Stages leading to spiritual love

Stages leading to spiritual love - defined

There are many stages, which lead to the manifestation of spiritual love - prema.
Of all these wil be described those which are famous in the scriptures.

Bhagavad-vimukha-jiva, the living being whose face is turned from the Transcendental Lord - Bhagavan, fell into the whirlpool of the limitless ocean of material existence and migrate through the universe.

When through the special mercy of Bhagavan jivas` (the living beings`) material existence starts to dwindle, one attains the association of the pure devotees of the Transcendental Lord.
And then, through that sadhu`s association, one gets lucky to hear from his mouth the spiritual writings, which describe three types of glories:

of the pure devotees - shudha bhaktas,
of the pure devotional service - shudha bhakti and
of the Transcendental Lord - Bhagavan.

Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrittih syat tato nistha rucis tatah
atha asaktis tato bhavas tatah prema abhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet krama

Nine steps leading to prema

In the beginning is some faith -adau sraddha
Than the association with devotees - tatah sadhu sango
Than the purifying activities -'tha bhajana-kriya
Than the stage of removed material attachments -tato anartha-nivrittih syat
Then the internal peace and faith- tato nistha

Then the taste (for transcendental lila) - ruci tatah
Then greed (for transcendental lila) - atha asaktis
Then the begining of spiritual love - tato bhava
Then the spiritual love - tatah prema abhyudancati

That would be the sequence - bhavet krama
through which the spiritual love - ayam premnah
apears in the practicing devotee -pradurbhave sadhakanam.

Conclusion

This description of one`s evolution towards spiritual love -prema is the matter of fact a description of the develpement of the wish without compromise of the devotee for the presence of the Lord.

1. The begining of that wish is the descovery that the Transcendental Lord is the Love beyond this world,
2. and that wish grows as one realises one may reach the presence of the Transcendental Lord.

3. And as one progresses through the process of sadhana bhakti, that faith grows and it transforms into prema (shrada is thus the smalles particle of prema).

That growing wish for the presence of Krișna apears as the rising sun of the spiritual love.

And as the rising sun reveals the world around us, the sun of love reveals Krişna.