By Bhakti Vijnana Swami
What is your vision?
We recognize the need for consistent succession policies in the society. The first generation of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are aging. We now read regularly of a senior devotee’s passing away. We need to ensure that the mood, teachings, energy, and ideas of Srila Prabhupada are properly preserved and transmitted. Generation after generation. We wish to identify and empower devotees with leadership potential to ensure the proper succession. This is our long term need.
The main strategy to accomplish this will be training and education initiatives that encapsulate these principles. We identified three strategies to ensure succession: short, middle, and long term:
Long term: We need to identify and train the potential future leaders amongst the young generation of ISKCON devotees—both those born in the movement, and those joining. We need to provide them with thorough, systematic training in all areas of Krishna conscious leadership.
Mid term strategy: potential leaders who are already engaged full time in our temples need more systematic training and consistent empowerment for their growth.
Short term: Professional development and education and training of our present leaders on the ongoing basis.
In present-day terms, this coresponds to talent scouting, systematic training, and professional development. Some of our present leaders are already doing this through courses and training processes. They need ongoing encouragement and support. In many other places this isn’t happening yet.
What were some of the challenges you have faced?
In the beginning we struggled to find consensus. We work in different areas and have different experiences and opinions; it took a lot of dialogue to come to a unified understanding and vision. ISKCON is so diversified, making it hard to design a system which works everywhere; we discussed the need for unity in diversity—teaching universal standards, but also allowing for regional adjustments.
We concluded that the training should not be just academic, but something that changes the heart and facilitates transformative experiences so trainees “own” and realize the knowledge. Experience is key, and we hope the process will instil a strong allegiance and faith in Srila Prabhupada’s mission and goals. Academic knowledge is easier to teach, but that is not enough. We want to transmit values and spiritual culture.
We identified one core element which helps transform the heart: the personal teacher-student relationship. We want this next generation of leaders to place a strong emphasis on spiritual care. Therefore, this educational system needs to reflect that care throughout its operation. We will need qualified teachers and trainers.
Once established, we hope to have more qualified leaders—something that will be felt across the movement. A strong leader creates an atmosphere of inspiration and proper values, and a culture of spiritual care and empowerment. We want to try to recreate the mood of enthusiasm and commitment that typified much of the earlier days in ISKCON.
We are talking about creating a leadership academy which would be a kind of graduate-level institution. We want to train both spiritual leaders and managerial leaders, in other words both brahmanas and ksatriyas.
A challenge our committee faces is communicating this urgent need to the GBC body and the rest of ISKCON to get their full support. We need resources for this initiative and for this we have to elicit support from different sections of ISKCON.
When the conceptual stage is finished we will next plan the specifics—the facilities need, the staff, etc. We are not certain of the exact location of this “ISKCON Academy for Leadership”, but we are leaning towards having it in India for reasons including Srila Prabhupada’s desire and the availability of resources.
At least from the “rest of ISKCON” side, a precondition for full support will mean open, public discussion and some debate on an initiative whose apparent aim, among others, is the professionalization of ISKCON’s managerial and intellectual classes.
Besides other important issues, perhaps the most important core issue that needs to be publically discussed is unity in diversity. The necessity for such a discussion is that presently under the banner of ISKCON there exists some understandings of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings that differ significantly on some important precepts, and each claims to be authentic. The coexistence of these different views is in some cases unhappy and sometimes forced.
Regarding unity in diversity, the question that sorely needs to be addressed is are there views of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings within ISKCON that have significant differences yet can be considered authentic? One of the implications of the answer to this question is how an institution such as a leadership academy will treat devotees whose views of Srila Prabhupada differ from those of the institution’s incumbent leaders even if, begrudgingly, those views are considered authentic.
If it can be presumed that those who eventually get to make the big institutional decisions, however advanced in spiritual life they may otherwise be, are not yet liberated from the influence of material nature, then fundamental philosophical and theological questions regarding authenticity are not trivial. Without regular discussion and open debate about such questions, a leadership academy like the one proposed could easily end up insular and ossified like today’s overwhelmingly liberal academy, where, for example, many of its incumbent academics openly say that conservatives need not apply.
Vetting people from a young age for leadership positions, and entrance to the academy, implies that there will be a selection process. That process will be significantly influenced by the ideology of those making the selection. If those deciding who will and who will not join their ranks are themselves not yet liberated, then their ideology, however wholesome it may be to begin with, is subject to drift, subject to influence from outside ideas, and–if the decision makers are left to themselves–certainly subject to radicalization through group-think. When in general we’re not liberated, the element of diversity (as in diverse views), if allowed, increases the chances that someone will detect critical errors in our own beliefs and thinking before they have a chance to ruin us and those who depend on us.
