From the Gospel - 40

M: "Sir, what is the meaning of the realization of God? What do you mean by God-vision? How does one attain it?"

MASTER: "According to the Vaishnavas the aspirants and the seers of God may be divided into different groups.  These are the pravartaka, the sadhaka, the siddha, and the siddha of the siddha.  He who has just set foot on the path may be called a pravartaka.  He may be called a sadhaka who has for some time been practising spiritual disciplines, such as worship, japa, meditation, and the chanting of God's name and glories.  He may be called a siddha who has known from his inner experience that God exists.  An analogy is given in the Vedanta to explain this.  The master of the house is asleep in a dark room.  Someone is groping in the darkness to find him.  He touches the couch and says, 'No, it is not he.' He touches the window and says, 'No, it is not he.' He touches the door and says, 'No, it is not he.' This is known in the Vedanta as the process of 'Neti, neti', 'Not this, not this'.  At last his hand touches the master's body and he exclaims, 'Here he is!' In other words, he is now conscious of the 'existence' of the master.  He has found him, but he doesn't yet know him intimately. 

There is another type, known as the siddha of the siddha, the 'supremely perfect'.  It is quite a different thing when one talks to the master intimately, when one knows God very intimately through love and devotion.  A siddha has undoubtedly attained God, but the 'supremely perfect' has known God very intimately.

But in order to realize God, one must assume one of these attitudes: Śānta, Dāsya, sakhya, Vātsalya, or Madhur.  

Śānta, the serene attitude.  The rishis of olden times had this attitude toward God.  They did not desire any worldly enjoyment.  It is like the single-minded devotion of a wife to her husband.  She knows that her husband is the embodiment of beauty and love, a veritable Madan. 

Dāsya, the attitude of a servant toward his master.  Hanuman had this attitude toward Rama.  He felt the strength of a lion when he worked for Rama.  A wife feels this mood also.  She serves her husband with all her heart and soul.  A mother also has a little of this attitude, as Yaśoda had toward Krishna.

Sakhya, the attitude of friendship.  Friends say to one another, 'Come here and sit near me.' Sridāmā and other friends sometimes fed Krishna with fruit, part of which they had already eaten, and sometimes climbed on His shoulders.

Vātsalya, the attitude of a mother toward her child.  This was Yaśoda's attitude toward Krishna.  The wife, too, has a little of this.  She feeds her husband with her very life-blood, as it were.  The mother feels happy only when the child has eaten to his heart's content.  Yaśoda would roam about with butter in her hand, in order to feed Krishna.

Madhur, the attitude of a woman toward her paramour.  Radha had this attitude toward Krishna.  The wife also feels it for her husband.  This attitude includes all the other four."