Learning from our past/vs forgetting it/vs becoming bitter

[niscala dasi]

This is related to Pancharatna's question in the "Determining
Varna..." thread re. negativity and criticism, but the topic has taken
a turn, thus the new name...

Rather than forget the problems of ISKCON, or turn them into
propaganda of negativity, hostility and bitterness, as some do, I
think we should learn from them, and this is relevant, vitally
relevant to VA. To set up a positive alternative society, one needs to
know what to avoid- what undesirable traits in human nature, OUR human
nature, including mine, can cause the thing to fall apart. Certainly,
without a doubt, we have a propensity to exploit in the name of Krsna-
exploit anything we can get our grubby little hands on- exploit trust,
exploit innocence, exploit the desire to surrender unconditionally,
exploit attachment to living in a society of devotees, exploit SP's
instructions. Therefore, it is important to treat the lowest rung with
the utmost respect- when I write about other varnas, I write about
their duties and responsibilities. When I write about the sudra, it is
to stress that he should never be exploited. Therefore I stress that
tasks no one likes to do, such as cleaning toilets, should be shared
around, and the prospective worker asked what he likes to do, then see
if that fits in with the community's goals, then if it does, he is
welcomed to join. There should be an atmosphere of loving protection
towards the workers, all varnas, but especially the workers. If one is
a ksatriya, and aware of our history of exploitation, then one will be
like a hawk, looking out for the slightest sign of disrespect of
workers, exploitation of humility and innocence, and any other signs
of rot.

There are three ways to react to a bad history- forget it, become
bitter about it, or learn and act on it. It doesn't mean that learning
from it, means we will pass negativity on to new people. The stories
of hitler and the nazis are studied to learn about human nature, how
the assigning of labels can dehumanize, how Darwin's theory of
evolution can have evil ramifications, how atrocities can be
whitewashed by calling them something noble or necessary -e.g. "the
solution", how when in a crisis, we scapegoat, how we have a tendency
to obey orders ratrher than follow our conscience, to rationalize,
rather than objectively anaylyze. That history proves we are a species
of irrational beings, rather than a species that thinks rationally,
primarily, as we once assumed. Such realization causes us to be on
guard, and enact laws that protect the weak and the vulnerable, and
limit the misuse of power. .

Criticism of past wrong doings should not be for blind revenge, but
directed towards something positive. One should criticize only those
faults that have a direct impact on people's spiritual lives, have had
catastrophic effects in the past, and hamper our ability to evolve as
devotees and as a movement. . To criticize faults that are only a
problem to the person who has the fault- because of a desire to name,
shame and blame him, drag him through the mud, jump on him, when he is
struggling to get on his feet, is fault-finding in tamo guna. One
fault-finding is based on concern and compassion. The other on hatred.

The unfortunate history of ISKCON need never be discussed to
newcomers, as some do, as it is irrelevant and can therefore only
bring about negativity.. But if newcomers become leaders in due
course, the history must be learnt and lessons derived from it, so as
not to repeat it- that is wisdom. The goal is to set up a society
without negativity - one can do that by knowing what creates it, by
knowing the causes of negativity, without being entangled in it. It is
like handling a hot potato, I agree, but if the potatoes need to be
brought out of the oven, than such handling- someone has to do it.