants of God, not the servants of masters. We have to firmly reject such false entitled masters and their calls for our service. They will never appreciate or reciprocate with your service, being spoiled and selfish, and you will be left alone with a broken heart. And you also risk the chance of mirroring their entitled qualities as well as the disservice to them of feeding into and enhancing their illusion.
A real servant of God, however, is always thankful and appreciative of your charity and never wants to be served. They will always direct you to serve the All Mighty Lord, not themselves, and are always pleased and satisfied by His increased service and glorification. We have to reject the entitled spoiled leaders of ISKCON and their false culture of leadership. The real spiritual models are there, usually behind the scenes, never wanting positions, glory, fame or worship. There is only one master, Lord Krishna, and everyone else, including Srimati Radharani, is His servant. We have to look to those devotees who realize this and who live their lives in repentance, charity, and devotion. These are the real Gurus and leaders of society.
Your servant,
Mahapurusha dasa
