Have the Best Day of Your Life Every Day
Anyone who begins his day by feelingly chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) with full absorption will have the best day of his life every day. This means that every day will be better than the previous day. This is what is really means to be Krishna consdious
Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupad.
My Dear Gurudev,
Thank you for your kind offer to send the stages the devotee may go through before reaching the highest.
Your humble servant,
Suzanne
Answer: Steps from Sraddha to Prema
From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA
My Dear Suzanne,
Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The stages of devotional service are mentioned in the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 23, Texts 14 and 15 as follows:
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu- saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ
SYNONYMS
ādau—in the beginning; śraddhā—firm faith, or disinterest in material affairs and interest in spiritual advancement; tataḥ—thereafter; sādhu-saṅgaḥ—association with pure devotees;
atha—then; bhajana-kriyā—performance of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa (surrendering to the spiritual master and being encouraged by the association of devotees, so that initiation takes place); tataḥ—thereafter; anartha-nivṛttiḥ—the diminishing of all unwanted habits; syāt—there should be; tataḥ—then; niṣṭhā—firm faith; ruciḥ—taste; tataḥ—thereafter; atha—then; āsaktiḥ—attachment; tataḥ—then; bhāvaḥ—emotion or affection; tataḥ—thereafter; prema—love of God; abhyudañcati—arises; sādhakānām—of the devotees practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness; ayam—this; premṇaḥ—of love of Godhead; prādurbhāve—in the appearance; bhavet—is; kramaḥ—the chronological order.
TRANSLATION
"In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
Srila Prabhupada elaborates on these stages in the Narada Bhakti Sutra as follows:
The first requirement is that one should have sufficient faith that the only process for attaining love of Godhead is bhakti,devotional service to the Lord. Throughout the Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa teaches that one should give up all other processes of self-realization and fully surrender unto Him. That is faith. One who has full faith in Kṛṣṇa (śraddhā) and surrenders unto Him is eligible for being raised to the level of prema, which Lord Caitanya taught as the highest perfectional stage of human life.
Some persons are addicted to materially motivated religion, while others are addicted to economic development, sense gratification, or the idea of salvation from material existence. But prema, love of God, is above all these. This highest stage of love is above mundane religiosity, above economic development, above sense gratification, and above even liberation, or salvation. Thus love of God begins with the firm faith that one who engages in full devotional service has attained perfection in all these processes.
The next stage in the process of elevation to love of God is sādhu-saṅga [Cc. Madhya 22.83], association with persons already in the highest stage of love of God. One who avoids such association and simply engages in mental speculation or so-called meditation cannot be raised to the perfectional platform. But one who associates wit h pure devotees or an elevated devotional society goes to the next stage—bhajana-kriyā, or acceptance of the regulative principles of worshiping the Supreme Lord. One who associates with a pure devotee of the Lord naturally accepts that person as his spiritual master, and when the neophyte devotee accepts a pure devotee as his spiritual master, the duty of the spiritual master is to train the neophyte in the principles of regulated devotional service, or vaidhi-bhakti. At this stage the devotee's service is based on his capacity to serve the Lord. The expert spiritual master engages his followers in work that will gradually develop their consciousness of service to the Lord. Therefore the preliminary stage of understanding prema, love of God, is to approach a proper pure devotee, accept him as one's spiritual master, and execute regulated devotional service under his guidance.
The next stage is called anartha-nivṛtti, in which all the misgivings of material life are vanquished. A person gradually reaches this stage by regularly performing the primary principles of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master. There are many bad habits we acquire in the association of material contamination, chief of which are illicit sexual relationships, eating animal food, indulging in intoxication, and gambling. The first thing the expert spiritual master does when he engages his disciple in regulated devotional service is to instruct him to abstain from these four principles of sinful life.