This is why open and public debate, which characterizes a vibrant and healthy intellectual culture, is absolutely necessary for the success of a project like the proposed academy. Such a debate is essential, and it would be a practical application of the principle of unity in diversity.
Do our decision makers want this?
I have to admit that this proposal above seems redundant to me. The goals of this proposed academy is to train “leaders” i.e brahmanas, and managers i.e ksatriyas. My understanding is that all ISKCON temples are supposed to serve those functions. Also I wouldn’t describe devotees engaged in managerial duties in ISKCON as ksatriyas. Ksatirya dharma is not cognate with ISKCON management. The GBC and temple leaders and sannyasis are the managers of ISKCON at present. Some of them may in fact be ksatriyas by nature, but the task of managing ISKCON is not ksatriya dharma. Ksatriyas are not managers of ashrama societies. They are warriors and or leaders of the massses. Even when they engage in those duties they are not the type of people or profession which manages in the sense of figuring out how to run society. That is the job of the brahmanas who advise the ksatriyas. The ksatriyas then carry out the plans of the brahmanas. Brahmanas are not just priests, they are teachers as well. They are the brains behind the management. The ksatriyas duty is to follow the plans of the brahmanas when it comes to managing society. As for brahmanas ISKCON has numerous diksa and siksa gurus. It is their duty and the GBC’s duty to make sure every temple is giving the facility for all devotees to learn Krsna Consciousness through classes and reading. Why is their a need for some new large expenditure of money and a change of location to learn the same thing you are supposed to be able to learn in every ISKCON temple?
The problem you seem to be concerned about is leadership succession. How has that been done in the past? Devotees are trained up in brahminical standards and gaudiya siddhanta in the temples. That is what the temples are for (besides preaching activities). When it comes to managerial duties the devotees are supposed to be trained in the temples for that as well. I can understand that there may be a need to give systematic training in certain aspects of management e.g. dealing with finances, dealing with the BBT, dealing with legal issues (this would be different for every country due to various laws that need to be understood), and also dealing with devotees according to ISKCON law. All of these things (except for legal issues) can be written down in a booklet and distributed in various languages to the various temples.
Setting up a leadership academy seems to me to be uneeded and also very costly and manpower intensive. Not only can everything be learned locally quite easily through a simple booklet and regular attendance at classes and reading, but a big problem for the proposed academy is that ISKCON is a worldwide society comprising devotees who speak a multitude of languages. The academy would need many devotee translators just to be able to communicate with devotees from all over the world. Outside of India the majority of temples do not have a large dedicated full time membership. Taking the devotees who someone decides is a potential leader out of the community is basically going to deprive the community of their most effective devotees. What I was wondering is what can a leadership academy teach that cannot be done much simpler and cheaper locally? If someone shows promise as a manager in some capacity then why can’t they be trained locally? If the current managers need more information on how to properly run a temple why is a financially burdensome and manpower draining school necessary when all that is needed is a booklet which everyone can read?
The GBC has the job of making sure management is going on properly. They each have a number of temples under their jurisdiction. It is their job which the proposed academy seems to want to take over. Their job is to make sure that management in their jurisdiction is being properly taken care for the future. That is their primary duty. If GBC members are too busy doing other things then managing the temples in their jurisdiction because they are too busy with preaching programs, guding disciples, writing books, etc, then they should do the right thing and make a choice; do they want to be full time preachers or part time preachers? GBC member cannot be full time preachers and effectively do their jobs. If they would rather preach full time then they should give their GBC position to someone who can focus on the duties of the GBC.
