Larry D. Shinn entitled: Reflections on Spiritual Leadership

[krsna]

Larry D. Shinn P.H.D : Reflections on Spiritual Leadership.

 

 

 

".... When I was asked to offer this brief reflection on

Prabhupada, I was reminded of images of a special, holy man who, by

his erudition and personal piety as well as by his traditional role,

touched the lives of thousands of devotees in India, America and

around the world. I was also struck by the realization that for all of

his extraordinary attributes, Prabhupada could not pass on his own

personal faith to his appointed successors even as he did pass on the

mantle of leadership (that is, traditional roles) for ISKCON. As I

reminisced about my interactions with Krishna gurus and devotees,

which began in 1974 and intensified through the 1980s, I was struck by

this realization that the traditional roles and scriptural erudition

could be transmitted by teaching, but that the personal piety and deep

faith that attracted devotees to Prabhupada could not.

 

"...What is the legacy that Prabhupada has left for ISKCON? It is the

legacy of traditional authority (parampara), scriptural erudition and

personal piety as necessary corollaries to a healthy and vibrant

Krishna faith. Even as the reformers in ISKCON attempted in the

mid-1980s to reduce ISKCON'S reliance on relatively few gurus (by

appointing many new ones) and to separate some managerial and

organizational functions from the spiritual role of the guru,

Prabhupada's legacy of personal piety and moral purity seldom was

offered as the key to a new guru's success. Prabhupada's legacy is a

faith marked by a blend of head and heart - both focused upon God's

divine mercy and compassion-that separates the true spiritual master

from the impostor. Too many of the early gurus relied upon their

traditional scriptural authority alone or upon artificial affectations

of spirituality to maintain their positions - until they "fell"...."