Page 37 - GOTIL (ENG) Sample

Village Life in Bangladesh 5

I appreciated whatever culture remains in other parts
of the subcontinent, I concluded that Bangladesh is the
best place to get direct experience of traditional Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇavism.

Nevertheless life in Bengal is difficult; thus eventually I felt
an urge to move on. But in hindsight I realize how much
I learned during my years in Bengal about life, people,
and culture. Living in Bangladesh changed my outlook
on life almost as deeply as did my initial coming to Kṛṣṇa
consciousness. My experiences in Bangladesh took me
to a new phase of awareness, that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is
more than a philosophy, belief, or even a religion — but
a complete way of life.

Foreigners in the Villages

When we first went to Bangladesh, the Hindus there
were influenced by propaganda that Hinduism is a
dying religion and the world is converting to Islam.
Bengalis are naturally open-hearted, extroverted, and
excitable people. So wherever our Western devotees
went in Bangladesh, local Hindus would accord ecstatic
receptions for these foreigners who had adopted the
practice of Vaiṣṇavism.
easy). Sahajiyās advocate that the path of spiritual realization is
so easy that rigid scriptural rules are not necessary. Sahajiyā-ism
is typified by esoteric emotional expression, and perversion of
basic scriptural truths. For instance, the scriptural injunction
that one should serve the guru has been distorted by a class of
men claiming guru-ship on the basis of birth alone, and thus
living comfortably at the expense of others.