In the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we have the description of the previous life of Narada Muni. Improbable as it may seem, the great Narada Muni was a normal human child in his previous birth, born from a poor maidservant. He didn’t have the opportunity to study and was just serving in an ashrama alongside his mother. However, in just a few months he was able to get the personal darshan of Lord Vishnu. How did this happen?

As one can imagine, this miracle happened due to association with pure devotees. A group of traveling Bhaktivedantas happened to take shelter in the asrama where Narada was living with his mother during the four months of chaturmasya, and he had the opportunity of serving them, taking the remnants of their food, and hearing them speak about Krsna. Although just a small child, this had a very profound impact on Narada’s consciousness. A few months later, when his mother passed away after being bitten by a snake, Narada decided to leave home and also travel in search of further enlightenment.

After traveling for a number of days, Narada decided to meditate under the shadow of a banyan tree in an uninhabited forest, following the process of meditation on the Supersoul he had heard from the Bhaktivedantas. Surprisingly, as soon as he started meditating he was able to obtain the personal darshan of the Lord, Who revealed His personal form. As Narada himself describes:

“O Vyāsadeva, at that time, being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of happiness, every part of my body became separately enlivened. Being absorbed in an ocean of ecstasy, I could not see both myself and the Lord.” (SB 1.6.17)

However, this darshan was very short. After just a moment, the Lord disappeared. Anxious to see Him again, Narada tried again and again to follow the mechanical process of meditation he had learned, but this time without success.

“Upon losing that form, I suddenly got up, being perturbed, as is usual when one loses that which is desirable. I desired to see again that transcendental form of the Lord, but despite my attempts to concentrate upon the heart with eagerness to view the form again, I could not see Him any more, and thus dissatisfied, I was very much aggrieved.” (SB 1.6.18-19)

Seeing the desperate attempts of Narada to see Him again, The Lord spoke to him from inside his heart, explaining that He conceded this short darshan due to causeless mercy, just to increase his desire to see Him. In order to see Him again, Narada would now have to seriously practice the devotional process and become purified from all material desires.

Narada took these words to heart and spent his whole life very seriously practicing the process of Bhakti-yoga, fixing his meditation on the form of the Lord and becoming completely purified of all material contamination. As he narrates:

“Thus I began chanting the holy name and fame of the Lord by repeated recitation, ignoring all the formalities of the material world. Such chanting and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are benedictory. So doing, I traveled all over the earth, fully satisfied, humble, and unenvious.” (SB 1.6.26)

Just as lightning comes together with illumination, when Narada finally met death he attained a spiritual body, on which he could freely travel on both the spiritual and material worlds. He became Narada Muni.

This short darshan Narada obtained at the beginning of his spiritual practice is something most of us experience to a smaller degree. When we first meet devotees, take prasadam, visit the temple, and so on, everything looks extremely attractive. Devotees look like they are all saints, the temple looks like the best place in the world and prasadam tastes like the most amazing food. This experience makes us interested in spiritual life, but it very quickly fades.

We may think that this first experience is due to things just being new to us, but it’s actually not so. Just as in the case of Narada Muni, the Lord gives us a short darshan of the spiritual reality in the beginning, so we can become attracted to spiritual life. Not being so sincere as Narada, we may not be able to directly see the form of the Lord as he did, but we can still see certain aspects of the spiritual reality. What we see in the beginning is thus not just due to our inexperience, but exactly the opposite: the Lord shows us for a short period things as they really are, and when this vision fades, we are stuck back into our imperfect material vision, seeing faults everywhere.

Just as in the case of Narada, we need then to practice the spiritual process and purify ourselves in order to again attain this spiritual vision, this time for good.

Srila Prabhupada explains that one can become pure in just one moment by chanting the holy names, just as King Khatvanga did. Although the possibility is there, however, it demands a level of sincerity most of us lack. We thus have to take the long way, practicing for all our lives in order to gradually purify ourselves, and attain perfection at the end due to the mercy of the Lord and the spiritual master, just as Narada did.

In the beginning, we may think that spiritual life is just a sprint and we can become pure devotees in just a few months, but as time passes we eventually understand that spiritual life is a long marathon that demands some serious introspection and internal transformation.

One aspect I understood is essential in this journey is the connection with the spiritual master. All the devotees I can understand to be highly advanced due to their qualities, service, and behavior, have this trace in common: they have a strong connection with their spiritual master. By “connection” I don’t mean just physical association, but a great faith and loyalty to his teachings. To my understanding, this faith and dedication to assist the spiritual master in his mission is the only force that can elevate us above the infinite ocean of anartha nrvriti and bring us to a truly spiritual platform.

Conversely, the ones who fail in this endeavor tend to have much more difficulty ascending above the initial phases of spiritual life. Their ego becomes bigger and they have more difficulty associating with other Vaishnavas. As I understand, the same component that prevents one from finding and learning submissively from a bona fide spiritual master is the one that limits other aspects of their progress.

This is one of the most basic points in spiritual life: one has to find someone who knows the spiritual science and learn from him. Spiritual life deals with subjects that can’t be fully explained in words. To fully understand one has to learn by observing and hearing from someone who is living on this platform.
Even to become an ordinary physician or engineer, one has to go to a university and learn from the teachers there. It’s no surprise then that the spiritual path is no different.

Some instead enter into the path of fault-finding, criticism, and enviousness. This is a very dangerous path, that can send one back to the material platform, far away from Krsna.

There are always many wrong things going on in this material world, as part of the eternal struggle of the conditioned souls to lord over material nature. We have thus the option of leaving all of this behind and going back to Godhead, or to become absorbed into all the unlimited problems of this world and remain here trying to unsuccessfully solve them life after life.