Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

This book, Sri Chaitanya -Siksamrta  is simply wonderful  in  that it contains so much pertinent information regarding the souls release from  Maya in our conditional state. Here below is one short example contained in the  sixth rainfall chapter.

But first, from Srila Prabhupadas books we have the  2 verses  given by Srila Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Devotion which give in summary the progressive stages one will encounter on the road to Love of God, or  Krsna Prema.

                     

   “In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire  for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying  to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next  stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under  his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of  devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of  the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material  attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste  for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.  This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Krsna  consciousness,

which is matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of  transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called prema, the  highest perfectional stage of life.” In the prema stage there is  constant engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

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Upon examining the lives of devotees, it will be found that some have  developed faith by studying the scriptures impartially. Many have developed  faith by association with devotees and hearing their teachings. Others  have developed faith in bhakti after performing duties according  to varnashram and developing repulsion for taking material results from such  activities.  Others have developed faith through disgust for  speculative knowledge. Others have developed faith suddenly.

There is no specific rule for the develolpment of faith, for faith ,  the seed of the creeper of bhakti is above the rules. Therefore, it may be said  that faith develops only within the consciousness of a fortunate soul.

The end of executing karma according to ones varnashrama duties and the  appearance of faith are simultaneous. When faith arises, the devotees become  filled with hopeful anxiety. This sraddha (faith) is the first  stage in the development of prema.

By previous material habits, the aspiring devotees are still controlled  by sinful tendencies, but thinking of how to dissipate this evil, they take  shelter at the feet of pure devotees. The aspirants begin to search  out pure devotees free from material desires, and by Krsna’s mercy, they  attain such association. This sadhu -sanga (association with devotees)  is the second sign in the development of prema.

In that pure association, the devotees begin to carry out devotional  activities, such as hearing and singing the glories of the Lord and remembering  the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord. With this practice, of  bhakti, according to the five divisions  mentioned previously, material  sense pleasure and desire, which are the root  of the material evils,  become submissive to bhakti. Although the tendency to sinful activity  remains within the body, the desire, the desire to sin is now given  up. This is the third stage in attaining prema known as bhajana  kriya (devotional action).

By cultivating devotion, attachment to material pleasure, sinful conduct,  violence, greed and other material habits gradually decreases, and the devotee  becomes progressively free of material desire. This   is

When material desire dissipates , attachments to things other than the Lord  also disappears. Faith becomes nistha (steadiness) in devotion to the  Lord. As long as the anarthas remain, faith cannot be steadily applied to the  Lord, so to the extent that the anarthas are extinguished, faith turns into  nistha. This attainment of nistha is the fifth stage in attaining  prema.

Attaining steadiness, devotees perform their devotional activities and  take association with more care. By this the anarthas  are further reduced and steadiness  turns to joy in the Lords  service. This is called ruci (taste). This is the sixth  step. With ruci for Krsna is well established,  everything else material becomes tastless.

When ruci becomes intense, along with greater destruction of sin,  askati (attachment) appears. Asakti is still within the purview of  sadhana bhakti. However, sadhana has now become perfect, devotional attachment  has reached fullness, and the devotee feels successful. This askati  is the seventh stage.

When asakti becomes completely full and deep it is called  bhava,(ecstasy) or rati (the seedling of prema). At the stage  of asakti, there is no manifestation of suddha sattva svarupa. This is attained  at the stage of bhava, and so the heart melts becoming soft and smooth.  This bhava is the eighth stage

When bhava attains exclusive possessiveness of Krsna, it is called  prema, which is the state of permanent spiritual emotion suitable for rasa.  This the ninth stage in devotional development.

The devotees performing sadhana bhakti should always be attentive to the  condition of their devotion, perceiving the condition yesterday and that  improvement made today. If they perceive that after some time no progress  has been made according to the stages given above, they must understand that  some offence must have been committed. Having diagnosed that offence, they  should give it up and by association  with devotees correct the harm  done. Continuously cultivating bhakti and praying to Krsna , they should be  careful that the offence does not occur again.

Those who do not care to examine their progress will advance very  slowly because of unseen obstacles they have created. Devotees please take  special precaution of this matter.