Prabhupada’s core teaching is developing Bhakti and practicing Bhakti within every day’s life following Krsna Consciousness. Thus spiritual knowledge must be delivered to confirm Bhakti and to develop Bhakti within heart of devotees. That is always Supreme spiritual knowledge. Bhakti always needs love within heart towards everyone and how that love can grow within heart of devotees and also non devotees towards ISKCON must be ultimate goal of deliverance. So training must be imparted how devotees within ISKCON become lovable and those lovable by others, they will automatically be respectable. Love and respect always goes together. That; what ends with love that always respected as Bhakti. On the other hand, if something is not lovable by devotees that are not respectable within heart of devotees. And that must not be taught or delivered within disciple’s succession. In this context ISKCON must find within heart of all Prabhupada’s devotees and grand devotees, what is most respectable within ISKCON and what is not? What is most lovable within ISKCON and what is not? Those definitely all outgoing direct devotees of ISKCON can find out easily. These are the root causes that are not agreeable to other devotees and must be resolved through discussion and with solutions. That is called complete deliverance. In that context Prabhupada’s all wishes will be fulfilled when all devotees of ISKCON and Vaisnavas become agree with most respectable and lovable things within ISKCON that must be delivered to the next generation of devotees. Other wise everything has to be left to the mercy of a Brahman who preaches astrology and whenever doubt arises, always takes shelter of astrology and position of planets. But supreme spiritual knowledge about devotion is not astrology. That is always truth and absolute truth. That is path of Bhakti and love of Bhakti towards devotees in the form of love of Radha Krsna. All glory to Prabhupada! Hare Krsna! Haribol!
The concerns raised in comment #2 are particularly cogent. If the academy won’t be redundant, then does the project itself show a drift toward centralization?
I sympathise with some of what Shiva is saying in comment #2, but really I do not think the education and training being proposed will prove to be too large a drain on resources, in practice.
Those who run the education and training programs will conduct them in such a way that they do not result in drawing away the most capable devotees from active service for long periods of time. (They will have to). The programs will just supplement and enhance the service that those who participate are already doing, and will encourage promotion of and support for the next generation of leaders and managers.
Most of the training of ISKCON’s leaders will always remain “hands on”, practical guidance and mentorship while actually doing the tasks we need to do to carry on the various preaching activities. The temples already do that, to a certain extent, but a need is felt for doing something more.
It only makes sense to have organized systems for recruiting and training managers and leaders (and promoting mentorship). Those who have acquired specialized “know how” will thus have more of an opportunity and will be given some encouragement to transmit that practical knowledge to others. This will necessarily be a process of supporting, improving on and expanding the training already acquired in temples and ashrams.
Srila Prabhupada did request that we establish “varnasrama colleges” and my (limited) understanding is that these were to be in addition to the existing temple programs. Training and education initiatives such as those discussed by Bhakti Vijnana Maharaja may be another step in the direction of establishing such a practical education system.
Of course, the primary inspiration of our spiritual leadership will come from the individual devotees’ advancement in devotional service, from their deep association with the holy name and Srila Prabhupada’s books and serving alongside other devotees. Having a formal system of training and education will not detract from the existing means of making progress in spiritual life, but will supplement and enhance the practical service of those who are trained.
There is also room for distinguishing between managerial and spiritual leadership, even in a spiritual society. Whether and how we talk about “kshatriya”, “vaishya” and “sudra” services in ISKCON can be debated, but we do need to recognize there is already a division of labor with different kinds of services being performed in ISKCON.
For example, in the 1975 GBC meetings, the devotees were reading Srila Prabhupada a draft of a GBC “loyalty oath” that Prabhupada had asked them to prepare [there were similar oaths for TPs]. When whoever was reading (I think it was Satsvarupoa Maharaja) came to a line which said something like, “. . . and all the money under my control . . .[is dedicated to Srila Prabhupada]” Srila Prabhupada stopped him and said, no, the money would not be controlled by GBC. Aitreya Rsi asked a clarifying question and Srila Prabhupada confirmed that money and bank accounts would be handled by temple officers like treasurers and presidents, and that GBC would have a different function.
My point is not to comment on whether GBC should control bank accounts today. (I have never attended a GBC meeting and know practically nothing about the needs and functions of the growing international society).
I am just saying that our temples do need money people (bean counters), legal people, people with expertise in dealing with the press, celebrities and politicians. Our society also needs learned philosophers and pure pujaris, lecturers, counselors. We need cooks and temple commanders and musicians and membership directors and sankirtan leaders. We also are supposed to have self-sufficient farm communities, requiring specialized knowledge of agriculture and cow protection and the other work required for “simple living”. There is a real diversity of tasks to do for both full-time temple devotees and for congregational members.
In each of these fields of endeavor, people will acquire specialized knowledge and should be encouraged to transmit that knowledge to apprentices or assistants, sometimes through the medium of organized classes and workshops.
To have special training and education for temple presidents and other managers and leaders seems only natural. As in any endeavor, we can expect it will start in a small and practical way and grow organically as it demonstrates its usefulness and success.
