Mercy of Guru and Gauranga !!!

Prabhupada: So if you don’t follow the spiritual master, then how you can get his mercy? Mercy is always there, but if you don’t take it, then what spiritual master or his father will do? You have to take it. That is seriousness. Therefore Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura said that “The order of my spiritual master is my life. I do not know whether I get liberation or not. That is not my business. My business is to carry out the order of my spiritual master.” Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura said. (Ratha yatra lecture, July 1, 1971)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Prabhu, I need mercy", is something we often say and hear in our lives. Everyone needs mercy, without which we cannot progress in our spiritual lives. So, even a little bit of mercy from a kind vaisnava could make a very big difference in our lives. If our lives have changed at least to this extent today, its because of the mercy of some vaisnava. Someone was merciful enough to take us to a program !!! That, I feel, is the essence of spreading this Krishna Consciousness movement. Now that we have received the mercy, we know what its like to be blissful. Whether we are really blissful - thats another discussion altogether. But in ISKCON, we are taught and shown the way - how to become blissful. The process in itself is very simple and straightforward. We just have to practice it correctly and we can become totally blissful. Of that, there is no doubt.

Coming back to mercy - we have received it, so now its our turn to ensure that others receive it also. This is the way to spread Mahaprabhu's sankirtan movement. If we are convinced of the nectarian mellows of Krishna Consciousness, then we should share it with others, because good things get better when its shared. So, lets share it !!!

The mercy of Guru and Krishna is flowing incessantly. It comes to us through the Guru - meaning Guru Parampara. So, if we act in a way that will please our spiritual master, Krishna gets pleased automatically and we receive the grace of the Lord. Its actually that simple !!! If only we would learn to do the simple things perfectly....

My thoughts on leadership - Part II

A good leader is is a good motivator. A leader can lead effectively if the followers are well motivated to achieve the set task. A good leader can identify a person's talent and encourage him to excel in that. This motivates the individual to be the best he can. In Krishna Consciousness, this principle is of paramount importance. Krishna doesn't compare one devotee with another, He is seeing whether you are being the best you can. Its always the sincerity that shines bright. Srila Prabhupada said "purity is the force." If the leader is pure, he can motivate others to become pure as well. It brings enthusiasm to others to aspire to atttain higher levels of purity and dedication. Most of the management theories are based on principles from sastras. They are just selling the points from sastras and making tons of money !!!

A good leader is one who identifies others who can lead. This is also important for a leader to do. No one is permanent in their position of leadership or any other position in the material world. So, traininig is necessary. A good leader can identify persons who show good leadership skills and train them to become leaders in the future. Srila Prabhupada also carefully trained and instructed his intimate disciples how to carry on the mission of Mahaprabhu. He always said that his time was short. That showed his renunciation, he was always aware of the temporal nature of things in the material creation. But that didn't stop him from endeavouring to do his best as a leader during the period of his manifest pastimes on earth. Since we are impermanent in this world, a leader who realises it and has the best intrests of the organization at heart, will train others so that everything runs smoothly just as always or even better.

My thoughts on leadership...

Leadership can be complicated and simple at the same time !!! How is this possible ? Ask any leader and he will tell you. In a leadership position, you are constantly watched by the followers and sometimes that can make things very complicated for the leader but at the same time for a scupulous leader, it can be very simple.

A leader must be able to carry his followers along the path forward. For this, there is a simple and straightforward way. He must be exemplary in his actions. Look at His Divine Grave A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is extraordinary personality, but a closer look will reveal exemplary leadership qualities. The ability to unite people from all backgrounds and cultures and "build a house where the whole world could live" is no mean feat. There is no doubt that the underlying principle of Krishna Consciousness is the unifying factor. But it required a leader, an acharya in this case, to unite the whole world. An acharya is one who teaches by example. A great leader is also one who leads by example.

A good leader also has vision. When I say, I mean long-term vision. He must be able to see the bigger picture. Like Srila Prabhupada said "I always think big, I can only think that way." When we say think big, it means we are thinking of growth. Today, we are, say, 100 people. A good leader is one who thinks about the needs of a 1000 people already !!! Any manager can manage the existing 100, but it takes someone with vision to see the needs of a 1000 people when only 100 are present today. The leader's vision therefore dictates his mission as well. His mission will closely follow his vision. Therefore, mission without vision is just plain day-to-day management. A leader must think of the future while managing the present through delegation.

These are some of the thoughts for today. More later......