Since God is supremely pure, one cannot rise to the highest perfectional stage of love of God without being purified. In the Bhagavad-gītā (10.12), when Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord, he said, pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: "You are the purest of the pure." The Lord is the purest, and thus anyone who wants to serve the Supreme Lord must also be pure. Unless a person is pure, he can neither understand what the Personality of Godhead is nor engage in His service in love, for devotional service, as stated before, begins from the point of self-realization, when all misgivings of materialistic life are vanquished.
After following the regulative principles and purifying the material senses, one attains the stage of niṣṭhā, firm faith in the Lord. When a person has attained this stage, no one can deviate him from the conception of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one can persuade him that God is impersonal, without a form, or that any form created by imagination can be accepted as God. Those who espouse these more or less nonsensical conceptions of the Supreme Lord cannot dissuade him from firm faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
In the Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses in many verses that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But despite Lord Kṛṣṇa's stressing this point, many so-called scholars and commentators still deny the personal conception of the Lord. One famous scholar wrote in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā that one does not have to surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa or even accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but that one should rather surrender to "the Supreme within Kṛṣṇa." Such fools do not know what is within and what is without. They comment on the Bhagavad-gītā according to their own whims. Such persons cannot be elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead. They may be scholarly, and they may be elevated in other departments of knowledge, but they are not even neophytes in the process of attaining the highest stage of perfection, love of Godhead. Niṣṭhā implies that one should accept the words of Bhagavad-gītā, the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as they are, without any deviation or nonsensical commentary.
If a person is fortunate enough to vanquish all misgivings caused by material existence and rise up to the stage of niṣṭhā, he can then rise to the stages of ruci (taste) and āsakti (attachment for the Lord). Āsakti is the beginning of love of Godhead. By progressing, one then advances to the stage of relishing a reciprocal exchange with the Lord in ecstasy (bhāva). Every living entity is eternally related to the Supreme Lord, and this relationship may be in any one of many transcendental humors. At the stage called āsakti, attachment, a person can understand his relationship with the Supreme Lord. When he understands his position, he begins reciprocating with the Lord. By constant reciprocation with the Lord, the devotee is elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead, prema.
—end of quote--
I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood.
Your ever well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Chanting is Enchanting
Question: The Stages to Perfection
Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupad.
My Dear Gurudev,
Thank you for your kind offer to send the stages the devotee may go through before reaching the highest.
Your humble servant,
Suzanne
Answer: Steps from Sraddha to Prema
From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USA
My Dear Suzanne,
Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The stages of devotional service are mentioned in the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 23, Texts 14 and 15 as follows:
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu- saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ
SYNONYMS
ādau—in the beginning; śraddhā—firm faith, or disinterest in material affairs and interest in spiritual advancement; tataḥ—thereafter; sādhu-saṅgaḥ—association with pure devotees;
atha—then; bhajana-kriyā—performance of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa (surrendering to the spiritual master and being encouraged by the association of devotees, so that initiation takes place); tataḥ—thereafter; anartha-nivṛttiḥ—the diminishing of all unwanted habits; syāt—there should be; tataḥ—then; niṣṭhā—firm faith; ruciḥ—taste; tataḥ—thereafter; atha—then; āsaktiḥ—attachment; tataḥ—then; bhāvaḥ—emotion or affection; tataḥ—thereafter; prema—love of God; abhyudañcati—arises; sādhakānām—of the devotees practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness; ayam—this; premṇaḥ—of love of Godhead; prādurbhāve—in the appearance; bhavet—is; kramaḥ—the chronological order.
TRANSLATION
"In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness."
Srila Prabhupada elaborates on these stages in the Narada Bhakti Sutra as follows:
The first requirement is that one should have sufficient faith that the only process for attaining love of Godhead is bhakti,devotional service to the Lord. Throughout the Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa teaches that one should give up all other processes of self-realization and fully surrender unto Him. That is faith. One who has full faith in Kṛṣṇa (śraddhā) and surrenders unto Him is eligible for being raised to the level of prema, which Lord Caitanya taught as the highest perfectional stage of human life.
