Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Sahajiya tendency

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Sahajiya tendency

 

Early the next morning Prabhupada drove to the airport along with all of the

devotees. He had been with us for such a long time that it was too hard to

imagine that he would be gone for any more than a few days. I, at least, had

become so much accustomed to Prabhupada's personal association that I was

unable to contemplate his leaving Los Angeles. To me, he was going on a brief

trip and would be back shortly, and in fact all of the devotees seemed to feel

in a similar way. Prabhupada had been with us so long that we felt confident of

his continued presence; therefore his departure did not cause the same

heartbreak that I had felt previously when he had left San Francisco.

 

Afterward, returning to the temple, we called upon our Vrndavana guest. With

the devotees gathered around her, Gopala dasi led a kirtana, playing on the

mrdanga. Then, to our amazement she suddenly fell backward and began to roll

around on the floor, crying out in ecstasy. We had never seen Srila Prabhupada

do this, but since we were all new devotees, we tried to bide our surprise,

being unsure about the incident. Soon afterward she left, and one of the

devotees wrote Prabhupada a letter describing what had happened.

 

Prabhupada's reply left no doubt in our minds; he explained that we should be

very careful not to misunderstand such displays. He explained that there is a

class of pseudodevotees in Vrndavana, known as sahajiyas, who make such a show

of ecstasy. But their process of devotion does not follow the authorized

scriptural instructions, and therefore they are not approved by bona fide

devotees.

 

Prabhupada's warning against association with sahajiyas is repeated throughout

his books. Srila Rupa Gosvami has stated,

 

sruti-smrti-puranadi

pancaratra-viddhim vina

aikantiki harer bhaktir

utpatayaiva kalpate

 

"Devotional service performed without reference to the Vedas, Puranas, and

Pancaratras must be considered sentimentalism, and it causes nothing but

disturbance to society."

 

 

One must be always on guard to distinguish between actual spiritual advancement

and artificial displays of devotion. Sometimes we see a visitor to our temple

who has come for the first time dance in ecstasy. This is due to the

association with devotees and is known as shadow attachment. It is generally

innocent, and such a person returns to normal after leaving the devotees'

association. On the other hand, the activities of the sahajiyas or

pseudodevotees often found in the holy places are not so innocent. They have

extensively cultivated the false understanding of themselves as gopis or other

exalted devotees in their relationship with Krsna. Not having taken the trouble

to undergo the process of purification recommended by the acaryas, they

minimize the importance of such shastric instruction. Being still attached to

sense gratification, they invariably fall down to gross sensual activities. In

actual fact, their cheap imitation of devotional service is nothing more than

a thin veneer, a cover for their deep-rooted attachment to sense enjoyment. A

genuine devotee's advancement is proven not by such cheap displays but by how

much he is eager to perform service to Krsna in any of the nine legitimate

methods.

 

sravanam kirtanam visnoh

smaranam pada-sevanam

arcanam vandanam dasyam

sakhyam atma-nivedanam

 

One should patiently execute devotional service under the guidance of a bona

fide spiritual master, by whose satisfaction Krsna will certainly be induced to

bestow His causeless mercy.

 

During her brief stay, the Vrndavana visitor had taught the ladies to dance in

a circle reminiscent of the gopis dancing with Krsna in the rasa-lila. For days

after her presence, all the women devotees had performed this kind of dancing

at the rear of the temple instead of dancing in the way that Srila Prabhupada

had taught us to do. Though distracted by this artificial dancing, the

brahmacaris were afraid to criticize the lady sadhu because she had seemed to

be a close friend of Srila Prabhupada's. But when Srila Prabhupada's letter

arrived. Such dancing stopped abruptly. We had felt uneasy about the whole

situation, but Prabhupada had cleared away our confusion. And at the same time,

we realized hew susceptible we were to maya's influence now that our spiritual

master was away from us. We could not afford to again be overconfident, but

would have to make an even greater endeavor to always remember Prabhupada's

instructions.

 

- From the "Servant of the Servant" by HH Tamala Krsna Goswami

 

 

 

 

 

CHANT HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE AND BE HAPPY

Your humble servant

radhabhava gaur das

 

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