Around mid-day Srila Prabhupada was sitting quietly in his room. A large, heavily built young man ran screaming along the veranda right past his window. A half-dozen other devotees, led by Gurukripa Swami, followed him.
Prabhupada’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “What is that?” I looked out the door and recognized the fugitive as a young American devotee who has been the subject of criticism over the last few days. Over six feet tall and about 250 pounds, he seems a little mentally slow, with a heavy overhanging brow and deep-set eyes that move evasively when he speaks. Although shaven headed and dressed as a brahmacari, he claims to be a paid-up Life Member. Therefore, he considers himself exempt from doing any service in the asrama. He has a room in the Guest House, and his persistent refusal to do anything other than read Srila Prabhupada’s books has created some resentment among the other devotees.
Prabhupada sent me out to find out what was going on. It was quite a scene. The men had him hemmed into one corner of the balcony. He was fending them off and yelling at the top of his lungs, “He-e-elllp!” I saw Gurukripa kick him and several others tussling with him. My presence made them aware that Prabhupada was being disturbed by the commotion. So things quieted down, and Gurukripa came before His Divine Grace to explain what was going on. The boy had gotten into a violent argument after refusing to do any service. The devotees were trying to forcibly remove him from the building. To avoid them, he tried to take refuge on Prabhupada’s floor. Prabhupada considered the situation and presented his conclusion. He said that if visiting devotees wanted to read and chant exclusively, there was nothing wrong in it, at least here in Mayapur. That is provided they were actually reading and not just using this as an excuse to sleep. However, he condemned the notion of giving money to the temple and then asking for Life Membership status. He remarked that this was simply business and not a proper devotional attitude.
Life Membership is for uninitiated devotees, he said. If someone actually joins the movement, then he should surrender everything his money, his intelligence, his life. That is real life membership. The business of the devotee is to give everything to the spiritual master and thus become his menial servant. He said the boy should be allowed to stay and not be disturbed. Everyone filed out of his room. With a wry smile Srila Prabhupada shook his head. “These boys are too sophisticated,” he concluded, referring to the “Life Member” brahmacari.
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 1 by Hari Sauri Dasa
