In the Bhagavad Gita (4.11), Lord Krishna declares, “Everyone follows my path in all respects.” Since we are all individual souls, we should be respectful of all souls since, clearly, they are each under the watchful and loving eye of the Supreme Lord. This understanding is a key ingredient to being a personalist. 

It is, therefore, natural for all bonafide faith paths to have a range of apparent strictness (and lack of) that allows as many souls as possible to participate. While we have seen this inevitability of strict adherence and not-so-strict adherence within ISKCON (which Srila Prabhupada himself predicted), it isn’t surprising that within the ISKCON family that strict adherents regularly alienate others by adopting a “holier-than-thou” attitude.

However, does anyone really advance successfully in anything when pushed by fear and guilt? The simple answer is a resounding “No!”

The irony of this situation is that strict adherents need less strict followers, and the less strict practitioners also need more strict adherents to encourage them in their pursuit of any sacred adventure. 

Let’s discuss this in the context of individualism versus collectivism. Culturally speaking, we have seen that some societies encourage collectivism (think Asian cultures), while other societies like Western Europe and North America encourage and reward individualism. Individualism is often rewarded materially. However, spiritually speaking, collectivism propounds more humility and following authorities, including a chain of teachers, who don’t create their own philosophy but instead follow the eternal teachings originally propounded by God and/or His representatives. Eastern cultures are known to cultivate a more collectivism-based mentality, as compared to the material rewards that Western culture promises for independent thinking and acting.

Here is a poem from one of my books. It summarizes the push-pull of the “me first” mentality versus the “service to others” consciousness that occupies a comfortable seat next to humility.

Hearts of Cards

Some hearts soft. 

Most cards hard,

We’re all unique, oblique,

Mysterious mystique.

Decks reflect

The world’s deluge.

Competing cards each sing – 

“I want to be King!”

While humble,

outnumbered,

Ever-patient patients,

Are living past pretense,

And peaceful knowing that…

Selfless love

Yields true strength.

While self-anointed kings 

Learn they do not have wings –

And it wasn’t a game at all.

While material success is judged by the size of one’s bank account and accumulated material creations, spiritual success is measured by the purity of one’s heart. A pure heart is like a well-tilled field, ready for seeds to be planted. What an exciting adventure it is. As Srila Prabhupada stated many, many times, Krishna Consciousness should be joyfully performed.