“In the beginning all this was non-existent. From it was born what exists. That created Itself by Itself; therefore It is called the self-made.” That which is Self-made is flavour; for truly, on obtaining the flavour one becomes blissful. Who could direct the prana and the apana if this Bliss did not exist in the akasa? Brahman verily exists because It alone bestows bliss. When a man finds fearless support in That which is invisible, incorporeal, indefinable and supportless, he has then obtained fearlessness. If he makes the slightest differentiation in It, there is fear for him. That becomes fear for the knower who does not reflect.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER: “There are two classes of devotees: jivakotis, or ordinary men, and Isvarakotis, or Divine Messengers. The jivakoti’s devotion to God is called vaidhi, formal; that is, it conforms to scriptural laws. He worships God with a fixed number of articles, repeats God’s holy name a specified number of times, and so on and so forth. This kind of devotion, like the path of knowledge, leads to the Knowledge of God and to samadhi. The jivakoti does not return from samadhi to the relative plane.
“But the case of the Isvarakoti is different. He follows the process of ‘negation’ and ‘affirmation’. First he negates the world, realizing that it is not Brahman; but then he affirms the same world, seeing it as the manifestation of Brahman. To-give an illustration: a man wanting to climb to the roof first negates the stairs as not being the roof, but on reaching the roof he finds that the stairs are made of the same materials as the roof: brick, lime, and brick-dust. Then he can either move up and down the stairs or remain on the roof, as he pleases.
“Sukadeva was absorbed in samadhi — nirvikalpa samadhi, jada samadhi. Since Suka was to recite the Bhagavata to King Parikshit, the Lord sent the sage Narada to him. Narada saw him seated like an inert thing, absolutely unconscious of the world around him. Thereupon Narada sang four couplets on the beauty of Hari, to the accompaniment of the vina. While the first couplet was being sung the hair on Suka’s body stood on end. Next he shed tears; for he saw the form of God, the Embodiment of Spirit, within himself, in his heart. Thus Sukadeva saw the form of God even after jada samadhi. He was an Isvarakoti.
“Hanuman, after having the vision of God both with form and without, remained firmly devoted to the form of Rama, the Embodiment of Consciousness and Bliss.
“Prahlada sometimes realised, ‘I am He’; sometimes he felt that he was the servant of God. How can such a person live without love of God? That is why he must accept the relationship of master and servant, feeling that God is the Master and himself the servant. This enables him to enjoy the Bliss of Hari. In this attitude he feels that God is the Bliss and he himself is the enjoyer……
“The bhakta feels, ‘O God, Thou art the Lord and I am Thy devotee.’ This ‘I’ is the ‘ego of bhakti’. Why does such a lover of God retain the ‘ego of Devotion’? There is a reason. The ego cannot be got rid of; so let the rascal remain as the servant of God, the devotee of God. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)