ECSTATIC ATTACHMENT AND DEEP ABSORPTION TO SERVE THE LORD (Ragatmika)

ECSTATIC ATTACHMENT AND DEEP ABSORPTION

TO SERVE THE LORD (Ragatmika)

O Lord, it is You who are dancing, singing, repeating Your Name and

Clapping your hands to the beat of the music.

We are only observers, puppets who think that we are doing it all.

You are the root of everything, the soul of all souls,

The Emperor of our hearts, through your limitless Grace

You transform the worst sinner into a great Saint. 

Whenever a Jiva, forgetting his own vanity becomes solely devoted to Him He stretches out His hand to save and absolve him altogether from his Karma.The purpose of a devotee’s life is to lose all sense of distinctive personality and be dissolved in the Lord like camphor in fire. The dormant love of God in our hearts has to be revived.

Once we experience everything as part of the whole, as extension of our own self, how can we ignore anything? In that state there is no sense of otherness. Everything is permeated with consciousness. Remain always within the self, the very center of existence. Because we forgot our true self and the Ego interferes, the sense of  otherness is experienced.  We are part and parcel of the Lord, therefore  it is our  duty  to serve the supreme Whole. Without such service  we fall into material contamination (ex Teachings of Lord Caitanya). It is  through  such  service  that  we  can revive this natural continual position. Let us live in the Bhava “everyone is mine”.Bhakti is eternally existing within everyone, it simply has to be evoked by hearing, chanting, Nama Japa.  The more we do Japam the nearer we shall come to the Lord. It is Lord’s desire that everyone should become totally pure and become His companion. He pointed out:”If you want to give me pleasure take Name.” As we go on taking Name self-forgetfullness comes of its own accord  imperceptively. By taking Name our consciousness will gradually come to the plane of the heart.Let us firmly believe that He will show His favor, be kind, reveal His presence and play with us. Let us constantly increase our love for Him. He will only come when our hearts are full of love. Men have always the eternal ecstasy in their soul, in their hearts but chase after unreal slight pleasures, bind themselves into births after births. Undying joy is our natural inheritance. Be ever looking forward to His appearance – this is high expectancy.There is no true Bhakti without the heart melting, flowing of tears of joy and hair standing on end from rapture. Without such complete and intense emotion can the heart be purified?

 What Bhakti Yoga means has been wonderfully explained in Srimad Bhagavatam by Lord Krishna:“Use the body to serve Me, your speech to describe My glory, surrender heart , soul  and mind to Me. Renounce every desire for My sake. Fix  your  thoughts  on  Me, purify your heart with Bhakti, abandon every other thought for all those are illusions mere dreams. A mind which thinks constantly of me dissolves into Me.”Bhakti  dawns on those who want nothing from the Lord, not material or worldly gain, or even Moksha. Who works for His pleasure serves the world in the truest sense for he has no personal interest,  actions are poisoned only by selfishness.

The Lord is immensely pleased if our self-surrender becomes a real offering. Let Him know every

thought,good or bad and be always in joy. Remember Him within the heart, don’t forget Him  even  

for a moment. Surrender has to be perfect and unreserved otherwise the Lord’s grace cannot

descend, even if there is an atom of desire or egoism there is no possibility of  divine grace.  This  is

the goal of all devotional services.Such devotees are always anxious to do something for Krishna, for

them everything must be connected to the Lord. They are always confident and keep themselves

busy to achieve the highest goal. Such a surrender puts them entirely under the Lord’s influence and

protection, Maya cannot affect them. All differences are wiped out. Just as a river loses its name

and form after it entered the ocean so a devotee loses his individuality when he merges himself in

 the Lord.The cause of our present misery is the lack of knowledge about our true everlasting

internal joy, the want of constantly feeling Lord’s nearness. Once we experience it we feel how

supremely pleasant it is, giving highest bliss and supreme joy. The Self unfolds when the Ego

disappears. When the Ego loses its  significance the world of diversity is transformed into perfect

oneness. This happens within, not  externally. Once the heart becomes calm one sees the reflexion

of the Lord which He is always throwing upon it. If Prema is once generated in the heart of a Jiva he

swims in an ocean of unfathomable bliss which never goes away.Neither Sravana nor Kirtana nor

other means can  generate Prema which is already there and becomes active when the heart is

purified. What can be a greater delight than to consume the body in the work of Him who gave it?

What are the Signs of real devotion?: one is always kind to everybody, does not seek quarrels, his interest is purely spiritual. He is equal  to everyone, no one  can  find faults in him. His magnanimous mind is always fresh, clean, devoid of material obsessions. He is a benefactor to all entities, peaceful, always surrendered to the Lord, has no material desires, is very humble, fixed in his purpose, victorious over lust, anger jealousy etc and does not eat more than needed. He is always sane and respectful  to others, does not wish to be respected. He is grave, merciful, poetic, expert, silent, tolerant, friend to all living entities. He sees the Lord in each and every living entity, does not distinguish between devotees and non-devotees but sees everyone in His service. Seva is the eternal life of the Jiva, lying dormant in their hearts and simply has only to be evoked by the process of hearing and chanting. Sensual pleasures are hollow and fleeting. Being together with wife, children etc. is no more than a brief association of members of a Caravanserai. As relatives change in dreams from sleep to sleep so too do  family members from life to life. He that understands lives in his home like a guest with no feeling of possessiveness to any person or object.  Undying joy is our natural inheritance. We are the Lord’s  eternal servitors, who exist not for our own pleasure but for His sake. Devotional service is the only path.

Lord Kusuma Haranath released a great wave of super-divine love so that even worst sinners are saved from sin. Our comings and goings do not depend on our will but take place at His will. Lord Haranath burst out:”Lay all your burdens of sins on my head. Take Hari’s Name and go scot-free. My own burdens far exceed the load of the rest of the world put together, so I shall be quite able to carry the small burdens in addition to the mountain-load I am already carrying. I don’t leave you even for a moment. You will feel my constant presence. Would that I become yours and you mine in every life. Offer yourself body and  soul  to me and  see if I cannot save you. You are my own, my only hope. I am never simple, can never be. If you accept me as your father don’t ask me for this and that. I will give you everything that is good for you without even being asked.”Our Lord undergoes endless sufferings for His Bhaktas, even though they don’t desire it. There is none so kind and full of bliss as He is. The Lord cannot remain, even for a moment, away from His devotees. He makes His nearness felt in diverse ways – sometimes He manifests Himself and we take it for a dream or something else. He deepens our faith, purifies our hearts,  pulls the strings on which we more, act, think, surrender, and leads us the swiftest and surest path to salvation.

March 2016

R. Baur