“ISKCON is my body.” What does it mean?

When we understand ISKCON as the instrument, or vehicle, that Śrila Prabhupada uses to interact and change the world, we can have a much healthier relationship with it.

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Prabhupada once said, “ISKCON is my body.” What exactly does it mean? To be able to understand it, first of all, we need to define what “body” means.

Often, we take the word “body” in the sense of “self.” If we take it in this sense, then when Prabhupada says that ISKCON is his body, we will get the idea that ISKCON is not different from Prabhupada. We will understand that ISKCON is Prabhupada. This will lead to the idea that it is not possible to serve Prabhupada if one is not directly connected with the institution, or that to criticize any aspect of the institution means to directly offend Prabhupada, for example. It may also lead to the idea that the institution must be perfect, since Prabhupada is perfect, which in turn can lead one to lose his faith in Prabhupada and his teachings if it is proved that the institution is not as perfect as he or she imagined.

However, this understanding may not be very correct. In the scriptures, we hear that the body is not our real self. Rather, the body is like a vehicle or instrument that we use to operate in this material world. Our real self is spiritual, and the body is a vehicle that we use to interact with this world. In this sense, the word “body” is not the same as “self.” Rather, “body” means “instrument” or “vehicle.” Body can also be understood as “energy,” in the sense of energy being a manifestation of one’s power and being used to achieve some goal.

What difference does it make? It can make a great difference.

When we understand this sentence in the sense of ISKCON being the instrument, or vehicle, that Śrila Prabhupada uses to interact and change the world, we can have a much healthier relationship with it. A tool or vehicle does not need to be perfect. The perfection is in the one using it, not in the instrument itself. If we understand that ISKCON is an instrument, we understand that we are also part of it, and therefore, we also have our share of responsibility in maintaining it.

As an instrument is not perfect, it can be improved, and we can be part of this process of improvement, and in this way do our part in assisting Śrila Prabhupada in accomplishing his mission.

Being a material object, an instrument can also be misused, and it’s certainly our responsibility to prevent this from happening through whatever means may be at our disposal.

Another meaning is that although the body is also important, the most important component is the soul inside the body. This means that ISKCON, as the body of Śrila Prabhupada, hides something much more valuable inside, which are his teachings.

When we just interact with the body, our relationships remain quite shallow. When someone’s father dies, one cries that his father has gone, while the body with which he interacted his whole life is still there. Still, he notices something is missing and cries that his father has gone. This means he never met his father. Similarly, we may interact with just the body of Prabhupada, and in this case, our relationship with him will remain shallow and superficial. He will always remain a stranger to us. On the other hand, one who associates with the soul in the form of his teachings will have a much more profound understanding of him.

A final trap is that the institution can degenerate into a lifeless body without realized devotees who understand and practice the teachings of Prabhupada. A spiritual movement is not formed by the walls of the temples or the grass of the farms, but by mature devotees living and teaching inside of it. If these genuine sādhus and devotees are suppressed or forced to move away, what is left is a dead body of bureaucracy and ritualism that has little value.

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