SUNN SAMAADHI: CONVERSATION WITH GOD

[Guest guest]

Dear devotees of the Primordial Mother,

i also had a Sikh gentleman, who became a disciple of the Adi Shakti a year ago, inquiring about Waheguru being the primordial source. i will give all of you an excellent translation of the Guru Granth by Terlochan Singh regarding that inquiry about Waheguru being the primordial source. It is a deep subject that only Shri Mataji, after opening the Dsam Duar through Self-realization, allows us to take the first step in an epic journey within ourselves and seek Him there. i wish you all success in your spiritual quest to attain Sunn Samadhi.

Jai Shri Mataji,

jagbir singh

 

"SUNN SAMAADHI: CONVERSATION WITH GOD

"Everyone speaks of the Absolute Lord, the unmanifest void. How can one find this absolute void?Who are they, who are attuned to this absolute void?"They are like the Lord, from whom they originated.They are not born, they do not die; they do not come and go.O Nanak, the Gurmukhs instruct their minds (sggs 943).

In the Primal Void, the Infinite Lord assumed His Power. He Himself is unattached, infinite and incomparable. He Himself exercised His Creative Power, and He gazes upon His creation; from the Primal Void, He formed the Void.

From this Primal Void, He fashioned air and water. He created the universe, and the king (mind) in the fortress of the body. Your Light pervades fire, water and souls; Your Power rests in the Primal Void. From this Primal Void, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva issued forth. This Primal Void is pervasive throughout all the ages. That humble being who contemplates this state is perfect; meeting with him, doubt is dispelled (sggs 1037).

Man's ultimate quest is the final evolutionary frontier which is within man himself. It is the Truth spoken by the scriptures and the sages that the absolute Lord is deep within us, and He is attainable through control and purification of the mind. One who knows this mystery of God, who pervades each and every heart, knows the Primal Being. Therefore, in the search for God, none can afford to forget the basic rudiments of spirituality that God lives within all beings. Accordingly, the Gurbani (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SGGS) thunders that those who search Him in the externalities of the world are mentally deluded.

Sabh kish ghar mahi baahari naahee. Baahari tolai so bharam bhulaahee: Everything is within the home of the self; there is nothing beyond. One who searches outside is deluded by doubts (sggs 102).

God does not talk through our material senses. He does not talk through the mouth either. He talks to his humble servants in the state of "Sunn Samaadhi", when they are completely notionless or Nirvikalapa. Whoever contemplates this state has attained the perfection. Keeping the absolute ease and poise or the essence of the holy Name within all the time, our individual Aatmaa (soul) can talk to the Parmaatamaa (Super Soul) twenty-four hours a day. The Gurbani confirms it as follows:

Sunn samaadhi guphaa tah aasan. Keval brahm pooran tah baasan. Bhagat sang prabh gost karat: One sits there, in the cave of Sunn Samaadhi; the unique, perfect God dwells there. God holds conversations with His devotees (sggs 894).

Sunn samaadhi Naam ras maate. Aath pahar jan Hari Hari japai: In the Sunn Samaadhi, they are intoxicated with the essence of the Naam. Twenty-four hours a day, His servants chant the Lord's Name (sggs 265).

This leads to the question: What is Sunn Samaadhi? Simply put it, this is the state of intuitive poise or the silent trance corresponding to mind's complete absorption in the formless Lord. In other words, when mind is one hundred percent fixed for understanding the self, it is said to be in Sunn Samaadhi. For example, for someone to say that he is in Sunn Samaadhi is to say that he has fully realized God consciousness (i.e., Naam or Shabad consciousness). Among all forms of Samaadhi, this is the highest form or Self-Realization. At this stage, there is no longer any connection with worldly pleasure, for one is then transcendental to all sorts of joy derived from the senses. Also, at this stage, one attains perfect understanding that he is eternally the Sewak, Daasa, or servant of God. Once the devotee becomes situated in this transcendental position, he never descends from it. When the nonapprehension of Reality is destroyed in the direct experience of Reality, Maya (mental

delusion) folds her magic kit and disappears, never to come back. This is an irreversible process. Therefore, unless a devotee has reached this position, he is unsuccessful.

Sunn samaadhi rahahi liv laage ekaa ekeee shabad beechaar...: Some remain absorbed in Sunn Samaadhi, their minds fixed lovingly on the One Lord; they reflect only on the Shabad. In that state, there is no water, land, earth or sky; only the Creator Lord Himself exists. There is no intoxication of Maya there, and no shadow, nor the infinite light of the sun or the moon. The eyes within the mind which see everything — with one glance, they see the three world (sggs 503).

aamaa kahe chit Hari siyu raataa sunn samaadhi samaaugo: Says Naam Dev, my consciousness is imbued with the Lord; I am absorbed in the profound state of Samaadhi (sggs 973).

