Stephen Covey’s famous quote, “Begin with the end in mind,” is a guidepost for many “successful” individuals and institutions, regardless of whether our activities are mundane or transcendental. Another common expression is, “Fail to plan means plan to fail.”

One of the major issues Srila Prabhupada’s movement faces is that the leadership group doesn’t quite agree on the goal and purpose of the movement in terms of scope. A major contributor to this lack of common goals (which intrinsically includes the size of the intended audience and the results desired) is Srila Prabhupada himself. His statements about fulfilling Lord Chaitanya’s prediction and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s instructions indicate the audience is VERY broad. Yet, at the same time, he spoke about just inspiring one moon!

Let’s say there are 10 million people worldwide who identify as ISKCON members. Divide 10 million into the 7 billion humans on the planet. Even if we divide 10 million into the 700 million who are said to be members of one of the four Vaishnava sampradayas, are we influencing the world? In small ways, yes.

Here’s one example from touring Finland recently. Our tour driver was a woman in her sixties who had never heard of Hare Krishna. We asked her to take us to the small ISKCON temple in Helsinki. She called ahead, and the temple president was there to spend a few minutes with us. At the end of the long day touring Helsinki, each of us shared our highlight of the day. This woman’s highlight was the spiritual energy of the temple. Such is the legacy of Srila Prabhupada. My point is to identify what is most relevant and relatable about Krishna consciousness IF we want to impact the most souls. If, on the other hand, our approach is much more conservative and narrow to find that one moon, then the approach and audience size must logically become more narrowly focused. Not a new thought, or is it still a new way of thinking for many?

Although the foundation of ISKCON is ancient (read: eternal), the movement itself is relatively new on the world stage.

The question is whether these two approaches can co-exist under the same leadership or not? In other words, are they mutually exclusive in that you cannot have both approaches under the same roof? In the world of religious institutions, the answer is that it may be possible, but it is highly uncommon. Yes, all Jewish people are still Jews. Still, the various subgroups do not get along particularly well, and it is similar in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and others. Here are the approximate numbers of primary denominations of each of the five major world religions (according to Google).

Judaism has three primary denominations with 7.2 million followers
Buddhism has three primary sects with 520 million followers
Hinduism has four primary sects with 1 billion followers
Islam has seven primary sects with 1.8 billion follow
Christianity has an estimated 45,000 denominations (not a typo!) with 2.4 billion followers. That may not seem like a valid comparison of the major world religions. Still, it also reflects the condition of this world in this present age, the Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy.

After all, aren’t all spiritual traditions and institutions based on the principles of one primary founder and inspiration?

The question is whether the schisms in religions need to happen organically OR can they be planned and embraced by the institution as a whole.

While ISKCON is less than 60 years old, with so many of the first generation of disciples/followers still present, now would be the time to try and chalk out a roadmap for the future, a roadmap that allows for compassion, patience, respect, and love to reign supreme. I am not saying that the ISKCON leadership is not planning for the future in so many ways. However, the transition of the status quo is relatively easy. The challenging part is to be visionary with unified cooperation.

The opposite? Division, conflict, increased sectarianism, and arguably the Krishna Consciousness Movement would be less effective in helping more souls along their path back to the spiritual world. The choice is ours.

Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of ISKCON or ISKCON News.