Transcending Material Affinities by Increasing Our Attachment for God
The natural constitution of the living entity is to possess affection and attachment, which are currently misdirected toward the temporary manifestations of the material world. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that real liberation does not mean the annihilation of desire, but rather the purification of desire by transferring our attachment from temporary matter to the eternal Personality of Godhead.
The Science of Āsakti
The practice of bhakti-yoga involves a systematic transformation of consciousness where mundane affinity is converted into spiritual attachment. This stage of āsakti represents the beginning of genuine love of Godhead, providing a higher taste that effortlessly neutralizes material contamination.
- The bhakti-yoga process contains two symptoms, namely attachment for the Supreme Lord and detachment from all material affinities.
- Asakti, just like you have attachment for your child, attachment for your husband, attachment for your wife. Similarly if you can develop attachment for the Lord then you can understand Him.
- If a person is fortunate enough to vanquish all misgivings caused by material existence and rise up to the stage of nistha, he can then rise to the stages of ruci (taste) and asakti (attachment for the Lord). Asakti is the beginning of love of Godhead.
- Similarly, when a living entity increases his attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is to be considered like fire.
The Process of Hearing and Chanting
Developing a firm attachment for the Supreme Lord is not an imaginary state but a practical result achieved through the regulated process of devotional service. By attentively hearing and chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa under the direction of a bona fide authority, the heart becomes thoroughly cleansed of all material desires.
- Attachment for glorifying the Lord by hearing and chanting the holy name and activities of the Lord (sravanam kirtanam visnoh (SB 7.5.23)) certainly brings one to the position where material contamination is absent.
- As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, he becomes attached to the Supreme Lord.
- By this bona fide hearing process, the neophyte devotee becomes cleansed of all material rubbish, and thus he becomes attached to one of the many transcendental forms of the Lord.
- If we regularly chant this Hare Krsna mantra, then we remain freed from all sinful reaction of life and our attachment for the Supreme Lord in devotional service increases.
The Qualification and Guidance of the Guru
To successfully traverse the path of devotion and increase our attachment, one must seek shelter of a qualified spiritual guide. Śrīla Prabhupāda instructs that a true preceptor is heavy with Vedic knowledge and completely anchored in spiritual realization, capable of training the candidate in spontaneous devotion.
- The word guru means "heavy," heavy with knowledge. And what is that knowledge? Tad-vijnana. That heaviness is brahma-nistha - attachment to Brahman and to Para-brahman, Bhagavan. That is the guru's qualification.
- To increase attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead one has to accept a bona fide spiritual master and learn from him the methods of devotional service.
- When one is trained by the spiritual master according to the regulative principles of devotional service and is situated on the platform of spontaneous attachment for the Lord (raga-bhakti), the Lord also gives instructions from within.
- Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaisnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord.
Attaining Svarūpa-siddhi and Spiritual Variety
When attachment matures into the platform of perfection, the living entity awakens to their eternal constitutional position, known as svarūpa-siddhi. In this liberated state, the soul discovers that the spiritual world is filled with dynamic personal relationships and transcendental variety.
- This attachment for a particular form of the Lord is called svarupa-siddhi.
- This attachment of the devotee to a particular form of the Lord is due to natural inclination. Each and every living entity is originally attached to a particular type of transcendental service.
- When one attains the third stage of transcendental love of God, there occur further developments known as transcendental affection, emotion, ecstasy and extreme and intense attachment. These are technically known by the terms raga, anuraga, bhava and mahabhava.
Conclusion
The ultimate goal of the human form of life is to completely transfer our affection from temporary material structures to the eternal person of Kṛṣṇa. As taught by Śrīla Prabhupāda, the soul cannot maintain a state of artificial negation or voidism; it must find a tangible, beautiful center for its capacity to love. Through the scientific application of śravaṇaṃ kīrtanaṃ viṣṇoḥ under the secure guidance of the guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, the intermediate stages of sādhana-bhakti blossom into spontaneous rāga-bhakti. By cultivating this unflinching divine attachment, the living entity conquers the unconquerable Lord, completely dissolves all lingering mundane desires, and qualifies themselves to enter the eternal spiritual kingdom where they can forever dance, play, and serve Kṛṣṇa in their unique, constitutional form.
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 Attachment for God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.