{"id":130,"date":"2007-05-15T21:23:33","date_gmt":"2007-05-15T21:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/?p=130"},"modified":"2014-10-15T01:59:42","modified_gmt":"2014-10-15T06:59:42","slug":"management-and-what-i-like-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/management-and-what-i-like-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Management and What I Like to Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 15, 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

I just arrived in Houston, Texas for our North American GBC and leadership
\nmeetings which will last 4 days. Management is not a sannyasi’s traditional
\nduty nor is it something that is high up in my list either.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first joined the movement, I definitely had a desire to control and
\nwanted to have a position within ISKCON. Part of the desire to control was
\nalso a desire for autonomy (to not be controlled by anyone).<\/span><\/p>\n

One devotee even commented that in the next life I was likely to become Lord
\nBrahma and have a whole universe to control<\/span><\/p>\n

So, in my tenure in the movement I have taken a variety of positions,
\nbeginning from treasurer, to temple commander, to temple president, to
\nregional secretary, to GBC! Krishna certainly fulfilled my desires!<\/span><\/p>\n

But the interesting thing is that by the time I got to where I am today, I
\nhad lost all desire to control (I still like independence though!), and the
\nmanagement that I have to do for the society is now something that is
\nforeign to my nature. I am voluntarily doing it though, but out of love and
\nloyalty for Srila Prabhupada. Otherwise I would not relish it at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess it could be compared to the story of Dhruva who wanted a kingdom
\ngreater than that of Lord Brahma but when he was offered everything by the
\nLord, he understood that he was simply looking for some broken pieces of
\nglass rather than for the diamond that was Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is one aspect of the meetings that is very relishable though; the
\nassociation of advanced devotees who have dedicated their lives to serving
\nSrila Prabhupada.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is interesting though, that we each have different opinions about the
\nsubject matters we are dealing with, but we agree to work cooperatively, and
\nrespect each other for our opinions. This is what Srila Prabhupada meant by
\n“unity in diversity.” There is also great love between the different GBC
\npersons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of my physical limitations (I get exhausted quite easily), I am only
\nable to attend 4 hours of meetings a day and my morning program is a little
\nabbreviated during meeting times.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do long for the day when I am free of management responsibilities and can
\ndedicate my life to the activities which truly inspire me. What are those
\nactivities? Helping others, and bringing people to Radha and Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever I can get some time I engage in these activities, or am planning
\nhow to perform these activities more effectively. Basically my brain is
\nabsorbed in this.<\/span><\/p>\n

To this end I am studying many different books on spiritual organizations
\nand sociological theories (to understand how ISKCON should be structured to
\nfully empower its members), studying different bridge preaching concepts,
\npraying to Krishna and Prabhupada for intelligence, experimenting with
\ndifferent preaching approaches, and interacting and getting feedback from
\nmembers of ISKCON and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of my studies or experiments are seen by others as controversial, but I
\nfeel impelled by a desire to alleviate the sufferings of others and to
\nplease Prabhupada to do what I am doing. In the future I would like to write
\nabout some of things I am examining to help our society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course I never forget or neglect the practice of Bhakti Yoga which
\nentails the cultivation of the Bhakti Lata Bija. My desire to help others
\nand serve Prabhupada gives a greater intensity to my spiritual practices and
\nI become stricter in my observances understanding that the only way I can be
\nsuccessful is to be empowered by Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I received a letter from a devotee who was asking me for advice on
\nwhat do when criticized by other devotees for the service which she is doing
\nbecause it is not their primary service. We often see that devotees become
\nfixed on some particular service and think that their service is the best
\nand that others should also do that service if they want to make spiritual
\nadvancement.<\/span><\/p>\n

This mood of intolerance of others service represents an insecurity. If we
\nare truly convinced about the potency of our service, we don’t need to
\nbelittle others. We should appreciate all services done for Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its like the story of Hanuman and the spider which Srila Prabhupada told us.
\nBoth the spider and Hanuman were engaged in building the bridge to Sri
\nLanka. Of course the spider was only able to kick up some dust whereas
\nHanuman was throwing big boulders in the water. Hanuman said to the spider:
\n“Get out my way, you little runt, I am serving Lord Rama.” But, Lord Rama
\ninterceded and told Hanuman that the spider was doing as much service as he
\nwas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I advised her that we have our relationship with Krishna and Krishna knows
\nour heart. Actually the service that we do is performed on the subtle
\nplatform with ones heart, and mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Krishna doesn’t need anything, except for our hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

We need to learn the art of encouraging others and appreciating their
\nservice.<\/span><\/p>\n

We should be so happy if someone is doing any service for Krishna.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 15, 2007 I just arrived in Houston, Texas for our North American GBC and leadership meetings which will last 4 days. Management is not a sannyasi’s traditional duty nor is it something that is high up in my list either. When I first joined the movement, I definitely had a desire to control and read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}