Approaching God - The Path of Pure Devotion
The ultimate goal of human life is to reestablish our lost relationship with the Supreme Lord. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that approaching the Absolute Truth is not a matter of whimsical invention or direct demand; it requires strict adherence to the authorized process of bhakti-yoga, complete purification, and the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master.
Approaching Through the Spiritual Master
A common mistake made by the conditioned soul is attempting to bypass the hierarchy of the spiritual world. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that because our material senses are blunt and imperfect, we cannot approach the Supreme Lord directly; we must approach Him through His pure representative.
- No one can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. One must approach Him through His pure devotees.
- In ordinary parlance it is said, If you love me, love my dog. To approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has to go through His confidential servant. This is the method.
- The bona fide representative of God is as good as God Himself. Or, i.e., the loving representative of God is more kind and easy to approach. A sinful soul cannot approach God directly, but such a sinful man can very easily approach a pure devotee of God.
- One should not be anxious to offer direct service to the Lord. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised that one become a servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord (CC Madhya 13.80). This is the process for approaching the Supreme Lord.
- By nature we are part and parcel of Krsna, and Krsna is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. In order to transcend the darkness of material life and go to the world of light, we need to approach a guru. It is for this reason that Devahuti is approaching Lord Kapiladeva.
The Necessity of Purity
God is the supreme absolute purity, and therefore, He cannot be accessed by those who are contaminated. Śrīla Prabhupāda strictly points out that one cannot maintain a lifestyle of sinful activities and simultaneously expect to approach or understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- How you can approach God with sinful life? That is not possible. That is simply bogus thing, that you keep your sinful life, at the same time you want to see God, you want to talk with God. That is not possible.
- Pavitram means the purest. God is the purest. So unless we are purest, we cannot approach God.
- If you want to approach God, then you must be pure. If you remain impure, you cannot understand.
- These are four pillars of sinful activity: illicit sex life, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. Yatra papas catur-vidha. These are exactly to the injunction of the Vedas. How you can approach the pavitram paramam bhavan without being pavitra?
- Without being pure, you cannot be engaged in the loving service of the Lord. The Lord is pure. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan. So you cannot approach Lord being impure.
Motivated vs. Unmotivated Approach
Many people turn to religion only when they are in distress or need material facilities. While Śrīla Prabhupāda acknowledges that approaching God for any reason is a sign of piety, he clarifies that true love and pure devotion begin only when one approaches the Lord without any ulterior motives.
- Anyone who is going to church and asking God for bread, he's thousand times better than that rascal, who is not going to church, because he is, after all, approaching God.
- Generally, people go to church, go to temple for material prosperity. "God give us our daily bread." This is material prosperity. Or "Give me this, give me that." But they're also considered as pious because they have approached God.
- Generally, it so happens that when one goes to church for profit, and the money doesn't come, he concludes that approaching God is nonsense, and he gives up all connection with church. That is the danger of approaching God with ulterior motives.
- Real love begins when you try to give God. Everyone is trying to take from God, "Oh father, give us our daily bread." This is not pure devotee. This is good because he has approached God, but this is not devotion.
- When one approaches God with a motive, that is not kevala; that is impure. Motiveless. One should approach God simply out of love; that is kevala bhakta, kevalaya bhaktya.
The Failure of Mental Speculation
The Absolute Truth cannot be conquered by empirical research or philosophical gymnastics. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that those who attempt to approach God merely through mental speculation will only ever reach the outer, impersonal effulgence of the Lord, missing His true, personal feature.
- The ascending approach to the Absolute Truth ends in the realization of impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma but not the Supreme Transcendental Personality.
- Impersonal Brahman realization is the partial, distant experience of the Absolute Truth that one achieves through the rational approach. It is compared to one's seeing a hill from a distance and taking it to be a smoky cloud.
- God is unapproachable by your mental concoction. But there is another process: if you understand God by this the parampara system.
- The knowledge the conditioned soul gains by mental speculation, however powerful it may be, is always too imperfect to approach the Absolute Truth.
- Those who are trying to find the Supreme Godhead by mental speculation may approach the bodily effulgence, or the impersonal Brahman.
The Direct Path of Bhakti
While logic and austerities fall short, the Supreme Lord can be easily captured by love. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that the process of bhakti-yoga—specifically hearing and chanting—is the only direct, guaranteed method to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face.
- The conclusion is that devotional service is the only means for approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This system is therefore called abhidheya. This is the verdict of all revealed scriptures.
- Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna, a devotee of the Lord can approach the supreme destination easily and happily, but this destination cannot be approached by any other process of religion.
- One can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by executing these (hearing, chanting, remembering, serving, worshiping etc.) nine kinds of devotional service, of which hearing about the Lord is the most important - sravanadi.
- The path of bhakti-yoga is the spotless process by which to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhaktyaham ekaya grahyah: only through devotional service can one approach the Supreme Lord.
- Those who are trying to find the Supreme Godhead by yoga practice may find Him as the localized Supersoul, but those who are directly trying to approach the Supreme Truth by practice of bhakti-yoga can see Him face to face as the Supreme Person.
Conclusion
As Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully explains, approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the singular, defining duty of human life, yet it cannot be achieved through arrogant demands or mental concoction. The conditioned soul, heavily covered by the material energy and sinful propensities, must first be purified. This purification begins by humbly approaching a bona fide spiritual master in the paramparā system. While many approach God out of distress or a desire for material wealth, the true perfection of religion is to evolve past these temporary motives and approach Him strictly out of unalloyed love. Rejecting the futile ascending process of mental speculation, the sincere seeker adopts the descending process of bhakti-yoga. By continuously engaging the senses in hearing, chanting, and serving, the devotee easily transcends the impersonal Brahman and approaches the supreme, eternal, personal form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, never to return to the miseries of the material world.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Approaching God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.