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EDITORIAL March 6, 1999 VNN3255 Sri Mahaprabhu's Sankirtana Movement - The Next Wave BY MINAKETANA RAMADASA DASA EDITORIAL, Mar 6 (VNN) — I have been pondering where it will go from here since 108 Sri Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada's disappearance and the aftermath. To date most of the new disciples in the Gaudiya (Caitanyaite) tradition (at least in the West) have been made via the institutional approach. However, there is also the non-institutional approach. I make the distinction based on scale alone. On the one hand you have the large bureaucratic organizations, such as ISKCON and Gaudiya Math, whereas on the other hand you have the small temples spread across Braja Mandala, West Bengal and other parts of India. I would characterize the former to be more in the mood of aisvarya (Dvaraka and Vaikuntha) and the latter to be more in the mood of madhurya (Gokula and Goloka Vrndavana). It would follow naturally, based on the work of Carl Jung, student of Sigmund Freud, on the archetypes he distilled from world mythologies and the shaping of personality types, that half the people will be attracted to the institutional approach and the other half to the non-institutional. For those not familiar with Meyers Briggs psychological testing, the population breaks down into 16 distinct personality types. Those that are more introspective and reflective are likely to gravitate towards the smaller organizations, whereas those that are more extroverted and impulsive are likely to gravitate towards the large institutions. So, it would seem that both approaches are going to be needed to increase market saturation to critical mass. Since I do not heard kirtana going on outside my office window right now, I can assume that we have not reached that juncture yet. About the Author | Other Stories by this Author Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9903/ET06-3255.html
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