How to Discern Your Level of Advancement

Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. That which is most sublime is to re-awaken your lost loving relationship with the Supreme Person, the source of all existence. You can easily measure your own degree of progress on this path of awakening your love for God by seeing how much your faith has developed.

Some persons take the pathway of Krishna consciousness with some idea of benefitting themselves materially. They do not have faith in the process of reawakening their dormant love of God. These are known as third class persons in Krishna consciousness. Others, who have firm faith that surrender to Krishna is the goal of life and have thus seriously taken it up but are not very advanced in understanding the devotional scriptures, are known as second class persons in Krishna consciousness. And those who have unflinching faith in the process of Krishna consciousness and at the same time are very expert in the devotional scriptures and presenting the philosophical conclusions of the Vaisnava acharyas are known as first class persons in Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada explains that the third-class person in Krishna consciousness may fall down, but that when one is in the second class or first class position there is no chance of his falling down.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Presenting the Science of Krishna Consciousness at the University of Mauritius--6 June 2011

Sankarshan Das Presenting the Science of Krishna Consciousness

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Should We Pray for Health or Wealth?

When praying to Lord Krishna what should we ask for: health or wealth?.

Your servant,
S.G.D.

Answer: Neither

You should pray for pure devotional service and nothing else. If you pray for health or wealth, you may achieve them temporarily. But you will again become diseased and impoverished in the cycle of birth and death within this material world. However, if you will pray for pure devotional service, you will attain eternal wealth and health in the spiritual sky. So now you decide, which is better: to pray for health and wealth or to pray for pure devotional service.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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