How passion and ignorance can create toxic environments in spiritual institutions
Understanding how devotional service can be practiced under the three modes is essential to protect ourselves from toxic environments, deal with other devotees and maintain our sanity.
A very important point for the success of our spiritual practice is to understand that devotional service can be practiced under the influence of the three material modes. Understanding this is essential not only for our own spiritual practice, understanding where we are and being able to progress, but also in dealing with other devotees and keeping our sanity. Most of us have experience with devotees acting in less-than-ideal ways, and we also have experience with how discouraging this can be, especially when such less-than-ideal devotees perform such actions from positions of leadership.
Being able to identify devotees who are performing devotional service under the material modes of passion and ignorance is thus essential to understanding such cases, as well as minimizing their effect. If we can understand the mentality of a person and understand how he or she tends to act, we can protect ourselves against such negative actions. This information is not something coming out of my mind, it is described very scientifically by Lord Kapila in the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam:
"Lord Kapila, the Personality of Godhead, replied: O noble lady, there are multifarious paths of devotional service in terms of the different qualities of the executor. Devotional service executed by a person who is envious, proud, violent and angry, and who is a separatist, is considered to be in the mode of darkness. The worship of Deities in the temple by a separatist, with a motive for material enjoyment, fame and opulence, is devotion in the mode of passion. When a devotee worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offers the results of his activities in order to free himself from the inebrieties of fruitive activities, his devotion is in the mode of goodness." (SB 3.29.7-10)
A devotee contaminated by the mode of ignorance will show qualities such as pride, anger, and violence. Such a person is defined by Lord Kapila as a separatist because his desires are not dovetailed with the Lord. In other words, the Lord desires one thing and he desires another. Even though he becomes somehow or other attracted to the practice of devotional service and the association of devotees, his practical actions are contrary to the desires of the Lord. He may act in inconsiderate, dismissive, offensive, or even violent ways against other devotees and people in general, engage in dishonest activities, tell lies, spread rumors, and so on.
Devotees contaminated by the mode of passion will have a tendency to use their practice of devotional service to achieve fame, power, prestige, material facilities, and so on, and use all kinds of political maneuvers to attain such ends. Just like in the case of a person contaminated by the mode of ignorance, this doesn't mean he or she has no desire to serve the Lord, but such propensity of service is filtered through one’s material contaminations and is thus manifested in perverted ways. Just like the devotee in ignorance, the devotee in passion is also a separatist who acts against the desires of the Lord and wants to use Him as an order supplier of material benefits. As Prabhupada explains in his purport:
"The word “separatist” must be understood carefully. The Sanskrit words in this connection are bhinna-dṛk and pṛthag-bhāvaḥ. A separatist is one who sees his interest as separate from that of the Supreme Lord. Mixed devotees, or devotees in the modes of passion and ignorance, think that the interest of the Supreme Lord is supplying the orders of the devotee; the interest of such devotees is to draw from the Lord as much as possible for their sense gratification. This is the separatist mentality."
In his natural state, the soul has no separate interest from the Lord. One simply sees himself as an eternal servant and desires to satisfy the Lord to the best of his capacity. This selfless consciousness exists when we are situated in pure Krsna Consciousness. Separate interests appear when we are under the influence of the false ego, the root of all material contamination. Due to the false ego, we see ourselves as separate or independent of the Supreme Lord and thus remain entangled in this material world. The cure for both the false ego and separate interests is the process of surrendering to the Lord, which should be voluntary and backed by proper philosophical understanding. To the extent we advance in the process of surrender, we become free from both.
In his purport to verse 10, Prabhupada gives us a practical hint on how to advance in this process.
"Devotional service in the modes of ignorance, passion and goodness can be divided into eighty-one categories. There are different devotional activities, such as hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, offering prayer, rendering service and surrendering everything, and each of them can be divided into three qualitative categories. There is hearing in the mode of passion, in the mode of ignorance and in the mode of goodness. Similarly, there is chanting in the mode of ignorance, passion and goodness, etc. Three multiplied by nine equals twenty-seven, and when again multiplied by three it becomes eighty-one. One has to transcend all such mixed materialistic devotional service in order to reach the standard of pure devotional service, as explained in the next verses."
There are nine processes of devotional service, namely: Hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, offering worship, offering prayers, becoming a servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and fully surrendering one's body, mind, and words.
There are also three modes of material nature: ignorance, passion, and goodness, whose symptoms Lord Kapila already described. Each of the nine processes of devotional service can be expressed through one of the three modes of material nature, resulting in different symptoms. We can hear or chant grudgingly, we can serve or worship with the idea of becoming famous and respected as great devotees, we can pray to obtain material benefits, we can serve the Lord or the spiritual master with the idea of achieving a certain social position or certain material status and benefits, we can imitate full surrender to become great spiritual leaders, and so on.
Each of the nine processes can be obscured by one of the three modes, resulting in twenty-one combinations, and each variation can be subdivided into three, by again combining it with one of the three modes. There is thus hearing in ignorance-ignorance, ignorance-passion, ignorance-goodness, passion-ignorance, passion-passion, and so on, resulting in a total of 81 combinations, as described by Srila Prabhupada.