Really, these things have already started. I remember several years ago some members of my temple (including my wife) attended a leadership training course run by Anuttama Prabhu (the GBC) in Texas, and they came away with some positive knowledge and techniques and habits they applied here in their service in the San Jose temple.
Of course, we all know about many fine classes provided by VIHE and MIHE and japa retreats and specialized training that we see advertised on Dandavats and elsewhere. Students keep enrolling in these classes and seem to be generally satisfied with them, so it seems a need is being filled by such programs and they will continue to be refined and expanded and improved by trial and error as time goes on.
It seems that the leadership and management training is just an extension and refinement of what has already been happening.
Guys, there will be many academies. You start one too, if you’re a brahmana or a brahminically inclined ksatriya. We’re establishing a culture here, not a cult. In a culture there is a dialectic of diversity, and this creates tension and balance.
Akruranath you wrote:
What did you learn which cannot be learned from a booklet?
You also wrote:
Why do temples need to spend thousands of dollars per person to learn what can be learned from a booklet? Travel expense to India is costly. Plus there must be translators as well to pay for. The things you describe do not take much time or effort to learn and can be done simply and cheaply through the written word. Why do people need to travel great distances at great cost to hear from people when the same hearing can be sent to them in a cheap booklet?
You can’t train people in philosophy, music, cooking, and giving lectures in a short amount of time at a seminar. Those things take a lot of time and personal effort. Temple commanders do not need some special training from some distance place. It’s not a difficult job and can be learned locally with little effort and time. Learning how to be a “membership director” can also be taught in a booklet. Sankirtan leaders can also learn locally without any need to to go anywhere. Why do they need to spend thousands of dollars when they can hear the same exact thing from a booklet or from a local devotee or GBC?
Isn’t it the job of the local GBC to make sure that every temple has trained up men and women? Isn’t it their job to make sure that every temple is being managed correctly? Isn’t it their job to make sure that what is needed in their jurisdiction is being taken care of? If not then what is their job? Either the proposed academy is redundant or the GBC is redundant.
Japa retreats seem to me to be a money wasting self indulgence. What do they learn? Chant and be attentive? Don’t be offensive? What more do you need to know? If people want to spend their own time and money on seminars which teach what they already know or which can be learned in a few minutes of reading, then so be it. The VIHE and MIHET are teaching gaudiya philosophy which they charge money for. Then there is the extra expenditure for room and board. All of which is provided free at your local ISKCON temple and in books. I don’t see anything wrong with what they are doing, but it is not something which is needed for temple devotees. It looks to me to be set up for non temple devotees who have the time and money to get special personal instruction in the dhama. Full time devotees should have facility in every temple to hear classes on philosophy and time to read. If people are satisfied with those programs then fine, that’s great. That doesn’t mean that another academy has to be set up in order to teach at great expense what can be learned quite easily through the written word.
It will cost thousands of dollars per person plus translator costs as well. I don’t think the programs or seminars will do anything which cannot be done locally and will in fact have the effect of creating and promoting an elitist caste. Those who will be chosen will earn the resentment of others not chosen, those doing the choosing will also be resented by those not chosen. Those who go to the academy will then be seen as the first choice in any future position that needs to be filled. The rest of the devotees will of course want to go in order to gain the certificate of “rising star” and then they will spend their time and energy trying to figure out ways to make that happen. If thwarted then those devotees will more likely then not leave a temple and go to another until they can be recognized as the potential leader they want to be. Inevitably there will arise a class of devotees who will see themselves as superior, special, and then more then likely they will end up treating the lesser others disrespectfully. Of course the rest of the devotees who are not singled out as academy material will be full of resentment which will lead them to treat the other “special” devotees and leaders who chose them, with disrespect and a lack of commitment.
All in all this academy seems not only wasteful and unnecessary, but also a recipe for conflict, disintegration of morale, nepotism, resentment and anger, temple hopping, and the creation of a new social class system.
To Shiva,
Yes, you are right. Everything is there in Bhagavat Gita As It Is written by Prabhupada. Why not read it?
Shiva Prabhu:
I did not attend Annutama’s seminar in Texas, but my wife Jagarini attended, Vaisesika attended, and our temple president Jananivasa attended. They all seemed very satisfied that they got something important out of it. I got a sense that they learned a lot about communicating with others through personal interactions with other devotees who were there.
Some skills are hard to pick up through reading booklets. For example, learning to become fluent in a foreign language is difficult without surrounding yourself with native speakers. Interacting with other devotees in leadership and decision making setting can be like learning a language.
