Question: Spiritual Perfection Before Initiation?Even before initiation can a person become a pure devotee of Lord Krishna by sincere chanting, proper listening, reading Vedic scriptures, and loving service to devotees and the spiritual master?SunilAnswer: All Steps Must Be Completed for Perfection.The process of becoming a pure devotee consists of nine steps as described by Srila Prabhupada and Srila Rupa Goswami:1. Faith in the self-realization process2. Association with devotees3. Initiation from the bona fide spiritual master4. Becoming free from bad habits5. Becoming solidly fixed in Krishna consciousness6. Developing a taste for the holy name7. Becoming completely attached to Krishna8. Awakening spiritual emotions9. Awakening of pure devotional service.You are asking me if one can become a pure devotee without taking all the steps required to become a pure devotee. The answer is obviously "no". One must execute the process properly according the guidelines of the great acharyas if he wants to awaken the pure love of God within his heart. Before initiation one can advance to step 2. But if he wants to go all the way to step 9, he cannot avoid taking step 3.Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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