Sahajiya Vaishnavas 101:
1) The followers of this sect have been historically being ridiculed & considered taboo by the society, even from the Gaudiya Vaishnava community.
So most followers do not reveal their identity and carry out their practices in secret, even till today.
1) The followers of this sect have been historically being ridiculed & considered taboo by the society, even from the Gaudiya Vaishnava community.
So most followers do not reveal their identity and carry out their practices in secret, even till today.
2) The Vaishnava-Sahajiya sought religious experience through the five senses which included human coupling and sexual love. Sahaja (Sanskrit: “easy” or “natural”) as a system of worship was prevalent in the Tantric traditions common to both Hinduism and Buddhism.
3) The tradition uses the romance between Krishna and Radha as a metaphor for union with God, and sought to experience that union through its physical reenactment.
4) The Vaisnava-Sahajiya creed is a synthesis of these various traditions. The Vaisnava-Sahajiyas operated in secrecy because their sexual tantric practices were viewed with marked disdain by other religious communities.
5) The cult was centered in Bengal. It began in the 16th century, although predecessors existed as early as the 8th century in the same city. The founder is generally thought to be Baru Chandidas, who lived in the 14th century and they use cryptic language to avoid attention.
6) Members of this lineage enacted the 'group in a round' Ganachakra or circle dance now known as the Rasa-lila of Krishna. It is a mystery religion rite, wherein the followers participated in a rite of communion, trance possession, and non-difference or nonduality with 'deity'.
7) The Sahajiya emphasise the importance of the body. They believe that the body embodies the universe and attainment of the self can only be made through bodily love. Literature based on Sahajiya philosophy is classified as Sahajiya literature.
8) This is what Dr. Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji, a renowned modern Gaudiya Vaishnava Guru and the founder of the Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies, says abouts Sahajiyas:
9) It is also worthwhile to note that unlike most Vaishnava traditions, Sahajiyas did not stress on vegetarianism or even follow the rules of Ekadashi so even though maithuna was considered the most important practice, partaking madya and mansa was definitely included.
10) One of the most famous Sahajiya text is the Radha Tantra. Unfortunately, the text has not been translated in English. You can read it in Bengali here.
archive.org/details/bub_ma…
archive.org/details/bub_ma…
It's part 2 of exploring subtradition, you can access previous part in quoted tweet.
Stay tuned 🙏
Stay tuned 🙏