I do see your point, though. Being a temple commander seems to be a kind of simple, prosaic job that does not need a lot of specialized training. Keeping the temple clean and the grounds neat and so on is not “rocket science” that requires a lot of higher education. It does involve interaction with and giving direction to other devotees, though. It takes some skills and sensitivity to be a good boss.
Our devotees in ISKCON are not only our greatest assets: they are also our “product”, our goal. What we are doing in ISKCON is training the world to properly glorify Krishna, so our mission really is, first and foremost, to care properly for the devotees and give them the right guidance and encouragement.
Leading devotees like Radha Natha Swami and others have taught us the errors of our ways, that we used to look at devotees as commodities to use up for achieving goals like constructing buildings. Our real goal should always be constructing pure devotees, and if we learn to see it that way and act on it, the buildings will follow.
I understand it sounds crazy to spend thousands of dollars flying people around to take seminars. You make a good point. I think what you are missing is that the people taking these classes are also getting the opportunity to visit holy places and associate with devotees who live far away, and get some experience and sense of the worldwide movement.
I am not as afraid as you are of resentment and jealousy and the creation of “class conflict” in ISKCON. If that does materialize, it will have to be dealt with, but I have not seen it yet. Many of the devotees who attend such classes make personal sacrifices and use their personal resources in order to be able to do it, and are glad they did.
Karmis go on vacation to seaside resorts or cruises and spend tons of money on windsurfing lessons and fancy dinners and so on. Devotees like to go to New Vrndavana and Radha Desh and Vrndaban and Mayapur, and while they are there they want to do something that will help them improve their service when they come home.
The travel industry in America is waking up to the fact that many people — ordinary nondevotees — want educational experience and even spiritual experience out of their vacations. They now talk about “soul travel”.
For devotees in ISKCON, they would go on pilgrimages and travel anyway. If there were no leadership training classes, mrdanga lessons and seminars on Nectar of Devotion, they might find a way to go, but they might get less out of it.
As I said before, these things are already happening, and they are working. The bugaboos you raise about paying for translators and so on are not materializing as serious problems. If problems materialize, they will have to be dealt with, but so far the development of organized classes and seminars and “retreats” in ISKCON has a very positive track record.
I think one point we kind of generally miss is that general directives tend to be impersonal and although necessary if not properly applied end up forcing people to adjust to criteria which is not natural for them.
So for example someone it may be natural to be satisfied with learning the philosophy in a temple life style for others a more academic setting might be more appeasing. What’s wrong with that? Aren’t both of them in the same path. Is someone breaking principles because of this? I sometimes tell students it doesn’t really matter where you are as long as you are moving in the right direction, that’s what is important.
Prabhupada used to say that real management means occupying each individual accordingly. It’s a very personal thing and it obviously should be an exercise of communication i.e there must be attention by part of the management not only to hear but also to observe the managed in order to be able to do this. Of course we might set ideals to establish our north but there must be unity in diversity and even this north might have differentiated characteriscs, for example we are all looking for krsna prema and bhakti however one may be aiming at developing a servant friend relationship with Krsna (read here Krsna meaning not only His individual personality but that of His pure devottees as well) others can be looking for a servant parenthood realtionship in this way a person might be more inclinedto associate with similarly inclined people and to study the parts of scripture dealing most with this. This is just an example bringing it to our real life one may be interested in serving as a manager, a parade organizer, a mediapreacher (time place and circumnstance, many of us might thinkthe media is just a nuisance in the world today and it would be best to just simply eliminate it completely from our lifes on the other hand it’s a great way to reach the public). So to conclude I understand that one important thing is not to create estagnating paradigms, but to be always on the move, adapting, changing, redirecting. Just like when you are on a boat. This world is constantly changing , and even the spiritual world is ever expanding. The maxim always remember Krsna and never forget him seems to me to be the main instruction whatever makes you (as an individual) forget Krsna should be rejected and whatever makes you remember Krsna should be accepted. Another example: for someone a very sumptuos prasadam might make him more conscious of sense enjoyment for someone maybe it just makes him meditate intesively in Krsna being Him the taste of the food. This does not nulify the general directive that in order to advance spiritually one should adopt a simpler diet.
