Some more on Samadhi, etc.

[Guest guest]

Srigurubhyo NamaH

Namaste

Although I had withdrawn from the discussion on this thread, seeing

some comments and some quotations from Sw.Nikhilananda ji's book from

an old post of Prof.VK ji, I suddenly realized that I had done a

gross injustice to the very cause that I tried to espouse. I felt

that I had not presented the complete picture. Upon rethinking on

the matter, I felt, it would be good, in the interests of all

mumukshus that I present the picture in all completeness. Hence, I

am posting an entire chapter from the book `Yoga, Enlightenment and

Perfection'. This chapter being quite lengthy contains a portion

that I had already posted as `Experience of Acharyal'. Barring that

portion, the rest of it is what preceded that experience and what

followed. A question as to `why one should strive to maintain,

strengthen the knowledge once having realized' is especially answered

in this chapter. There are a number of quotes from the scriptures to

answer several other questions including the clarificiation to

Sw.Nikhilananda's observation.

 

In the same vein I would request readers to look into the bhashyam of

the Brahma sutra `samaadhyabhaavaachha' II.3.39 wherein the Acharya

says that samadhi is taught in the Upanishads as means for the

realization of the Atman. His words are: yo api ayam aupanishad-aatma-

pratipatti-prayojanaH samaadhiH upadishto vedanteshu `aatma vaa arey

drashtavyaH, shotavyo, mantavyo, nididhyasitavyaH (Br.Up. 2.4.5),

Mundaka 2.2.6 ityevamlakshanaH…

 

The following contains some words unintelligible. This is because of

the font-problem. I have culled out the chapter from material

available in my computer. In view of its length I am making it into

two posts.

 

Om Tat Sat

 

13. Enlightenment and Establishment in Brahman

 

 

[The sequel comprises the conversations covering the culmination of

Acharyal's divine drama of sàdhanà. They took place at Chennai (then

Madras), in January 1982, at Paramahamsi Ganga Ashram, Madhya

Pradesh, in December 1982 and at Sringeri, in April 1984. The

conversations have been combined.]

 

Acharyal: Based on the words of the scripture and with the aid of

reasoning, I had developed the conviction that I am not the body,

organs, mind and intellect and that I am Brahman apart from which the

world has no existence. The two forms of savikalpa-samàdhi

experienced by Me on that pourõamä morning significantly enhanced it.

In the afternoon, I read and pondered on the verses of the Àtma-Vidyà-

Vilàsa. They made a greater impact on Me that day than before. I

recalled the words: (4cd)

(The Supreme Àtman shines pure, enlightened and devoid of all

variety.)

 

Considering the word (devoid of all variety)", I reflected as

follows. Even in samàdhi, I have not realised the Àtman as shining

totally free from diversity. After all, the sense of "I" and the

awareness of the distinction of the concentrator, concentration and

the object of concentration also shine, no matter how feebly. I do

understand from the words of the scripture, supportive reasoning and

My savikalpa-samàdhi-s that I am pure consciousness. Were the

appearance of even the vestige of duality to vanish during samàdhi,

leaving just the Àtman as residue, that would greatly facilitate the

ripening of My present understanding and conviction into firm

realisation.

 

A weary traveller may hear from a trustworthy person familiar with

the region that the water he is seeing in the desert is a mirage. He

may then reason that such should be the case. Yet, his wanting to

assuage his thirst may impede his firmly realising that only desert

sand stretches in front of him. Were he to move on to a new position

and the sun were to be temporarily blocked by a thick layer of

clouds, he might see just sand where he once saw the mirage. He might

begin to perceive the mirage again a little later. Nonetheless, the

temporary disappearance of the mirage would highly facilitate his

firmly realising the truth of what he had been told and reflected

upon. The thorough vanishing of duality during samàdhi would, for Me,

be helpful, like the temporary disappearance of the mirage for this

hypothetical traveller.