The idea is that by understanding the symptoms of the three modes and the contaminations they introduce, we may gradually learn to avoid this influence, by first progressing from ignorance to passion, then from passion to goodness, and finally purifying ourselves from the subtle contamination of goodness and reaching the transcendental stage.
When we speak about the practical symptoms, devotional service contaminated by ignorance is of the lowest grade. One will be proud and tend to be fanatical and adopt rigid philosophical interpretations, accepting only members of his group as advanced devotees, or even seeing himself as the only one right. He or she will act in harsh and inconsiderate ways, may adopt dishonest means to attain goals, will be prone to be envious and revengeful, create conflicts, and so on. On the one hand, it is good that one is trying to serve the Lord, even if under the influence of the mode of darkness, but the problem is that one can create a lot of harm in the process. These are people we may choose to offer our respects from afar and keep a healthy distance from. As Prabhupada mentions in his purport, "Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura advises that a Vaishnava who is not of good character should be avoided." and "One may offer his respects to such a Vaiṣṇava because he has accepted the Supreme Lord as the ultimate goal of life, but one should not keep company with a Vaiṣṇava who is in the mode of ignorance."
Devotional service contaminated by passion, in turn, is plagued with a desire for material gain, be it in the form of direct material benefits, such as money and privileges, or more subtle, in the form of power, fame, and followers. Different people may be more attracted to one side or another, but the root cause is the same.
A devotee influenced by passion may desire to take charge of the worship of the deity in a temple, for example, but this desire may be mixed with a desire to fulfill personal interests, seeing it as a way to maintain a position of power and prestige. A pure devotee may desire to take charge of the service of the deity to improve the standards or to offer his service to the Lord, just like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura did in the temple of Lord Jagannatha in Puri, for example. This is one thing. A neophyte devotee influenced by passion, however, may fight to attain and maintain a position to extract some material benefit from it, like taking control of the money coming from donations, obtaining a prestigious position or power over others, etc. We can see that these are motives quite different from the motives of a pure devotee. Apart from deity worship, a devotee in passion may fight for a position of leadership in any other project or sector, with similar goals.
Unfortunately, such persons tend to be common in positions of leadership in religious institutions, since they are the ones who can get things done. Unfortunately, they are also often responsible for creating toxic environments that make the environment difficult for sincere people.
Unfortunately, often leadership in spiritual institutions is performed by devotees contaminated by the mode of passion. Understanding why it often results in such a toxic environment, how can we recognize it, how can we protect ourselves, and what would be the proper way to do things can be essential for our spiritual survival.
Leadership includes getting things done and attaining goals. Passion will make one inclined to work hard to attain goals, but these goals will not exactly be solely for the satisfaction of the Lord; ego will also play a prominent role. One may also pray, but more often than not these prayers will be in the direction of asking the Lord to help him or her to attain these material goals, and if these goals are not achieved, one may become frustrated or angry at the Lord, and in some cases even lose his faith. This comes from the tendency to use the Lord as an order supplier, as mentioned by Prabhupada in his purport. Another negative tendency is that believing that his personal goals are correct, a devotee in passion will tend to adopt a "the ends justify the means" mentality, mobilizing and even manipulating others to attain his goals, without caring much for their well-being. If in charge of a project, for example, a devotee in passion will prioritize the development of the project over the well-being of the devotees involved, which can have very negative consequences.
In a proper devotional platform, a devotee may create a plan, but then be sensitive to see if the Lord agrees or not with it, offering his service, but without trying to impose his particular plan. Different from the devotee in passion, the goal of a pure devotee is to offer his service to the Lord, trying to understand what will be pleasant to Him, instead of using the Lord to satisfy his ambition. Due to the pure mentality of such a devotee, the Lord will be able to guide him from both inside and outside, in the form of instructions from the spiritual master, etc. Thus, the pure devotee remains aligned with the desires of the Lord, instead of acting as a separatist like the devotee in passion or ignorance.
When we sincerely offer some service to Krsna, it may have three possible outcomes. The Lord may accept our plan and empower us to fulfill it, the Lord may make it happen later, after giving us the necessary spiritual baggage to be able to carry it out, or He may choose to change it into something else entirely.
When it comes to organization and development, an important distinction between a pure devotee and devotees influenced by passion or ignorance is that the pure devotee will try to use his project to benefit devotees, while the other two will tend to use devotees to benefit their project.
All projects we develop have the ultimate purpose of bringing people to Krsna Consciousness. People learn about Krsna Consciousness not from the wall of a temple or the grass fields in a farm, but from the devotees who live there. Therefore, the important component of any project is the devotees, and not walls or land. If advanced devotees are present, they can spread Krsna Consciousness by just chanting in a park, while even the most opulent building will fail to bring anyone to the path of devotional service if devotees are not present there. One in proper spiritual consciousness will thus see that the devotees are not only the most important part but what is most dear to Krsna. He will thus use his project to develop the devotees, instead of the opposite.