hoping to have added positively to this discussion
your servant Karuna Das
Akruranatha it seems I was misunderstood by you. I didn’t mean to say that the current seminars and classes being given in various places can cause class conflict, I said those things are fine and I have no objection to them even though I think they are not neccessary for full time temple devotees if the ISKCON temples are being managed properly. What they offer should be offered in every ISKCON temple. I was writing about the new proposed academy where certain devotees will be chosen as potential leaders of ISKCON. That is something totally different then what is being offered in the various retreats which offer more of an opportunity for Krsna Katha, sadhu sanga, psychology and therapy courses, etc, in a spiritually surcharged atmosphere. I am sure that the devotees who attend those retreats enjoy them and feel they gain something from them. Although I still don’t know what they can actually teach which cannot be either written down or made into a video and then put on the internet. I understand that those courses offer more then learning e.g association, the chance to be in a spiritualized place, and a way for devotees to make a living, but ISKCON temples are also spiritualized places, and what they offer doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars per day. The temples are supposed to be spiritual retreats and places of learning. What does that say about a temple if you have to leave the temple to find spiritual solace and instruction somewhere else? If what you and your wife learned is important why can’t that be videotaped and distributed through the internet so that all temples and devotees can learn from what was taught? That same thing applies for the proposed academy. Why not make what they want to teach easy and cheap to produce and then mass distribute that knowledge? That way each temple could have all the knowledge on every topic of management readily and easily available at all times for anyone to read or watch without spending thousands of dollars and man hours while avoiding the creation of class conflict and resentment.
Yes, Shiva, I do see that Bhakti Vijnana Swami is talking about something different than just Mrdanga lessons and VIHE courses.
I guess I was conflating the “leadership academy” proposal with whatever classes and seminars ISKCON has already been offering with some success.
So. . . sorry for misunderstanding you.
But I do expect that a “leadership academy” will, at least in the beginning stages, probably look and feel something like what is currently offered in VIHE programs. I think that expectation of mine may be what caused me to talk that way.
Your proposal of making materials in booklet form inexpensively available is also a good idea. Any academic program will also have its written materials, and if they can be readily disseminated, I imagine they will be passed around and widely read.
There is also some value in face-to-face instruction and classroom environments. Wouldn’t you agree? Isn’t that why we have colleges and universities rather than just have everyone read to themselves at home? I know I get motivated by the structure of academic classes and studying among peers in an organized setting.
And if the students and teachers are devotees — wow! — that is where I want to be. ISKCON academic programs really enthuse me somehow, and I think they have the potential for enthusing and inspiring lots of congregational members.
Again though, that is something different from, or at least more general than, a “leadership academy.” Nevertheless, academic leadership training sounds positive to me, and it does seem in keeping with the “varnasrham college” concept recommended by our founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada.
As for “class conflict” and resentment, I am just not as afraid of this happening as you are. I tend to think most devotees are actually happy to be led by good leaders. Anarchism and resentment of “superiors” is usually the result of unqualified persons acting in the role of leaders. Thus, the very symbol of Kali-yuga personified is a low-class man pretending to be a king while torturing the earth and dharma.
The best way to avoid “class conflict” is not to try to level everyone and do away with classes, but to train up truly qualified people to occupy the leadership posts, if possible. On the other hand, we live in an age where the privileged classes are often unqualified, and therefore democracy and “classless society” have become the modern bywords. In ISKCON, though, we hope and expect to see real, righteous leadership.
Time will tell, I guess. At least, I hope you are wrong. I hope leadership academies (along with regular temple service, good sadhana and serious, deep study of Prabhupada’s books) will help ISKCON leaders refine and improve their leadership skills and qualities. I just don’t share your fears that leadership academies will help create some kind of ossified caste of unqualified so-called leaders that are resented and envied by the rank and file.
I doubt that attending an academy will necessarily make one into a good leader (and I can imagine many academy graduates may not end up as leaders). However, I do think that those who are leaders by nature can improve as leaders by attending good academies.
I guess my main mood is, I am willing to wait and see. It sounds like a promising new initiative that may turn out to be very beneficial. It probably all depends on how well it can be executed.
If it fizzles and fails, it will be abandoned, but I hardly think it will become dangerous or extravagantly wasteful, as you seem to fear. Those who attend will probably get a lot out of it, whether or not it actually turns them into the next generation of ISKCON leaders.
Hare Krishna!
Please accept my humble obeisances.
I would like to thank HH Bhakti Vijnana Swami for bringing this important issue out.