 

Further, while I almost become identified with bliss in samàdhi,

nonetheless, I do, to a minute degree, stand apart from it as the one

who enjoys it. Infinite bliss is, on the authority of the scripture,

My very nature. What is My very nature cannot, undoubtedly, be known

objectively by Me. It is avidyà that conjures diversity in the Truth,

which is non-dual. Thus, no matter how great it may be, bliss that is

experienced by Me as an object lies in the realm of avidyà. It must

not be savoured but transcended."

 

{It is taught in the Chàndogya Upanióad:

(VII.23.1)

That alone which is Infinite is

happiness.

The Infinite is that where one does not see anything else, does not

hear anything else and does not understand anything else. Hence, the

finite is that where one sees something else, hears something else

and understands something

else. . (VII.24.1)

 

 

Gaudapàdàcàrya has said in His Karika-s on the Màndòkya Upanióad:

 

One should not enjoy happiness in that state but should become

unattached through the use of discrimination.}

(Acharyal:) I should, during My meditation this evening, prevent

Myself from being overwhelmed by the bliss of savikalpa-samàdhi.

Then, by impressing upon Myself that I am bliss itself and not one

who enjoys it, I should focus My mind more thoroughly on the Àtman.

Once My mind were to become fully established on the Àtman and devoid

of every transformation of a form other than that of the Àtman, how

can any distinction between bliss and the one experiencing bliss or,

for that matter, any other subject-object distinction and the sense

of individuality show up at all? By establishing the mind on the

Àtman and remaining without any thought, I would be acting in

accordance with the instruction:

 

(Bhagavad-Gätà VI.25)

(One should gradually withdraw with the intellect endued with

firmness; making the mind established in the Àtman, one should not

think of anything.)

 

{Bhagavatpàda has concluded his commentary on the above verse by

writing that this is the highest instruction about yoga.

 

The Maitràyaõä Upanióad teaches:

 

Just as a fire bereft of fuel disappears into its source, on the

termination of vétti-s, the mind disappears into its basis (the

Àtman).

 

When, having made the mind free from sleep and distractions and very

steady, one attains the condition of mindlessness, then one reaches

the supreme state.

(IV.4.8ab)

The mind should be restrained only till it wanes away in the Àtman.}

 

(Acharyal:) I then opened the Vivekacòdàmaõi at random. My eyes fell

on a verse in which nirvikalpa-samàdhi is spoken of. I read it as

also the succeeding three verses; they too deal with nirvikalpa-

samàdhi. My reading enhanced My keenness on going beyond the stage of

savikalpa-samàdhi.

 

{At this point, Acharyal picked up the Vivekacòdàmaõi and chanted the

following verses.}

(363)

(When thus purified (of misunderstanding and the like about the

Truth) by continuous practice, the mind merges in Brahman (by

remaining without any thought, in the form of Brahman), then there is

nirvikalpa-samàdhi, which brings about the effortless experience of

non-dual bliss.)

(364)

(By this samàdhi, there occurs the destruction of the knot of

impressions (rooted in ignorance), the annihilation of all one's

actions (leading to rebirth) and the manifestation, without effort,

of one's true nature, within and without, everywhere and for ever.)

(365)

(Reflection (on the Truth) is a hundred times superior to hearing

(the Truth). Meditation (on the Truth) is a hundred thousand times

greater than reflection. Nirvikalpa-samàdhi is infinitely superior to

that.)

 

(366)

(Brahman, the Reality, is realised clearly, with steady certitude, by

means of nirvikalpa-samàdhi but not otherwise, for, then, because of

the inconstancy of mental activity, the realisation would be mixed up

with other notions.)

 

I reached My place of meditation on the hill around one and a half

hours before sunset. Sitting in the siddhàsana, I performed two

cycles of pràõàyàma together with the jàlandhara, uááiyàõa and mòla

bandha-s to promote mental tranquillity. Then, as usual, I directed

My gaze towards the centre of My brows and chanted the pràõava. That

day, I beheld an unbounded expanse of blue, resembling the sky.

