Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Sahajiya tendency

[Guest guest]

Sahajiya tendencyEarly 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-puranadipancaratra-viddhim vinaaikantiki harer bhaktirutpatayaiva 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 visnohsmaranam pada-sevanamarcanam vandanam dasyamsakhyam atma-nivedanamOne 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 GoswamiCHANT 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 Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.