When we express our devotional service through the mode of goodness, we learn to avoid these pitfalls and develop our activities in ways that are healthy for the devotees around us. That's when our actions start to have a positive and lasting effect in bringing people to Krsna Consciousness. In ignorance, we are just a toxic person who others have to learn to avoid. In passion, we can build things, but these tend to crumble later because we see mainly the material side. Only in goodness, we can find a proper and balanced attitude that is satisfying to the Lord. In essence, in the mode of goodness, we can execute our devotional service in a way that is satisfying to the Lord, the only fault is that we do that with the idea of becoming free from material suffering and achieving liberation. This mode of worship is almost pure, there is just a small tinge of personal interest due to the concern about personal salvation. As we progress, even this desire for liberation may go, and we may finally become situated on a platform of pure and unmotivated devotional service.
We can see that Krsna dedicates a great part of the verses of the Bhagavad-Gita to explaining the three modes of material nature and concludes that we should elevate ourselves to the mode of goodness. When we speak about the practice of devotional service, the mode of goodness is essential, because this is the only of the three modes that allows us to cooperate in the service of the Lord peacefully. Both the influence of passion and ignorance lead to conflict, and such conflict undermines our communities, creating a difficult situation for everyone. Only to the extent we are influenced by the mode of goodness can we be able to understand and reconcile different ideas, interests, and necessities with a calm mind.
The mode of passion is like a pair of glasses with red lenses. When we put on such glasses we see everything red. Under the influence of the mode of passion, there is pride and attachment, which can easily cause violent responses when we are antagonized. Under the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance, our intelligence becomes covered and we become propense to conflict. We start to bark at others and fight just like dogs or cats.
We can see that in Vedic society Ksatriyas are influenced by the mode of passion, while Brahmanas are influenced by the mode of goodness. Ksatriyas fight under the smallest provocation, while Brahmanas are transcendental diplomats who are peaceful and unattached and thus can easily find peaceful solutions for problems that take into consideration the needs of the different parties involved. The same applies to us. Conflicts can be avoided and solved in the mode of goodness. It's not by chance that Srila Prabhupada wanted to train his disciples as Brahmanas: The Brahmana is a transcendental diplomat and our society is in dire need of such diplomats.
Avoiding conflict includes being able to put oneself in the position of the other side and not consider one's needs more important than the needs of the other party. For this, we need to abandon our separatist attitude. We are all parts and parcels of Krsna, and therefore we are all brothers. Is there a big difference if I get something, or if my brother gets it? By ascending to the mode of goodness, we can start to be able to hear the guidance of Paramatma inside the heart and hear the guidance from the spiritual master from the outside. Only by ascending to the mode of goodness the red glasses of the mode of passion can be removed and we can start to see things as they are.
Later, in the 4th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Goswami gives practical examples of these different qualities of devotional service and what results they award.
a) The pastime of Daksa cursing Lord Shiva is given as an example of devotional service polluted by the mode of ignorance. Daksa assumed an important post in the universe, becoming responsible for populating the universe as the leader of the prajapatis. This is a very responsible post, higher than even the demigods. However, because he was affected by the mode of ignorance, he exhibited envy, pride, and anger towards Lord Shiva, whom he couldn't properly appreciate. He even disregarded his own daughter, which resulted in her death.
What was the result? Daksa was punished for his offenses. He was first killed by Virabhadra because of his offense to Lord Shiva, then he received the head of a goat to be able to finish the sacrifice, and after that, he had to die again to receive a new body, in which he had to practice austerities for several manvantaras to finally purify himself and regain his service. Daksa then proceeded to offend another pure devotee, Narada Muni, when he delivered his sons. There is no information about when he may go back to Godhead. From his pastime, we can learn that a devotee performing service in the mode of ignorance is not rejected by Krsna but he may have to face adverse results due to his offenses and remain in this material world for a very long time.
b) The pastime of Dhruva Maharaja, the second major pastime of the 4th canto, is given as an example of devotional service practiced under the mode of passion. Dhruva Maharaja was seeking the Lord out of the desire for material benefit, desiring to achieve a kingdom greater than his father. The result was that he gained what he desired, becoming the king of Bhu-Mandala, but on the other hand, had to live for 36,000 years before finally going back to Godhead. From this pastime, we can see that Krsna also doesn't reject a devotee in the mode of passion, and may even give the material opulence he desires, but in this case, the devotee will have to stay in the material world to enjoy it. Only after giving up this propensity may one finally go back to Godhead.
c) Finally, there is the example of pure devotional service, offered in the story of Prthu Maharaja. He is given as the example of the perfect devotee, because he perfectly executed his service of managing the universe without false prestige, rapt in meditation in the forms and qualities of Krsna, and perfectly dovetailed with the desires of the Lord. The result was that he was directly empowered by the Lord to execute his service, gained the association and blessings of pure devotees (the four Kumaras), and was able to easily go back home, back to Godhead.