Some persons are addicted to materially motivated religion, while others are addicted to economic development, sense gratification, or the idea of salvation from material existence. But prema, love of God, is above all these. This highest stage of love is above mundane religiosity, above economic development, above sense gratification, and above even liberation, or salvation. Thus love of God begins with the firm faith that one who engages in full devotional service has attained perfection in all these processes.
The next stage in the process of elevation to love of God is sādhu-saṅga [Cc. Madhya 22.83], association with persons already in the highest stage of love of God. One who avoids such association and simply engages in mental speculation or so-called meditation cannot be raised to the perfectional platform. But one who associates wit h pure devotees or an elevated devotional society goes to the next stage—bhajana-kriyā, or acceptance of the regulative principles of worshiping the Supreme Lord. One who associates with a pure devotee of the Lord naturally accepts that person as his spiritual master, and when the neophyte devotee accepts a pure devotee as his spiritual master, the duty of the spiritual master is to train the neophyte in the principles of regulated devotional service, or vaidhi-bhakti. At this stage the devotee's service is based on his capacity to serve the Lord. The expert spiritual master engages his followers in work that will gradually develop their consciousness of service to the Lord. Therefore the preliminary stage of understanding prema, love of God, is to approach a proper pure devotee, accept him as one's spiritual master, and execute regulated devotional service under his guidance.
The next stage is called anartha-nivṛtti, in which all the misgivings of material life are vanquished. A person gradually reaches this stage by regularly performing the primary principles of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master. There are many bad habits we acquire in the association of material contamination, chief of which are illicit sexual relationships, eating animal food, indulging in intoxication, and gambling. The first thing the expert spiritual master does when he engages his disciple in regulated devotional service is to instruct him to abstain from these four principles of sinful life.
Since God is supremely pure, one cannot rise to the highest perfectional stage of love of God without being purified. In the Bhagavad-gītā (10.12), when Arjuna accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord, he said, pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān: "You are the purest of the pure." The Lord is the purest, and thus anyone who wants to serve the Supreme Lord must also be pure. Unless a person is pure, he can neither understand what the Personality of Godhead is nor engage in His service in love, for devotional service, as stated before, begins from the point of self-realization, when all misgivings of materialistic life are vanquished.
After following the regulative principles and purifying the material senses, one attains the stage of niṣṭhā, firm faith in the Lord. When a person has attained this stage, no one can deviate him from the conception of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No one can persuade him that God is impersonal, without a form, or that any form created by imagination can be accepted as God. Those who espouse these more or less nonsensical conceptions of the Supreme Lord cannot dissuade him from firm faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
In the Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses in many verses that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But despite Lord Kṛṣṇa's stressing this point, many so-called scholars and commentators still deny the personal conception of the Lord. One famous scholar wrote in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā that one does not have to surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa or even accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but that one should rather surrender to "the Supreme within Kṛṣṇa." Such fools do not know what is within and what is without. They comment on the Bhagavad-gītā according to their own whims. Such persons cannot be elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead. They may be scholarly, and they may be elevated in other departments of knowledge, but they are not even neophytes in the process of attaining the highest stage of perfection, love of Godhead. Niṣṭhā implies that one should accept the words of Bhagavad-gītā, the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as they are, without any deviation or nonsensical commentary.
If a person is fortunate enough to vanquish all misgivings caused by material existence and rise up to the stage of niṣṭhā, he can then rise to the stages of ruci (taste) and āsakti (attachment for the Lord). Āsakti is the beginning of love of Godhead. By progressing, one then advances to the stage of relishing a reciprocal exchange with the Lord in ecstasy (bhāva). Every living entity is eternally related to the Supreme Lord, and this relationship may be in any one of many transcendental humors. At the stage called āsakti, attachment, a person can understand his relationship with the Supreme Lord. When he understands his position, he begins reciprocating with the Lord. By constant reciprocation with the Lord, the devotee is elevated to the highest stage of love of Godhead, prema.
—end of quote--
I hope this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood.
Your ever well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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