Unity in Diversity – Dandavats.com
By Visakha Dasi
Srila Prabhupada Evokes Unity in Diversity
When dissimilar individuals or concepts are harmonised, it’s called ‘unity in diversity.’ Such unity isn’t based on mere tolerance of psychological, personal, or ideological differences but is based on an understanding that differences are natural and can enrich us. Discovering how we’re united despite our differences can make us more fulfilled, broader devotees of Krishna. This sort of unity doesn’t mean uniformity and this sort of diversity doesn’t mean fragmentation. In Srila Prabhupada words, “In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the spiritual world there are varieties, but there is agreement. That is the difference. The materialist without being able to adjust the varieties and the disagreements makes everything zero. They cannot come into agreement with varieties, but if we keep Krishna in the center, then there will be agreement in varieties. This is called unity in diversity.” (Letter to Kirtanananda Oct. 18, 1973)
Srila Prabhupada wanted his diverse followers to cooperatively practice the principles of Krishna consciousness and to offer Krishna consciousness to all others. Since his followers came from the entire spectrum of society, as well as from different cultures and different religious, educational and economic backgrounds, they sometimes had quite different understandings of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and desires.
Correctly or incorrectly, all of us tend to consider our understanding the right one and other’s differing understanding as mistaken in some way. When Srila Prabhupada noticed his followers displeasing each other and fighting, he said it gave him “too much agitation” in his mind and he reiterated a verse vital to solving this difficulty: “One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” And Prabhupada commented, “We must always remember this verse and be as tolerant as the tree, as we execute the Krishna consciousness movement. Without this mentality we cannot be successful.” (Letter to Kirtanananda, Oct. 18,1973)
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