Dulal posed these questions:
Prior to reaching such a mature stage, should there be any contemplation of one’s svarupa?
If one should not, what are the detrimental effects of such contemplation, sahajism?
Is it acceptable for the disciple to contemplate the svarupa of one’s spiritual masters and contemporaries?
GM's answer:
Raganuga is a sadhana. So it is for sadhakas. However, all sadhakas are not the same. That which is sadhana for those who have attained ruci and asakti is not necessarily sadhana that those in in lower stages can effectively participate in.
For example, meditation requires a pure heart free of material attachment. JG writes “If one’s heart has become pure by surrender, sadhu-sanga, and hearing and singing the names, forms, attributes and pastimes of the Lord, one can perform smarana, or remembrance of the Lord” (Bhakti-sandarbha 274).
The stage of ruci is characterised marginally by a heart free from material attachment. Mahaprabhu describes this with his 4th verse of Siksastakam, na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va. The principle characteristic of this stage is attachment to bhakti, mama janmani janman isvare bhavatad bhaktir ahauituki tvayi.
And meditation that requires a clean heart is central to the full face of raganuga sadhana:
"One should constantly hear about and remember Vraja-Krsna and one of His dear associates whose devotion one genuinely craves. This practice should be done while living in Vraja (mentally if not physically)." (Brs. 1.2.294)
"One should emulate the activities of an eternal resident of Vrndavana both externally in one’s sadhaka-deha and internally in one’s siddha-deha, coveting that specific eternal associate’s particular mood of devotion ." (Brs 1.2.295)
Sri Rupa also says that the above practice should be supported by vaidhi bhakti (Brs, 1.2.296). Thus he describes the practice, to which meditation is central.
Therefore although all that is required to enter the practice is lobha, "greed" to follow the example of those in the Vraja-lila, without a pure heart how can one engage effectively in its central practice of meditation?
However, Jiva Goswami has explained that to the extent that actual lobha manifests, this lobha itself cleanses the heart.
"When this taste increases in the heart of a faithful person, it brings detachment from all other objects. Such a person becomes absorbed in the bliss of remembering the Lord’s feet, and all his miseries are quickly dispelled."
Therefore only to the extent that the heart has become cleansed can one say that one has lobha and can thus effectively engage in the meditation central to raganuga sadhana. And thus possessed of lobha and having attained the stage of ruci, one is fully qualified to engage in the meditation central to raganuga sadhana.
JG has also explained that those whose practice is not driven by ruci (or lobha) but are nonetheless attracted to the ideal of the raga marg by association with a raga marg sadhu, can begin the practice of raganuga sadhana in part, combining it with vaidhi bhakti. In other words those who through sadhu sanga have Vraja-bhava in mind as their ideal but are not qualified to meditate should hold on to that ideal and engage in hearing and chanting and remembering striving to fully engage their sadhaka-deha. And as their heart becomes purified and thirst for the ideal of Vraja bhakti increases and is refined through practice, they can engage in meditation on Krsna-lila from the vantage point of their budding svarupa.
JG calls this ajata ruci raganuga sadhana. The term means raganuga sadhana that for all intents and purposes is driven by a semblance of lobha. Krsnadas Kaviraja refers to this same practice as ajata rati raganuga bhakti, or raganuga without bhava.The implication of these terms is that, while the full culture of raganuga bhakti is for advanced sadhakas and bhava bhaktas, those not fully qualified to engage in it can still be referred to as a type of raganuga sadhakas—ajati ruci raganuga sadhakas.
It is also with noting that the actual stage of ruci on the raga marg is characterised as that stage in which three desires that are fully manifest in bhava bhakti begin to manifest in seed. These are the desire for meeting the Lord, serving the Lord favorably, and attaining the friendship of the Lord. Thus in the stage of ruci actual spiritual desires begin to manifest in the clean heart of the sadhaka where material desire is no longer present.
JG explained in his Brs. tika to 1.3.1, "Ruci means desire for the Lord, but with direction by the intellect. Asakti means desire, which is natural or spontaneous (without intellectual direction)." And BVT has said that adhikara for meditating on the lila from the vantage point of one's siddha deha is attained at the stage of asakti. He even cautions attempting to do so prior to this stage. So that is the conservative take: meditative lila seva requires the full measure of lobha be manifest. In the meantime incorporate those raga marg practices you are eligible for combined with vaidhi bhakti, praying for increased adhikara—seva adhikara diye koro vrajavasi.