Pure Romance
So when the pure romance, when the strong feeling connection happens, suddenly you know you are Him, and He is you.
That is what the Bhagavatam describes: in the peak of ecstasy, the gopikas felt that they are Krishna. There was no difference between Krishna and them. Just they were Krishna. Understand, when that energy is awakened in you, the whole life feels like romance. Things are greener than they are. A rose looks rosier than it is. The whole thing becomes poetry. You are awakened to the many dimensions of you which are unknown to you. If you experienced that feeling connection to the Master, you will understand what I am talking about.
In South Bharat, there was a great lady saint. Her name was Andal. Just like the saint Meera is very popular in North Bharat, in South Bharat Andal is very popular. You should hear her songs, her words! Any art, whether it is painting or sculpture or poetry, has an ability to take you to the same plane from which it came out. That is why if you listen to the songs which came out of lust, you will feel the same lust. If you see a painting which came out of suffering, sadness, pain, you will experience the same pain.
If you listen to Andal's songs, you will experience that same pure romance from which they come out, from which they are expressed. She was in such an ecstatic feeling, that pure feeling connected, pure romance, pure bhakti, just her words can put you back into that space. When you read, you know she is talking from experience, she is not talking as an outsider. She is an insider; she is talking from her being. Strong feeling connection with something is bhakti.
Understand, it is not even important to whom you feel connected. Sometimes you may feel connected to just an idol. It is ok, nothing wrong. Sometimes you may feel connected to Master; perfectly alright. Even if he is not enlightened, don't bother. Because of your feeling connection, you will become enlightened!
Sometimes, people ask me, 'Swamiji, how to find out whether my master is enlightened or not?' I tell them, don't bother at all. If you strongly feel connected, by the very feeling connection, very trust, very surrender, you will become enlightened even if he is not.
And if you don't feel connected, even if he is enlightened, you won't be helped, you can't be helped. If you are feeling connected, he is your master, go with him, even if he is not enlightened. If you don't feel connected, even if he is enlightened, forget about him. You won't be helped, nothing can be done. That feeling connection is the scale.
Suddenly you know you can't forget him, he is in your dreams, he is in your waking state, he is in your inner space. You can't stop talking about him. You can't do anything else, he has become the juice inside you. He has become part of your inner space. That is what I call that strong feeling connection, pure romance, bhakti.
Internalizing all these four and living is what I call jeevan mukti, living enlightenment. When you understand and experience this yukti, you are enlightened. I always tell people that the experience of enlightenment is ultimate, but not final. There is a big difference the two.
Enlightenment is ultimate, because all your ideas about enlightenment, body and mind will disappear. That does not mean everything is over. No! It will be constantly exploding into a different space. You may think, 'Oh, God! This is the ultimate experience I can bear*,* not more than this.' But understand it does not mean it ends there. Every moment you will be having the same feeling. That is what I call enlightenment.
Enlightenment is a limitless continuum. It will be continuously and constantly exploding. What you think as the ultimate will be happening in you now. After few minutes, what you think as the ultimate at that moment will be happening in you. Limitless continuum - the whole thing is changing continuously. It means that your idea about enlightenment, your idea about desire, your idea about greed, your idea about yourself changes continuously. Your idea about jeeva (self), ishwara (God), jagat (world), all the three will change. Constantly. it will be changing. That is what I call enlightenment.