Appreciating God - From Awe and Veneration to Pure Love
In a world obsessed with appreciating technological advancements and mundane celebrities, the true purpose of human intelligence is often forgotten. Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings explain that the real standard of civilization is the ability to appreciate the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By understanding the limitations of the material senses and the progressive stages of spiritual realization, a sincere practitioner learns how to elevate their consciousness from basic awe and veneration to the heights of unalloyed love.
Inability of the Material Senses
The Supreme Lord is entirely spiritual, and therefore, He remains completely hidden from those attempting to understand Him through material science or mental speculation. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that true appreciation of God requires the purification of the senses through the process of bhakti.
- Material senses cannot approach the transcendental understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He can be appreciated only by submissive devotional service when He reveals Himself before the devotee.
- My dear Lord, Your lotus feet cannot be appreciated by any person in the conditioned stage of material existence.
- The transcendental name, form, pastimes and entourage of the Lord cannot be appreciated by the blunt material senses; one has to engage himself in devotional service so that the senses may be purified and one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Poorly informed persons do not know the omnipotence of the Lord. Thus the Lord does not manifest Himself in full to the mental speculators. He can be appreciated only in proportion to one's surrender to Him.
Foundation of Real Civilization
A society that fails to recognize the supreme artist behind the cosmic manifestation is essentially an animalistic society. Śrīla Prabhupāda declares that the primary goal of human civilization should be to train the mind and senses to appreciate the greatness and creative energy of God.
- That is a real civilization of life, to understand, to appreciate, to appreciate the greatness of God. That is real civilization.
- Religion means how to get that eyes, how to get that hand, how to get that leg, so that I can appreciate God. That should be the process of human civilization. Not that how I can compete with tiger, how I can compete with cats and dogs.
- Anyone who does not appreciate the greatness of God, they're asses, mudha. As good as the ass. And lowest of the mankind, naradhama. And their so-called scientific knowledge, useless.
- If we give so much credit to the artist who has manufactured this Sputnik, how much credit we shall give to the person who has manufactured this arrangement. This is Krsna consciousness, to appreciate the greatest artist.
Stage of Śānta-rasa (Neutrality)
When a soul is freed from material contamination, the first spiritual emotion to awaken is śānta-rasa, or neutral appreciation. In this stage, the devotee is struck by the awe, veneration, and majesty of Lord Viṣṇu, recognizing Him as the supreme maintainer and controller of all energies.
- According to the conclusion of all authoritative Vedic scriptures, when a person comes to the stage of appreciating Visnu, he is at the beginning of devotional service.
- There are five transcendental rasas, or mellows. The initial stage is called santa-rati, wherein one who is liberated from material contamination appreciates the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- This appreciation of Lord Visnu in awe and veneration by the saintly is to be understood as the sign that they are situated in the santa-rasa, or neutral stage of devotional service.
- An appreciation of the greatness of the Lord is called santa-rati. This is attachment not to the personal feature but to the impersonal feature. Generally, one in this stage is attached to the Paramatma feature of the Supreme.
Beyond Appreciation to Pure Love
While appreciating the greatness of God is a noble and necessary step, it is not the final destination. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that in the highest stages of devotion, particularly in the intimate pastimes of Vṛndāvana, awe and veneration are entirely replaced by spontaneous, unalloyed love.
- Simply appreciation of the greatness of God, that is good, in God consciousness, but that is not love.
- In Mathura and Dvaraka the love for the Lord is mixed with appreciation of His opulence, but in Vrndavana the opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not exhibited.
- By continuing this process (of hearing and chanting), one comes to the stage of transcendental love, and then he appreciates the transcendental name, form, qualities and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Neither those engaged in the self-realization of appreciating the Brahman effulgence of the Lord, nor those engaged in devotional service while accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master are now playing with the Lord in friendship as cowherd boys.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the journey of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the journey of learning how to properly appreciate the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully outlines that we must first abandon our false, material prestige and recognize the Lord's absolute greatness through the lens of authorized scriptures and submissive service. As this initial awe and veneration (śānta-rasa) purifies the heart, it naturally blossoms into the active, intimate mellows of pure love, where the devotee no longer merely appreciates God from afar, but eternally engages in blissful, reciprocal pastimes with Him.
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 Appreciating God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.