If someone follows a spiritual path without much knowledge of Krishna how will they advance spiritually?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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So if somebody is from a spiritual path where they don’t have much knowledge of pure love of God but they may still ask for material things so they will not move forward will their destination be determined by their knowledge? Yeah, naturally there is basic knowledge that is required about what is life’s ultimate destination.
And if you consider the Christian tradition there have been saints who have been for example Saint Francis was completely renounced in fact he was a fabulously wealthy father’s son and he renounced everything These are rare examples no doubt but then if we consider the standard of saintliness that level of saintliness even in our tradition also how many people are actually pure saints so as far as commandment is concerned Jesus was very categorical that to love God with all thy heart and all thy might that is the most important commandment he said So in general, most people are going to take a gradual path to spiritual growth that means their gradual path means that they take care of their material side and that material side is what they approach God for primarily So over a period of time even when they are approaching God like this if they are having some spiritual association their higher sense awakens and then they start they start perceiving something more so we can’t expect people to become pure devotees without becoming devotees first there has to be a devotional connection and then there can be a pure devotional connection so if you consider one step at a time at whatever level people are at Krishna says that they are all in 7.16 he says they are all sukrutina they are pious in fact he calls them udaraha large hearted he appreciates them and then he says that over a period of lifetimes they will become elevated to a higher destination where they will become pure devotees so different people are on that path at different levels and asking to Krishna for material things it’s not just a matter of knowledge it’s also a matter of purification somebody knows that ok I should have pure desires but if they don’t have pure desires right now because that’s their conditioning so it’s not necessarily a major deficiency it’s just a matter of gradual purification so they may take many lifetimes Krishna also says in the Bhagavad Gita even for those who approach him in 7.99 he says that bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate then it may take many lifetimes for them to come to him so in that sense the multiple lifetimes is quite standard for those who are not practicing pure devotional service so if we get the knowledge of our spiritual identity and our spiritual destiny and if we can internalize that knowledge then we can move forward fast but that is those people are actually rare so it’s not a disqualification that it’s not just a matter of say Christianity even if we consider today most Hindu traditions there people also go to God primarily for material things so that’s more or less the standard and what we are being offered the message of pure love that is actually exceptional and special so both are ways for growth one way is much faster the other is gradual so Krishna is accommodating that in his various manifestations he allows people to come to him at their pace