(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Mayapur, November 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritamrta Part 5
Srila Prabhupada was bringing out the ‘Back of Godhead’ magazine, and later in 1965 he gave the ‘Back to Godhead’ magazine to Rayarama and Harigriya. And what they did with it was: A poem about Narada Muni being a transcendental space man. There was also a poem of Blake. From Harigriya’s point of view, Blake was very spiritual. But from a vaisnava’s point of view, Blake is lost….he was lost. Of course, Blake was a seeker and wrote many poems about seeking for God, but still we would not put Blake in ‘Back to Godhead’ today.
But Prabhupada let them do it. So that was quite something, because this is the magazine that he had to fight for. He had to fight for it in the war. He gave his blood sweat and tears to get it going, and then what are they doing with it? Very few people they would have given a lot of endeavour for something, and would be able to give it to some other, and be completely detached about it………….. and let them deal with it. The tendency would be:
“Do you what I went through in the war for this magazine? Do you realise what difficulties I had to get this paper and what are you making out of it?”
No, Prabhupada, allowed them do it, and now there is a mature magazine made by his disciples, and that is the result of letting them do it! Otherwise, there would have never been a mature magazine. So that is an example of how Prabhupada empowered, by just simply allowing empowerment. Of course, empowerment is not only to be understood in terms of the definition, but that in a mundane world to empowerment is given – which means you let another person take responsibility, but you also give him some tools, or some insights by which he can perform that particular task.
So that definition certainly applies, where empowerment in the vaisnava movement means that you give people the opportunity and you give them some tools, and some knowledge to act. But of course, it also goes further in a sense that in empowerment there is almost no limit! In the ‘Nectar of Devotion’ book it is mentioned that the Lord can empower the devotee as much as Himself, as He so desires. So there is no limit as to how much the person can become empowered!