I would also like to add some down to earth points to this interesting subject matter:
Leadership/management is a very important thing. It should not be belittled. It should be noted if we want this Krishna movement to move. Srila Prabhupada wanted devotees to become leaders of the society. The fact is : Future leaders must be trained. Who will do that? Is it better that competent devotees do it or should it be left to professional trainers who don’t understand the devotional aspect?
The association of devotees is very inspiring. We have many skillful devotees in our movement who will give excellent training, who have leadership/management skills, psychological talent and experience in councelling others in various fields. It is a great chance for them to help the devotee community.
The world is also full of good written material on the issue. We can use that and don’t have to re-invent the wheel.
Compared to internet self-study, the academy format as suggested is personal. It is also very motivating and effective, the best way to learn. No one can learn just by reading the books. Why not just send nice cook books to every Iskcon center and expect them to soon have excellent cooks? Why to attend seminars on Srila Prabhupada’s books, is it not enough to read them by yourself? It is the same logic with leadership, and especially leadership!
Studying in an academic environment is a synergic process (ie. a synergic group achieves exponentially better results than an individual), and as such a worthy lesson itself for those who wish to learn about effective leadership.
Very many temple presidents and commanders are in the need of leadership training. How could they train others in that situation? Of course after some good training they can possibly share their knowledge in their local temple/asram.
Basically what you learn in the temple is about the sastras, puja and book distribution. This content varies a lot in different countries. The list of what you don’t get to know in the temple/asram also varies in different places: Cow protection, farming, bhaktivriksa program, cooking, yajnas… and practically devotees interested in these things do go somewhere else to study. Why to expect every temple to run a leadership program? It is utopian.
At last a comment on ‘who is chosen to go there’: I believe that those interested in the subject matter will apply for the study by themselves.
I am hoping all the good luck for the project and waiting for applying for the course!
Your servant
housewife manager
Astasakhi dd
This is in response to Akruranatha and Astasakhi dd. You both mention the idea that school type environments make for a better learning experience then self study. While that is debatable I never said that what needs to be learned should be left solely to individual study. I said that the GBC has the duty of making sure devotees in their jurisdiction are being properly trained. If there are videos and writings on all aspects of management each temple could dedicate classes to going over them. GBC can go from temple to temple and oversee these classes. There can even be teleconferencing with all that is needed is a computer.
Comparing how colleges or other schools teach to what needs to be learned to manage ISKCON temples is comparing two very different types of education. If I go to college and take a course in physics or literature or math there is a huge amount of reading and study and the courses take a long time and lot of endeavor. Teachers are only necessary in order to guide the students in a certain direction. There are countless books on those topics and the teachers narrow down the choices to what they think is necessary or they follow a curriculum. What in fact do devotees need to learn to manage ISKCON? As far as I can tell it is not very much quantitatively speaking. To learn calculus or Russian literature or plasma physics school is helpful because I need to learn a lot of stuff and I need to make sure that I am getting the most out of my time. How much do I need to learn to make sure a temples finances are done properly? Do I really need a course or can it be learned quite simply? It’s not physics or rocket science? What else needs to actually be learned? It’s one thing to say we need to train leaders, but what does that actually entail? I can’t see much that actually needs to be learned and that can’t be taught and learned in a short amount of time without much endeavor.
Astasakhi you make the comparison of trying to learn to cook from a cookbook with learning how to manage. Your point is that learning solely from a book is not an effective way to learn to cook. Cooking is something which you actually can learn from a book if the recipes are not too complicated and you are good with your hands and able to concentrate. It’s easy to learn how to make rice, dahl, subji, chapatis, salads, many sweets, etc from a cookbook. More complicated recipes may take some personal training, but it very much depends on the individual capacity. Learning how to cook from a book can be easy if the person learning is dextrous with his/her hands, follows directions well, can concentrate, and makes sure to have all the necessary tools and ingredients at hand. Learning what is needed to manage ISKCON temples needs nothing more then being able to understand what is being said. So when you prabhus make it out to be some very complicated intellectual and devotional endeavor I can’t see what you think is necessary to be learned. What do you think needs to be taught? Why do you think that whatever that is needs to be learned in an academy? Do I need to go to school to learn how to do the simple finances of a temple when it can be told succinctly in writing or on a video and explained by the temple leaders and GBC? Do I need to go to an academy to learn how to speak to the media, to learn how throw a festival, to learn how to do anything which managers in ISKCON need to know? I can’t seen any actual need for a school to teach what is essentially simple things to learn. Rather then making some big complicated endeavor which will be costly and only teach a small number of devotees why not make it much more far reaching and more comprehensive at virtually no cost? The most expert devotees are fully engaged in service, who will be teaching at the academy? It would be better to have the most expert devotees either write what they know, or make a video, and then put the collection of al the experts together and put it on the internet and then all the devotees in ISKCON can hear and learn. Isn’t that a much more effective way of making sure there are plenty of potential leaders rather then just hoping you pick the right candidates and who then only learn from a select few?
