A devotee’s question: “Some devotees undergo ecstasy while others don’t during sankirtan (chanting). What’s the reason? Are those displaying bhāv (spiritual emotion) at a higher stage of sādhana (spiritual practice) than those who don’t?”
Swami Nikhilanand Ji’s answer: Well, you’re right to understand that experiencing certain symptoms of ecstasy is a sign of progress. But that doesn’t mean that everyone who’s feeling something in devotion will also manifest something physically. Everybody’s physiology is different. Everybody’s capacity of their nervous system to experience extreme joy or extreme pain without showing it physically is different, right?
So one time there was a sankirtan going on during the time of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Ji. And one Saint, there were many Saints in the satsang and there were also some ordinary devotees, so some of these Saints were actually, due to the effect of the sankirtan, showing some signs of that prem (Divine love).
Just like Roop Goswami says, “A Saint may have their body tremble. They may sweat profusely. The complexion of their face may totally change; the color of their face may change. The quality of their voice may change abruptly. Tears may flow. They may even fall unconscious. These are some of the signs. Even laughing uncontrollably, dancing in ecstasy - these are all possible signs of that unlimited ocean of Divine love as it overflows.”
So in this kirtan that was going on, there were many Saints there, and some were showing some of these physical signs. It’s called bhāv, sāttvic bhāv. Sāttvic in their case means divya sattva (Divine purity), not the sāttva of this māyic (material) world.
So one devotee was thinking in his mind, “Oh, these Saints are showing these sāttvic bhāv. And I thought that Jeev Goswami was supposed to be a great Saint, and he’s not showing any symptoms at all?”
So another Saint in the satsang knew what was going on in that devotee’s mind, and he went and just put his hand under where the exhalation from his nose would touch his finger, just like that, and his finger blistered. The air coming out from the virah (pain of separation) he was holding inside was so hot it blistered his finger. Then that devotee actually saw that happen and said, “Oh, I made a big mistake thinking that I can judge devotees by whether they’re showing some external symptoms or not.”
Sure, if you spend enough time with a true Divine personality, you will see some of these symptoms, given enough situations. However, this devotee is asking about us ordinary devotees. So even amongst devotees, these signs may start to show as we progress on the path. And it’s a good sign if we start to feel a thrill in our heart, a melting of our heart, if tears come when we’re chanting the Divine name.
All of these are good signs, and we aspire to see these develop in us. We feel happy when this happens because we know this means we’re making progress. We’re receiving the grace of a true Saint, and we’re correctly following his instructions for the practice of sādhana. We want to experience this. However, we can’t judge others by seeing who’s crying, whose body is trembling,
“Oh, this person must be higher, this person must be lower.”
A person could be feeling a lot, but they just have a capacity to contain that, and it doesn’t show on the outside. And although we don’t compare ourselves to other devotees, but comparatively another devotee could be having a more mild experience but showing a lot. (It’s) not that they’re showing off, but just their physiology can’t contain that, so even a mild experience is outwardly expressed. It really depends on the person. So don’t compare yourselves to others, but you can assess yourself, and you can aspire to have these sāttvic bhāv start happening in you. If it does happen, it’s good. But of course, Shree Maharaj Ji says
“Gopnīyam (to be kept concealed) - you should try to conceal it without ruining your devotional mood.”
Don’t just focus, “Oh no, I have to conceal it,” and forget about doing devotion.
But do make some effort to conceal it. Don’t make an exhibition of it; that’s the way we should say it. We don’t want to disrupt what’s going on in the satsang or other devotees sitting around us. And we don’t want to increase our own false pride of thinking we’re a good devotee and have everybody see that we’re a good devotee.
