Kurma

"Treat a man as he is, he will remain so. Treat a man the way he can be and ought to be, and he will become as he can be and should be."
- Goethe

A friend of mine in Florida sent me this quote today in the (e)mail. It 'resonated' well with me (excuse the new-age speak). It reminded me of the way my spiritual preceptor and guru Srila Prabhupada (pictured below) dealt with us, his followers and disciples.

He treated us all as spiritual beings, despite our external symptoms to the contrary. He saw our potential and interacted with us not as bodies but as souls aspiring perfection. And, lo and behold, we naturally sought (and continue to seek) perfection.

This is the rare quality of nurturing and uplifting leadership to which Goethe refers.