 

The notion, "I am the non-dual Brahman apart from which nothing

whatsoever exists" that was prominent and naturally persistent since

the previous evening had been intensified by My savikalpa-samàdhi-s

of the morning and by My reading and reflection of the afternoon. So,

I did not have to cultivate it. I had barely seen the soothing

expanse of blue when it vanished. I felt Myself expanding and

becoming like space. The sense of I nearly vanished and My mind

entered savikalpa-samàdhi.

 

The bliss was very great. However, with effort, I restrained Myself

from being overwhelmed by it and thought, "I am not the one

experiencing bliss but am bliss itself." In a trice, a sharp change

occurred. Awareness of the distinction of the concentrator,

concentration and the object of concentration completely disappeared.

No more was there any sense of individuality or of space, time and

objects. Only Brahman, of the nature of absolute existence, pure

consciousness and ultimate bliss, shone bereft of the superimposition

of even a trace of duality.

 

After about two hours, the mind descended to the level of savikalpa-

samàdhi and mild awareness of the distinction of the concentrator,

concentration and the object of concentration reappeared. Though the

bliss of savikalpa-samàdhi was by far greater than the joy of any

worldly enjoyment, it was nothing compared to the absolute, non-dual

bliss of nirvikalpa-samàdhi. Gradually, I became lightly aware of the

body and of the build up of breathing that must have almost totally

stopped earlier.

 

{The Maitràyaõä Upanióad declares:

The bliss that is had by the mind that has been cleansed of

impurities by samàdhi and which is absorbed in the Àtman cannot be

described in words. It is experienced by the mind itself at that time.

About the highest samàdhi, the Lord says in the Bhagavad-Gätà:

(VI.21)

At the time when the mind restrained through the practice of yoga

gets withdrawn, and just when, by seeing the Àtman by the purified

mind, one remains contented in the Àtman alone; when one experiences

absolute bliss, which can be intuited by the intellect and which is

beyond the senses, and being established thus, this person does not

swerve from the Reality…

 

Anandagiri differentiates saæprajñàta/savikalpa and asaæ-

prajñàta/nirvikalpa samàdhi-s thus in his gloss on Bhagavatpàda's

bhàóya on verse (VI.20) of the Bhagavad-Gätà:

 

Samàdhi is of two kinds; saæprajñàta and asaæprajñàta. The pure

vétti (modification of the mind) of the form of just the object

meditated upon constitutes saæprajñàta-samàdhi if it is somehow

apprehended apart from its object. That very vétti constitutes

asaæprajñàta-samàdhi when it is, in no way, apprehended apart from

its object

 

In the Sarva-Vedànta-Siddhànta-Sàra-Sangrahaã attributed to

Bhagavatpàda, it is said about nirvikalpa-samàdhi on Àtman-Brahman:

 

(823) (824) (825) (826ab)

That is nirvikalpa-samàdhi, which is termed yoga, wherein the mind,

bereft of the modes of the knower, knowing and the object of

knowledge, remains firmly established as the object (Brahman). Salt

put in water remains as one with the water and does not manifest

separately. Only water manifests. In like manner, the mental vétti

(of the form of Brahman) remains as one with Brahman and does not

manifest separately. The non-dual Brahman alone manifests. Due to the

absence of the conception of the knower, known and object of

knowledge, this samàdhi is called nirvikalpa.}

 

(Acharyal:) When I opened My eyes, I could see the scene in front of

Me and yet did not see it, for I was quite indifferent to the

apparent diversity rooted in names and forms. So clear was the

realisation that I was of the very nature of absolute existence that

I apprehended nothing whatsoever as existing apart from Me.

Everything was like bubbles on the ocean that was Myself. When I rose

after some time, My body felt light like cotton wool and as I walked

down the hill, it seemed as if I were on a moving canoe.

 

After about an hour the apprehension, "I am the Supreme Brahman other

than which there is nothing" started to slowly weaken from being on

par with perceiving a fruit in one's open palm. However, even when

its attenuation stopped, it was much stronger than it had been when I

had sat down to meditate.

 

(to be continued in another post)

[Guest guest]

Dear Subbu-ji,

 

Your timely post has included the very verses from Vivekacudamani that I was

just about to post!

