(Kadamba Kanana Maharaja, 10 December 2011, Drakensburg, SA)
Krsna consciousness is not just something that happens over night, it’s not just something that you do all at once but it’s a step by step process. I think that’s really a key element and I think that sometimes we want to jump instead of the step by step idea. Of course some jumping is needed and we cannot go to slow also because we have to keep a goal in mind.
In spiritual life we have three major stages and the first stage is the connection stage, the second stage is the purification stage and then you get the ecstasy stage, the ultimate goal. This is known as sambandha, abhideya and prayojana. These are essential elements in spiritual life and one has to understand this. We are seeing that our acaryas have installed the Deities of Madana-Mohan, Sri Sri Radha Govinda and of Gopinatha. And mantras have been dedicated by Krsnadas Kaviraja to these various Deities. It is describing how Madana-Mohan is attracting. Madana-Mohan is Krsna’s form of attracting the devotees and that is the beginning- sambandha. So it’s interesting how it all begins with attraction. And that’s true; it begins with attractions and doesn’t begin with regulative principles because they come after we have sort of initially attracted. So attraction is the basis of Krsna consciousness and that is a fact. Therefore we should take some time to have a good time in Krsna consciousness.