The ninth form of bhakti is atma nivedan – total surrender, total fusion, total merger. Atma means ‘self and nivedan means ‘to offer’. It happens when even the last vestige of individual identity is dissolved in cosmic awareness. It can occur physically too. As you go through the different processes of bhakti, it is not only the mind which evolves, but also the body. Each and every atom of the body becomes enlightened. The atoms dissolve in the environment.
There is the story of Mirabai. In the last moment of her life, her physical body disappeared into the image of her Lord, who was Krishna.
When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to Puri and saw the statue of Lord Jagannath, his body dissolved into that statue.
Kabir was the Guru of both Hindus and Moslems. When he died, the Hindus wanted to cremate him but the Moslems wanted to bury him. So they started to fight. However, when they removed the cloth which was covering his body, they found only flowers, and both communities shared the flowers half and half.
I do not think this is a mere spiritual fantasy. If it were only a spiritual fantasy it goes against every kind of spiritual theory, the theory of enlightenment. ‘When you feel hungry, is it the body which is hungry or is it the mind which is hungry? When you fill your stomach is the body fulfilled or is the mind also fulfilled? It is a linked experience.
Similarly, even in the state of enlightenment, there is not only transformation of the mind, or expansion of consciousness, but also enlightenment of the body. At that level, the body becomes God. Consciousness is God, but the body also becomes God and dissolves. This is the other Shakti of God. In maya the body becomes animal, prey to the influence of the instincts. In bhakti, the body becomes God, experiencing cosmic unity.

Atma nivedan is not that easy to attain. You cannot fill your stomach just by thinking about food; you cannot quench your thirst just by thinking about water. There is a whole process involved. Even if there is water in a glass, you need to hold it, lift it up, and bring it to your lips. Many things are happening at the same time. Atma nivedan is definitely not something which one can attain just by thinking or aspiring for it. However, if faith becomes powerful and takes you to that real experience of atma nivedan, then you will cease to be of this world. If you stand under the shower with your clothes on and hope that only your body will get wet it will not work out. You will be drenched all over. It is the same with atma nivedan.

So, these are the nine forms of bhakti. In our lifetime we may only fulfill one requirement of bhakti, such as having discrimination, but if that power of discrimination is there, then in one moment it can take us to the final stage. You see, you have to remember that bhakti does not follow a linear path. Nine stages have been defined, but each stage is connected to the final one. They are not connected to each other. The first stage is connected to the ninth, the second stage is connected to the ninth, the third stage is connected to the ninth, and so on. Wherever you are on the path, if you are able to live that stage fully then you are bound to reach the ninth stage. Just live one stage fully and you will bypass every other stage.

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, Ganga Darshan, 21.11.1994