Samadhi is complete emptiness of the mind, and on the path of bhakti, samadhi means total absorption, 100 per cent absorption in the loving remembrance of the lord and in serving Him, writes Radhanath Swami
In bhakti, samadhi means total absorption in the service of the lord. After leaving hundreds and hundreds of people in Kuliyagram and leading them all in Nagar sankirtan, lord Chaitanya continued His travel to Vrindavan, which began with many devotees coming with him. But then, every village, every town he came to, people were astounded to see his beauty, to feel his compassion and to participate in this chanting of kirtan, God’s names. Soon, hundreds of people were following him. It was ever increasing. This Brahmacäré named Narsimhananda; he was in Kuliya. When he saw lord Chaitanya leaving Kuliya for Vrindavan, he wanted to do some service.
He was a Brahmacäré and traditional Brahmacärés have no money and no possessions. He was very simple. He had nothing. He just lived in a little thatched hut, which had no furniture and no utensils. For eating he would just go out and beg for alms (some rice or whatever people would give him). He just had a set of clothes. He was so simple. He had nothing. But he wanted to do service for lord Chaitanya. He was thinking that road is very hard to Vrindavan. The lord will have to walk through forest, into desert like fields. So he decided he would construct a road for the lord to walk on.
Oh my God! So how is this little skinny Brahmacäré going to build this roadij I will tell you. He sat down and closed his eyes. He said, “I’m going to tell the devotees and build this road for lord Chaitanya to walk on” and closed his eyes and became totally absorbed. This is real samadhi; samadhi doesn’t mean just to blank the mind with nothing but to completely absorb it in the loving service of the God. Samadhi is complete emptiness of the mind and on the path of bhakti, samadhi means total absorption, 100 per cent absorption in the loving remembrance of the lord and in serving the lord.
The lord is pleased with our intent to serve. The beautiful thing was as lord Chaitanya was walking, to everyone else’s eyes, it was just a very dusty road path surrounded by some fields or deserts. That’s what everyone else saw. But every single step lord Chaitanya took, he was seeing, feeling and experiencing the road that Narsimhananda Brahmacäré was constructing in his mind. This is Bhavagrahi, where lord accepts the sentiment of our willingness and of our intent to serve. Narsimhananda Brahmacäré was keen he had to build the road, at least try. And even if he can’t, he did try with the same meditation. The lord will see the same thing. What is our intentij And what is the effort we are making according to our intent that is bhakti; when it is for the pleasure of the lord, when it is to be the instrument of the compassion of the lord for others. Hundreds and hundreds of kilometres passed as he was just building the road. One step at a time, he was just building the road putting in another tree, putting in another lake, plucking more flower petals putting more jewels, totally absorbed. He wasn’t even eating or sleeping; he was just building the roads. Days went by, weeks went by and he is completely immersed. The most beautiful thing is he could feel lord Chaitanya reciprocating with him in his heart. He could experience the lord’s pleasure. Whyij
Krishna tells everyone in Bhagavad Gita that “I’m located in everyone’s heart”. When lord Krishna is pleased from within the heart, the lord reciprocates. We feel his pleasure; we feel his love in a purified state. Bhagavad Gita teaches us, Krishna says you can offer me a leaf, a flower, some fruit or water. If it is offered with devotion, I will accept it. Krishna is only concerned with our love, with our devotion, if it is without malice, without duplicity, if it is honest, innocent and genuine. And Krishna explains, I am controlled by that love.
It is important that you appreciate the lord’s devotees in devotional activities and especially along with that you cannot separate the truth. Along with speaking of the good qualities and appreciating and encouraging others, praising the devotional acts and devotional people, uplifting those who are in trouble, we drink the nectar of the holy name by chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Not only will that neutralise the poisonous effects, but it will nourish, it will enrich, it will enlighten the soul and attain the highest perfection. In this way, person after person, very, very evil envious people were coming to the lord. He was giving each and everyone a valuable key to unlock from within their hearts the dormant love of God that is within everyone.
The writer is the spiritual leader of International Society for Krishna Consciousness
