Answer
That is why it is important to understand that one cannot become Krishna conscious overnight. As Srila Prabhupada explains, Krishna consciousness is cultured—it develops gradually, step by step.
Just like learning a language, it happens over time. In the beginning, you only know A, B, C, D. Then you learn simple words—“A for apple,” and so on. Slowly, through consistent effort, your vocabulary expands, and eventually you can read, write, and express yourself fluently.
In the same way, our inner instrument (yantra), especially the mind, requires cultivation. Through steady practice, determination, and by following the instructions of the Guru, we gradually develop spiritual understanding. The Paramatma within also helps us in this process.
At first, we learn spiritual “vocabulary”—concepts, philosophy, and ideas. But it does not stop there. Just as in language, after learning words, we must learn to form sentences and paragraphs, similarly in spiritual life, we must learn to apply this knowledge in how we live, think, and feel. This includes not just intellectual understanding, but also emotional and experiential transformation.
This process takes time, and we have been given that time in human life. Human life is a valuable opportunity meant for cultivating our subtle body and progressing toward becoming a servant of Krishna, ultimately a pure Vaishnava.
As this cultivation deepens, the subtle body becomes purified. When it vibrates in alignment with the consciousness of serving Krishna, the spiritual mind begins to awaken. Only after this awakening does the question of realizing the spiritual body arise.
At present, our spiritual senses are dormant. Our mind is influenced by maya and identifies with the material world, much like identifying with characters in a movie. Although we are not truly part of that illusion, we become absorbed in it.
Therefore, the process is to reverse this conditioning.
Our material mind acts as a bridge between the spiritual mind and the material world. When we purify and spiritualize the material mind through devotional service, it begins to resonate with the spiritual mind. Gradually, the spiritual mind awakens, along with genuine spiritual taste.
A pure devotee operates from this spiritualized mind, which naturally directs the senses in Krishna’s service. But since our mind is not yet pure, the practical approach is:
Engage the gross body in devotional service
This purifies the subtle body (mind and ego)
A purified subtle body then properly guides the gross body
Eventually, the spiritual mind awakens and takes charge
This is the practical process of transformation.
Therefore, the solution is to continuously engage in devotional service. At every moment, we are making a choice:
Accept maya and reject Krishna
Or accept Krishna and reject maya
The living entity’s primary role is to decide. While desires and actions may be influenced by false ego and conditioning, the power to choose remains with us.
A key insight is that sense gratification is sustained not just by the activity, but by an identity—a false ego. For example, in the case of smoking:
It is not enough to give up cigarettes
One must also give up the identity of “being a smoker”
Otherwise, even if the habit stops externally, the inner “smoker identity” continues to haunt the mind, creating feelings of incompleteness.
This inner voice may say, “You are missing something. You cannot live without this.” But this is simply a false identity speaking—not the true self.
The real solution is to recognize: “I am not this identity.” Both the object (cigarette) and the false ego (the smoker) must be rejected together.
This deeper level of detachment is especially accessible to devotees, because through practices like chanting the holy name, one gains clarity to see the difference between the true self and the false ego.
Ultimately, by continuous devotional engagement, purification, and right identification, one gradually becomes free from material conditioning and re-established in one’s true identity as a servant of Krishna.