In his interview, Maharaja states:
The primary purposes the new, proposed academy:
* Purpose 1: properly transmit “mood, teachings, . . . ideas” of Srila Prabhupada.
* Purpose 2: identify early on in their KC careers devotees who will “ensure the proper succession.”
These two stated purposes raise an important question:
Is the guru-disciple system, which is also supposed transmit the “mood, teachings, and ideas” of Srila Prabhupada, now felt to be inadequate for this purpose?
In answer to Krishna-Kirti, I would just observe that gurus can send their disciples to academies and that is part of the guru-disciple system. Srila Prabhupada wanted “varnasrhama colleges” and academic study of his books (with “bhakti sastri”, “bhakti vaibhava”, “bhakti sarvabhauma” degrees).
He also approved cooperation with mundane universities such as Berkeley’s GTU. He did not request or even want us to try to sit in a secluded place like Haridas Thakur. He engaged us in dynamic preaching and training, which can include VIHE and leadership academies as well as book distribution and temple worship.
In answer to Shiva, I do see your point but I agree with Astasakhi. Even when learning something simple like cooking, it really helps if you know how it is supposed to come out, and if you have an expert watching who can show you where you went wrong, etc.
[Before I joined I tried to learn cooking from the old “Hare Krishna Cookbook.” I had no idea what “kofta” was even supposed to look like, and of course I failed miserably]
Great chefs go to study under other great chefs, and great dancers study under other dancers. That is just the way specialized knowledge gets transmitted, whether among devotees or nondevotees.
In certain areas, like simple bookkeeping, we do need improvement in many temples. Not just in ISKCON, but many churches and nonprofits seem to have problems in this area. While the training of bookkeepers might not have to take place in an academic setting, our temple leaders should all somehow imbibe a respect for the importance of taking care of these things nicely.
Srila Prabhupada was a stickler for careful accounting, and we need ISKCON leaders to inculcate that mood, among others. So why not have a temple bookkeeping course as part of an academic leadership program?
If the local GBC can travel and instruct all the temple leaders in his or her zone, that is fine, but what is the objection to also having academies where these ideas and understandings are transmitted? Not all GBC are capable of teaching everything that is required.
Maybe we did not have sufficient facility for establishing academies in the past, but if ISKCON is now capable of developing academies and they are working well, what is the objection?
Academic instruction in ISKCON has already proven itself to be valuable. Whether it is for leadership training or for close study of Prabhupada’s books or just a way of engaging congregational members, it is working. The students seem to love it and are willing to make sacrifices to come back for more. Isn’t that the test? We judge by the results, and so far the results seem promising.
Getting a chance to associate with devotees who have achieved some level of expertise in certain fields, and who have had direct instruction from Srila Prabhupada in those fields, is great. As Bhakti Vijnana Mahara mentions, they may not all be around too much longer (many are in their 50s and 60s now, and we have already lost the likes of Tamal Krishna Goswami and Sridhar Maharaja and Bhakti Tirtha Swami and Bhaktisvarup Damodar Maharaja). We should take the opportunity to meet and interact favorably with senior Prabhupada disciples if we can.
Academic training also gives us an opportunity to meet like-minded students and to “circulate” in the wider international movement. Not only do most of us like to do this, but it strengthens ISKCON and helps promote percolation and foment of useful ideas and initiatives. Devotees are so great, we want to keep meeting more of them, and discussing how the Movement is going in their different parts of the world.
I hope academic instructin in ISKCON continues to improve and flourish. I expect in the long run we will find that it is not a drain on local centers but adds support and inspiration to them.
Just to let all contributors know, all comments on this subject have been forwarded to all members of the GBC Succession Committee
Your servant, Praghosa dasa.
In the category of written materials that can be circulated for training leaders, I just came accross Mahatma’s article on Dandavats entitled “108 mistakes I Made or Seen Other Leaders Make”
It is very good and every TP should be exposed to wisdom of that sort, whether in a face-to-face leadership training program or at least by reading and discussing the article with others.