The Hidden Treasure in a Tear

Hare Krishna! All glories to you dear Srila Prabhupada, and to all the sincere devotees who are endeavoring to fulfill your eternal desire of spreading Sri Radha-Krishna's glories all over the world.

Between us and Sri Radha-Krishna there is an auspicious path laid down by our Acaryas, which was made of very valuable and precise instructions. If we were to actually and sincerely desire to be progressing, it would then be compulsory for every one of us to be carefully studying and thoroughly understanding those extremely valuable instructions.

Our Acarias are telling us that there is a huge obstacle standing between Sri Radha-Krishna and all of us, this is the ocean of nescience. Out of their kindness, Sri Radha-Krishna have left a transcendental boat on the shore of that vast ocean, which must be boarded in order to be crossing it.

This boat has some very amazing features, whoever would be daring enough to step in it and would be either choosing or not, would be safely and eternally remaining in it and would be guaranteed to be reaching the other shore, no matter what obstacles which could be standing in the way. This transcendental boat is kindly enabling anybody boarding it to be safely crossing this vast ocean, but fortunately for us, is eternally remaining on this side to be facilitating new passengers.

To be entering this boat, we will have to fully understand its nature; did we ever bother asking ourselves; what kind of boat is this? This auspicious boat is made of all the instructions left by our previous Acarias, on how to be actually gaining shelter at Sri Radha-Krishna's lotus feet.

All these various instructions are gradually helping us to realize that by simply chanting Sri Radha-Krishna's Holy Names and by either hearing of or narrating Their eternal loving pastimes, in other words to be enthusiastically and constantly engaging ourselves in the most auspicious activity of glorifying Them, we would be then gaining the privilege to be fully reestablished in the most enviable position of being Their loving servants.

Those among us who are sincerely desiring to reach Sri Radha-Krishna's lotus feet, should be first hearing those valuable instructions from a self-realized soul, then to be deeply assimilating them, and last, should be sincerely endeavoring to be strictly applying them in their life.

Out of kindness, while crossing this vast ocean, those elevated souls are propagating these precious instructions to any sincere souls happening to be crossing their path.

The purpose of the following presentation is an attempt to explain the nature of Love in separation and its gradual development through the nine different phases of our spiritual journey.

Sradda (the beginning of faith)

sadhus-sanga (association with self-realized souls)

bhajana krya (to be engaged in devotional activities)

anarthas nivritti (gradual removal of the undesirable conditionings present in our heart)

nistha (to become fixed in our determination to be reaching Sri Radha-Krishna's lotus feet in this very life)

ruci (to be developing an increasing attraction toward the auspicious chanting of Their Holy Names and the different devotional activities that we would sincerely be performing)

asakti (to be naturally and increasingly developing our attachments toward Them)

bhava (the beginning of the manifestation of Hiadini sakti into our heart)

prema (reaching and relishing the nectarean ecstasies of loving devotional service)

Our development through these nine phases is a gradual process, occasionally these different phases would be actually overlapping each other, it is not that it should always be that once we have fully completed one phase, that we would be moving to the next one. From the moment that Sri Radha-Krishna's loving servants and specifically our spiritual guide have given us shelter, their protection and their instructions would always be there to be timely providing us with the proper guidance to be successfully accomplishing the purpose of going through all these nine phases, which is to be making our heart the permanent abode of all the different qualities which are inherent in a Vaisnava's heart.

**Contents and Sample Pages**