 

"365: By the Nirvikalpa Samadhi the truth of Brahman is clearly and

definitely realized, but not otherwise, for then the mind, being unstable by

nature is apt to be mixed up with other perceptions. "

 

Below are some passages from Sri Sankara's devoted disciple Sri Suresvara in

the form of a commentary on Sri Sankara's "Panchikaranam" which I hope will

add to our exploration of this topic.

 

Having examined the significance the three letters of AUM and the three

states of consciousness, explained by Sri Sankara, Sri Suresvara's

commentary continues:

 

QUOTE:

 

(...It has been said how the whole universe has to be reduced to the Supreme

Atman (Soul) which is of the nature of Pure Consciousness. Now by way of

showing the process of attaining the 'SAMPRAJNATA SAMADHI', the essential

characteristics of the Atman are being presented here.)

 

50 & 51. I am the Atman, the Pure Consciousness, eternally pure and

Intelligence Absolute, ever free and One without a second. I am the Bliss

Infinite. I am Vasudeva, the all-pervading Supreme Spirit and I am 'AUM'.

Thus comprehending, the contemplative faculty must also be merged into that

Witness, the Absolute Atman.

 

[Note: 'Bliss Infinite': All enjoyments culminate in Brahman which is of

the nature of Supreme Bliss. (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.32). The Avyakta

or the Aksharatma is, as it were, a part of Brahman through the limiting

adjunct ignorance; the Sutratma or the cosmic mind is again a part of that

Avyakta, and the Virat, i.e., the Cosmic Soul identified with the gross

universe is considered to be a fraction of the Sutratma. Even the bliss of

the Virat-hood is something beyond the comprehension of the finite minds of

ours. So Brahman is Bliss Infinite.

 

'Vasudeva': From Vishnu Purana: "As He (the Supreme Spirit) evenly pervades

everything, so the wise ones call Him Vasudeva".

 

'The comprehending': Here the process of attaining ASAMPRAJNYAAT SAMADHI or

Nirvikalpa Samadhi is being described. This comprehending- i.e., after

practising the Savikalpa Samadhi for long. Savikalpa Samadhi is that state

where the mind assumes the form of Brahman (Supreme Spirit) and rests on it

with the distinction between the subject and object still persisting. When

with the deepening of that state the duality of subject and object vanishes

altogether, and the aspirant becomes one with Brahman, the state of

Nirvikalpa Samadhi is said to have been achieved. So the former kind of

Samadhi culminates into this.

 

'Contemplative faculty': The faculty involving the threefold divisions of

meditation, meditator and the meditated.

 

'Witness': Because it directly illumines everything superimposed on it

without the mediacy of any modification of the mind - it is called the

Witness.]

 

(The state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi is being narrated

now)

 

52. When the contemplative mind is merged into the Atman (Soul), the Pure

Consciousness, then it should not be disturbed. One should then remain as

that Infinite Consciousness like the full and motionless ocean.

 

[Note: 'One should then remain': From Mandukya Karika 3.44.:

Shamapraaptam Na Chaalayet etc. When the mind, free from all obstacles, is

controlled, do not distract it any more. Do not linger on the bliss that

comes from the Savikalpa Samadhi but be unattached through discrimination.]

 

(Constant practice of this Samadhi gradually culminates in

realisation.)

 

53. Thus attaining perfect absorption through constant practice, an

aspirant, endowed with faith and devotion, and having overcome the senses

and anger, perceives (realises) the Atman; the One without a second.

 

UNQOUTE.

 

kind regards to all Advaitins,

 

Peter

[Guest guest]

"365: By the Nirvikalpa Samadhi the truth of Brahman is clearly and

definitely realized, but not otherwise, for then the mind, being unstable

by

nature is apt to be mixed up with other perceptions. "

 

praNAms

Hare Krishna

 

If the above is true to shankara siddhAnta... then NS is NOT one of the

means as advocating by some of the members here,,,but it is the ONLY means

(*but not otherwise* in the above translation emphasizes this point beyond

doubt) to realize brahman!!!

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar