The sociologist Michels wrote about the "iron laws of oligarchy." Those, he said, who take up a noble cause naturally tend to protect their position at the cost of the noble cause over time. And that's why political movements that are well-intentioned, people who take office, who may be well-intentioned—although it's probably hard to find one these days—tend to then change the way they see their job and try to consolidate power more and more rather than do their work. There's no replacement for maturity and enlightenment. We can't manage it out of the system. Devotees have to be detached.

vāsudēve bhagavati

bhakti-yogaḥ prayōjitaḥ

janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ

jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam (SB 1.2.7)

When you practice devotional service, you'll naturally get a sense of detachment and knowledge, which will make you more flexible and so forth.

My experience in being part of a community is that management means solving problems. Problems come from people, personal interaction. If I accept that that's the norm, even amongst devotees, then I'm better equipped to face it and deal with it. The best way to deal with it, I've found, is patiently and through meticulous conversation. As Stephen Covey wrote in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, "first seek to understand."

It's easy enough to take a position and then say, "I want to protect my position." In fact, ISKCON Resolve, when they answer the phone, they say, "ISKCON Resolve. Get over it." I've used them a number of times, but I also talked to them deeply about what the methodologies are, what is behind all this. They said, "Try to understand people's circumstances, what's beneath the surface." And what I find to be solidifying in a community is the act of taking the time. Even in the most trying circumstances—I'm conflict-avoidant, it's my nature, but I have to face these issues and bring the parties together and then talk about it.

I find that when there's the light of awareness through communication, then oftentimes we can come to an enlightened understanding together. And that's the greatest victory we can have in our communities. Talk about "boiling the milk"—really learning how to get along with one another, despite the fact that we come from different cultures and have different ways of seeing things, different gurus, and this and that. When we're able to come together and have a common understanding and appreciate one another's point of view and, for the sake of the higher good of the mission, we decide to cooperate one way or another—one of those is worth, I don't know, what do I want to compare it to? It's invaluable. And that's what really makes a community strong, is taking the time to do that. So the only remedy I've seen is to talk about it.

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https://thefourquestionsbook.com/

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