The Beauty of a Detail

If You Let Me In

Both the demoniac and pious ones occasionally state that "the devil is in the details" or "God is in the details".

Indeed, it is the detail, a small dysfunctional fragment, that can lead to an all-encompassing catastrophe, and in the same way, it is the detail that may be missing to accomplish perfection.

Those who still remember Srila Prabhupada are lifelong amazed by how he, while managing an explosively growing movement, never forgot to pay attention to even the "smallest" devotee who contributed to its expansion. His movement started with him being available day and night to those few fortunate souls who came his way and unconsciously received his mercy. Bringing personalism to perfection, Srila Prabhupada entered their hearts with his truly unconditional love, giving the best he had: attraction and love for God. It was only through him, and so it is until today, that we became attracted to Krishna and Lord Caitanya, who were previously just abstract figures to us. By seeing him love God entirely, we began to awaken our love for God as well, realising this to be our constitutional position.

As Srila Prabhupada expanded his movement all over the globe, we felt personally involved even in his physical absence. Just as Krishna dwells in the heart of every conditioned soul as Paramatma, so can a pure devotee dwell in our hearts and instruct us, either from within or through others, when we desire such guidance. Once, Srila Prabhupada was asked by one of my godbrothers, "If Krishna resides in the hearts of every living entity as the Supersoul, does the spiritual master also reside in the heart of a disciple?" Srila Prabhupada confirmed that it is so. My godbrother, still thinking in a physical way, asked again, amazed, "Srila Prabhupada, are you residing in my heart?" Srila Prabhupada looked deeply into his eyes and said, "If you let me in."

As most of us cannot follow the voice of the Supersoul due to our conditioning, Srila Prabhupada’s voice and written instructions guide us even in our conditioned state. Such is the power of a pure devotee, and this is how a pure devotee can be recognised.

When Leaders Follow Their Followers

One glance from Srila Prabhupada could change people’s lives. In the material world, people are also influenced and impressed by the presence of their idols and leaders. Fascinated by their charisma, they are often willing to sacrifice even their bodies for them. As these leaders embody their material desires, followers feel they have found someone who "understands their heart", not realising they have simply found someone who understands their material aspirations. History has shown repeatedly how such leaders, due to their narcissistic tendencies, eventually adapt in populist ways to meet the expectations of their worshippers, becoming perverted figures and ultimately disappointing those who hoped they would fulfil their material desires.

By contrast, a pure devotee also has charisma, but their real followers worship them because they inspire genuine change in their hearts, not because the devotee changes to please them. Today, however, one might ask why the "guru" seems to follow the disciple when it is the disciple who is meant to follow the guru.

We all changed for the better after meeting Srila Prabhupada, whether in person or through his teachings. Typically, people following a materialistic leader change for the worse, becoming opportunistic and ambitious within the hierarchy the leader creates. Such tendencies can also manifest in a spiritual movement. However, history has taught us that those who exploit Srila Prabhupada’s movement for personal gain, rather than serving his mission, face dire consequences. They are eventually destroyed by the reactions to their offences, committed in the name of devotional service.

When Brothers Become Strangers

It was Srila Prabhupada’s transparency and unmotivated selflessness that deeply touched those who truly surrendered to him. Even after years of travelling around the globe, when returning to the same place, Srila Prabhupada instantly remembered each devotee who had rendered service, no matter how imperfect. I have personally met lifelong devotees who were amazed at how Srila Prabhupada remembered even the smallest details of their service.

It can be seen that friends who initially joined together in a movement preaching ultimate personalism, as they progressed as preachers or managers, became more estranged from those they once knew so closely. Personally, I lost many friends among my godbrothers in this way, seeing them surrounded by often entirely unqualified disciples or assuming posts within the "bigger ISKCON", which I refused to accept.

To see a sannyasi godbrother, whom I had not met for years, surrounded by many excited matajis, signing Srila Prabhupada’s books as they were forwarded to him with his own name, bathing in the erotic atmosphere created by the excited group of his female followers, not even noticing me standing next to him, waiting for the moment to receive his mercy, is not a pretty sight. Seeing his vocabulary disappear within a hierarchical structure, never relating to me as a person again… it is painful.

Assuming titles and designations even beyond Srila Prabhupada’s expectations, swept away by the flow of money and the admiration coming from their disciples, like being caught in a whirlpool, I saw my friends disappearing from the surface of the ocean of nectar we once bathed in together. Now part of the "bigger picture", they forgot me and other godbrothers who, in their view, remained part of the "smaller picture"… or any picture at all.

But in Srila Prabhupada’s view, we were all part of the "big picture", regardless of our institutionally designated positions or how we were perceived by the public. To remain simple in an ocean of intricacies that every manager or preacher is exposed to requires an understanding of absolute personalism—seeing everyone as part of God, a precious part, especially when a particular, unique soul exhibits a willingness to serve God.

Some leaders entirely forgot this very basic principle. They even forgot that they can only function and become what they are by the mercy of their followers. They assume the form of masters, self-manifested idols, easily forgetting how they arrived with nothing—and that, without the mercy of the spiritual master and his followers, they still have nothing.

It is this lost personal bond that ultimately leads to the destruction of an entire movement. Even people in general, unable to grasp the deep philosophical message Srila Prabhupada’s movement conveys, can easily see "how you guys treat each other." Someone who preaches personalism but is ready to bury a godbrother or godsister alive can easily be detected by the public as a hypocrite.

The Power of One Grain

I joined this movement at a time when there was no need for counselling or "empathetic listening" to other devotees because we were absolutely loyal to the mission of Srila Prabhupada, understanding that god brothers and god sisters were equally dedicated preachers, just like everyone else.

Like in a spiritual army, there was no way we would tolerate another sankirtan devotee being mistreated or neglected, and no way to disrespect someone ready to give their life for the mission of our spiritual father, Srila Prabhupada. Whoever preached Krishna Consciousness was our friend, and whoever opposed Krishna Consciousness was someone whose association we avoided. We lived the lives of madhyama-adhikari without even realising it.

But the world of kanistha-adhikaris is different. It is dominated by narcissism and opportunism, by the concept of "this is me, the body, and this is mine." Such a bodily concept is automatically followed by impersonalism, where, pretending to be part of the "bigger picture", we forget the small puzzle-like fragments from which Srila Prabhupada’s movement is built.

It was always the "small ones" who achieved big things, while the "big ones", meeting in worthless gatherings with bombastic agendas and proclamations, achieved only improvements to their financial well-being and prestige, boasting of titles that justified their illusory existences.

To the degree that we pay attention to the "details"—the "small" devotee on the road, carrying Srila Prabhupada’s books in his hands and broadcasting the Holy Name—to that degree we may be able to maintain the "bigger picture" Srila Prabhupada provided for us as well.

Srila Prabhupada said that the quality of rice can be tested by the quality of a single grain of rice. One burning tree can set an entire forest on fire, and one sandalwood tree can wonderfully perfume the whole forest. One Srila Prabhupada, who in the eyes of his godbrothers was a meaningless man from a pharmacy, changed the entire world.

We cannot imitate his supernatural achievements, his ultimate personalism, but we can follow in his footsteps—by trying to take care of every devotee, however small, who is willing to become part of the "bigger picture".

In this way, by serving the big picture while also serving the small parts of it, we can simultaneously become one and different—maintaining our individuality while achieving unity. It is perfectly sufficient to follow Srila Prabhupada’s example, to see how, by being concerned with each individual devotee, we can build an entire movement of individually sheltered devotees.

All glories to His Divine Grace, who never stopped being the loving father, despite having so many children.