Sharanagati

People try to experience ecstasy. What is the meaning of ecstasy? Word-by-word it means “to stay outside”. To stay beyond the normal consciousness or beyond the normal circumstances. But under the influence of the different gunas people take to different methods in order to reach ecstasy. Under the influence of tamo-guna you take some drugs or alcohol to get out of the normal way. But in the spiritual realm we take another “drug”. This is the mantra drug, the holy name. The holy name is the sweetest thing that we can taste ever. And then some symptoms will come – trembling, faltering of the voice, emotional waves will come. Sometimes we will offer the peeling of the banana and throw away the fruit itself. Different things will happen. But of course we should try to be very strict in our services and be very purely emotional, purified emotional in the heart.

“As the two babajis finished speaking, they immediately started chanting the glories of Lord Hari and dancing in ecstasy on their way to Govardhan. The two babajis were singing as they proceeded and the beauty of the surrounding area, appearing as Prakriti Devi, was joyfully smiling from hearing their songs. It was the end of spring and the vernal south breeze was softly blowing. Yamuna Devi, the daughter of the Sun, being enamored by hearing the glorification of Hari, kept time by producing sweet sounds. The leaves of the tall deodar trees were beautifully rustling in the wind, flapping like flags in Lord Hari’s Sankirtan party. The two babajis jumped high as they were dancing on the way. They were so absorbed in kirtan, that they did not notice how the sweet night turned into morning.”[1] I think they also know something about the Sofia sadhana – how the night just becomes morning while the devotees are dancing.

And if we do it nicely, if we do it right, it is not only the Sun planet, the Sun globe that we shall see, but also Krishna can rise on the horizon of our hearts. This is the real enlightenment. When the bramins worship the Sun, actually the vaishnava bramins are not worshiping the Sun globe, but they are worshiping Krishna, krishna surya sama – Krishna is just like the Sun. And as the Sun enlightens the whole Universe, in the same way if Krishna appears on the horizon of our heart, He will enlighten our consciousness. This is our ecstasy.

And do nоt forget, the babajis were jumping high. Why? The spiritual dance is a spiritual practice. This is not only a kind of fake ecstasy. But it should be a sincere spiritual practice. There are sixty-four items that we can offer in the worship of shri murti[2]. One is food, there is some incense, there is some light, flowers, many other things… And also you can offer your dandavats. You can offer your prayers. You can offer your dancing and singing also. We can offer ringing the bell when entering the door – this is also included in the sixty-four items. Or if we make a big celebration, a big feast – this is also an offering to Him. In this way devotional service will be unending, uninterrupted.

Sometimes we have to consider the outside formalities. Because when the devotees rise, wake up, in the same time the half-existence strange people go to sleep. Sorry to say. Like thieves and robbers; when their turn is finished, the devotees just come. So not everybody is waiting the sunrise with the same mentality. For one this is happiness, for the other – “O, my duty is finished!”. Meditation is one thing and intention is another thing. We should harmonize the two parts.

[1] From “Prema-pradipa” by Bhaktivinoda Thakura

[2] Murti (“form”) – form of God for temple worship.