By Bhakti Caru Swami
ISKCON is a spiritual organization personally established by Srila Prabhupada. We must take care that it doesn’t become material. Anything (husband-wife relationship, Deity worship, even prasadam) can turn material by one’s consciousness. In any Society, there must be some organization and management, otherwise there will be chaos. Even in the spiritual world, Krsna’s friends are subdivided and supervised (Lord Balarama is group leader for his cowherd boy friends; Candravali and Radharani head up left-wing and right-wing gopis, etc). ISKCON is no different. In order for people interact in a harmonious fashion, dealings and activities must be regulated and orchestrated.
1. The material nature is the world of exploitation but the spiritual nature is the world of service.
2. ISKCON is a spiritual organization. Regardless of position everyone is first and foremost a servant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada. No one should exploit his position for selfish interests.
3. Higher position means greater service. Position means an opportunity to purely represent Srila Prabhupada. Hence our management must be based on humility and tolerance.
4. Treat your subordinates as younger brothers.
5. Leadership is based on spiritual qualification, not on anything material. A mature, dedicated preacher makes the best leader.
6. A leader’s character must be spotless.
7. Leaders must feel for their followers, then the followers will naturally trust them.
8. It is important to lead with detachment and guide with a strong sense of duty.
9. Krsna conscious management is autocratic and democratic.
10. Talk to devotees and be open to new ideas.
11. Don’t hide anything from the Vaisnavas’s.
12. There should be more than one signer for bank accounts, buying of properties etc.
13. It is best if all incoming funds are declared before the Deities, Srila Prabhupada, and the Vaisnavas.
14. All incoming funds should be deposited in the bank and then spent from the account.
This is a very nice reminder; however, I’d like to suggest a couple of small (but perhaps significant) revisions, especially with regard to items 3 and 4. “Higher” position means greater opportunity for service, especially to the other devotees. And if management is based on humility and tolerance (I think acceptance is even better), then it seems that those with positions of responsibility would see themeselves as subordinate to the others in very important ways. That doesn’t necessarily mean to shirk the responsibility inherent in the position, but seeing vaishnavas as subordinate to oneself seems counter to the humility that should permeate our leaders’ character. One way to see this would be Srila Prabhupada’s characterization of Srimati Radharani’s attitude of always pushing the other girls forward, thinking that they can please Krishna better than she, even though she knows her service pleases Krishna best.
I really like the suggestions for openness and transparency. When I served on ISKCON San Diego’s board of directors, the board members advocated that the temple management team increase those two aspects especially. We all owe Maharaja a debt of gratitude for this.