Devotion (bhakti) is the defining religious practice and central theological concept of the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, and this article is about the catalytic event that is said to instigate bhakti in the non-devoted. I examine how Jlva GosvSmin (c. 1517-1608) and ViSvanatha Cakravartin (fl. 1679-1709), two important theologians in this tradition, argue that the cause of bhakti in the non-devoted is a meeting with a devotee. In this meeting, the non-devoted may develop conviction {Jraddha), which in turn gives him or her the motivation to continue along the path of bhakti, the steps of which were charted in the Bhaktirasamrtasindhu of Rupa Gosvamin (c. 1470-1555). Based on a few key passages from the Gaudiya's primary scriptural source, the Bhagavata Purana, Jiva and Viivanatha argue that this conviction for bhakti is developed spontaneously (yadrcchaya). Since the spontaneous conviction to practice bhakti can only occur in sadhu-sanga, or a meeting with a devotee, what causes that meeting? The devotee always acts freely and independently (like the Lord Krsna himself); thus his or her motivation to meet and inspire conviction in the non-devoted is not reducible to a divine plan, divine grace, the piety (or impiety) of the receiver, special features of the receiver's soul, high birth, or any other designation. Rather, the cause of sadhu-sanga is the bhakti "living in the heart" of a devotee. This bhakti makes the devotee feel compassion (krpa) toward the non-devoted, which leads him or her to provide sadhu-sanga, which then creates conviction (iraddha), which eventually leads to bhakti.