Jayapataka Swami: There are different steps mentioned in bhakti yoga. And according to these steps one could understand to what degree they have advanced. The first step is shradha. You have faith to listen. 1% Krsna conscious, 99% maya. Next step is association with devotees. You are about 12% Krsna conscious and 88% maya. Then next step is bhajana kriya, you start to practice chanting and devotional service. 25% Krsna conscious and 75% maya. Around this time one takes initiation and then one is at the stage of anarta nivritti. 37% Krsna conscious and 63% maya. So, with the help of the guru, one gets steady. One reaches the stage of nista. 50% 50%. Then one develops a taste for devotional service, that stage is known as ruci. One may have had glimpses of taste before, but this stage it is steady. That is 62% Krsna conscious. Then one gets attached to this higher stage and reaches the stage of aasakti. Then it is about 75% Krsna conscious and 25% maya. Then one reaches the stage of ecstatic love for Krsna. Where he or she experiences the eight symptoms of ecstatic love. Crying, laughing, shivering in the body, voice choking up, laughing uncontrollably! HA! HA! 99% Krsna conscious, 1% maya. And then one reaches the level of pure love of Krsna, known as Prema. One is 100% Krsna conscious. So, by that means you can figure out what level you are at.
25-June-2020 SRI DHAM MAYAPUR, INDIA
