Maharshi's Gospel - Work and Renunciation 11

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Disciple: I maintain that the physical body of the man immersed in samadhi,

as a result of the unbroken 'contemplation' of the Self, may become

motionless for that reason. It may be active or inactive. The mind

established in such contemplation will not be affected by the movements of

the body or the senses; nor is there disturbance of the mind, the forerunner

of physical activity. Whereas another person asserts that physical activity

certainly prevents samadhi or unbroken contemplation. What is Bhagavan's

opinion? You are the abiding proof of my statement.

 

Maharshi: Both of you are right: you refer to sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi and

the other refers to kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. In the latter case the mind

lies immersed in the Light of the Self (whereas the mind lies in the

darkness of ignorance in deep sleep); and the subject makes a distinction

between samadhi and activity after waking up from samadhi. Moreover,

activity of the body, of the sight, of the vital forces, and of the mind and

the cognizance of objects, all these are obstructions for one who seeks to

realize kevala nirvikalpa samadhi.

In sahaja samadhi, however, the mind has resolved into the Self and has

been lost. The differences and obstructions mentioned above do not,

therefore, exist here. The activities of such a Being are like the feeding

of a somnolent boy, perceptible to the onlooker but not to the subject. The

traveller sleeping in the moving cart is not aware of the motion of the

cart, because his mind is sunk in darkness; whereas the sahaja jnani remains

unaware of his bodily activities because his mind is dead, having been

resolved into the ecstasy of chidananda (bliss of Self).

 

(From Maharshi's Gospel, published by Sri Ramanasramam and available for

download from http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/ )