Answer
One important point is that true humility is deeply connected with power. Real meekness and humility can be demonstrated only in the midst of power.
If I understand that intrinsically I am powerless without Kṛṣṇa empowering me, then I can handle power properly. Kṛṣṇa entrusts power even to conditioned souls and devotees according to their attitude, integrity, and sincerity.
Consider a cashier in a bank. He handles large amounts of money, yet the money does not belong to him. The bank trusts him because he has the integrity not to take that money for himself. Similarly, any power entrusted to us is not meant for our personal enjoyment. It is given to us for service.
The real issue is integrity. It is a question of giving up self-centeredness.
As part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, enjoyment is natural for us. Pleasure is not wrong. Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment is, in fact, the central theme of all existence. However, our enjoyment is meant to come through participating in His enjoyment, not through independently trying to enjoy power, position, or influence for ourselves.
Just as a cashier carefully handles the bank's money, a devotee carefully handles power on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. The goal is to give confidence to the owner.
The bank trusts the cashier because it knows he will not steal.
Similarly, we should give confidence to the Lord in the heart. We should constantly pray:
"May my loyalty to You increase, and may my loyalty to my false ego decrease."
Because of our conditioned nature, we are born into this world hungry for power. We must understand that force operating within us.
That is why it is said that subtle sex desire manifests as power, fame, distinction, prestige, recognition, personal gain, and personal glorification. Conditioned souls are born with tendencies toward self-centered enjoyment, personal fame, personal recognition, and personal importance.
We must honestly acknowledge our limitations as conditioned living entities. These tendencies are present within us.
By great fortune, we have come into contact with devotional service. Otherwise, under the influence of time and karma, we would simply be pushed by these forces toward enjoyment and suffering, gain and loss, fame and infamy.
All these forces continue to operate within material nature. But now that we have become devotees, we must learn to redirect them.
The desire for recognition should become a desire to increase the glory of guru and Kṛṣṇa.
The desire for influence should become a desire to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
The desire for accomplishment should become a desire to please Śrīla Prabhupāda.
The energy remains, but the center shifts.
This is the training of pure devotional service.
Once we become firmly focused on who the actual owner is, everything changes. If today we have money, organizational ability, managerial influence, preaching opportunities, or any other form of power, we should understand that all of it belongs to Śrīla Prabhupāda and Kṛṣṇa.
These facilities are the result of the reciprocation between guru and Kṛṣṇa. Although we are not yet perfect, Kṛṣṇa is reciprocating with Śrīla Prabhupāda's desire and mercifully allowing us to participate in His mission.
Therefore, the owner must never be forgotten.
The enjoyer must never be forgotten.
Our position is that of humble servants.
As we engage these energies more loyally in the service of guru and Kṛṣṇa, They gain greater confidence in us. And as that confidence grows, more service opportunities become available.
Kṛṣṇa is the owner of all energies. The treasury of spiritual empowerment opens in proportion to a devotee's determination to use those energies responsibly and faithfully in the Lord's service.
Thus spiritual life involves continuously building trust with guru and Kṛṣṇa.
Every little power we possess should be viewed in this light.
Even the power to break a regulative principle is a form of freedom. Without freedom, power cannot exist.
Power and freedom are inseparably connected.
Suppose you have one hundred rupees in your pocket. That money gives you freedom. You may spend it wisely or foolishly. The freedom is there.
If you misuse it, your resources diminish. If you invest it properly, your resources grow.
Similarly, the freedom given to us by Kṛṣṇa can be misused or properly utilized.
When freedom is misused, it contracts.
When freedom is used in devotional service, it expands.
This is especially significant in the human form of life. Human life provides a unique opportunity to invest our freedom in a way that leads toward liberation.
Liberation is the fullest expression of freedom.
Therefore, human life is extremely valuable.
Even within ordinary life we can observe this principle. Some people feel trapped by circumstances and have very little practical freedom. Others possess greater freedom and opportunity. To a large extent, these conditions are connected to how freedom was used previously.
The same principle applies in devotional service.
If we faithfully invest whatever Śrīla Prabhupāda has entrusted to us back into his service, our circle of service expands. Our opportunities increase. Our responsibility increases.
This is very important because guru and Kṛṣṇa are eager to bring conditioned souls back to Godhead. There is a mission to be accomplished.
However, if we become thieves—if the false ego begins claiming ownership over the Lord's energies—then those same energies can drag us back into illusion.
The false ego is a thief. It constantly attempts to appropriate Kṛṣṇa's property and use it for self-centered purposes.
Therefore, power is both valuable and dangerous.
Like a double-edged sword, it can either accelerate our spiritual advancement or deepen our entanglement in material illusion.
The determining factor is whether we use it as faithful servants or as false proprietors.