Before we dive further into the Gurbani's exploration of this sublime state of Sunn Samaadhi, it might be helpful to know that there are some other terms that are virtually synonymous to Sunn Samaadhi. They include: annihilation of mind, purification of mind, seedless trance, celestial trance, deepest trance, celestial void, celestial silence, celestial realm, celestial stillness, absolute void, profound void, primordial void, unmanifest void, state of notionless or Nirvikalapa, state of thoughtlessness, state of absolute absorption, state of egolessness, state of no-mind, state of celestial ecstasy, state of complete surrender to God, state of enlightenment, Chauthaa Pad, Turyaa Avasthaa, Sahaj Avasthaa, Self-Realization, Tenth Gate, vision of Reality, awakening of Kundalini, intuitive poise, primal Samaadhi, deepest Samaadhi, deep meditation, cave of the heart, liberation from bondage, platform of transcendental consciousness, absorption in the formless Lord, living dead, living

liberated, talk within, God union, conversation with God, silent talk, Kingdom Of God, the Absolute Lord Himself, God communion, absolute ease and poise, and so on.

For the sincere seeker, the Gurbani has laid tremendous emphasis on advancing to the state of Sunn Samaadhi. At this state, the soul becomes absorbed in the fire of Divine-Wisdom which roasts the seeds of false ego or body-bound inclinations. The individual looses the sense of individuality — the soul realizes itself and the Infinite Consciousness as one. He sees the one Spirit in all souls and all souls in the Spirit; the ocean in all waves and all waves in the ocean; the clay in all pots and all pots in the clay; the gold in the bracelet and the bracelet in the gold; the sun in the rays and the rays in the sun; the string in the beads and the beads in the string; the moon in the waters and waters in the moon; the fragrance in the flower and flower in the fragrance; the wood in the fire and fire in the wood....!

Udak smund salal kee saakhiaa nadee trang smaavahige.......: Like drops of water in the water of the ocean, and like waves in the stream, I merge in the Lord. Merging my being into the Absolute Being of God, I have become impartial and transparent, like the air (sggs 1103).

This is the state of Saakshi-Bhaav: eternal witnessing. Here one witnesses the ego consciousness, the soul consciousness, and the Infinite Consciousness all existing together. A man in this state may even be outwardly engaged in worldly duties in the fulfillment of the Lord's cosmic plan, he may even look irreligious and uneducated, but he ever remains immersed in God consciousness with one hundred percent involvement of his mind; without any loss of God-union. He lives in the material world just like the bird that flies in the sky, without leaving any foot-prints or mark! He lives amidst the so called impurities of the material world without being affected just as the lotus flower floats untouched upon the surface of the water, and the duck swims untouched across the stream! Like the water vapor in the sky, he remains absorbed in the Lord. This is the state of freedom in bondage.

Sahje sahaj milyaa jagjeevan Nanak sunn samaae: In absolute ease and poise, one meets the Life of the World (i.e., God). O Nanak, one is absorbed in the state of absolute absorption (sggs 774).

Sunn nirantar deejai bandh: Focused deep within, in perfect absorption, the soul-swan does not fly away, and the body-wall does not collapse. Then, one knows that his true home is in the cave of intuitive poise (sggs 939).

Sunn samaadhi mahaa parmaarath teen bhavan pat naamam: The consciousness in deep Samaadhi, the Supreme Being, the Lord of the three worlds — these are all Your Names, Lord (sggs 634).

If an individual drop of water were to be separated from the ocean and analyzed for it's chemical composition, it will exhibit the same chemical qualities that of the entire ocean from which it has been separated. Similarly, the individual soul separated from God, contains the same transcendental qualities that of the Super Soul (Parmaatamaa) from which it has been separated. As such, an individual soul's affinity for Sunn Samaadhi is due to its original source, Waheguru, who Himself remains in Primal Samaadhi. And, who Himself created the entire universe from this Primal Samaadhi. The Gurbani explains that this Primal Void is pervasive throughout all the ages.

Sunnhu khaanee sunnhu bani. Sunnhu upjee sunn samaanee...: From this Primal Void, came the four sources of creation, and the power of speech. They were created from the Void, and they will merge into the Void. The Supreme Creator created the play of Nature; through the Shabad, He stages His Wondrous Show (sggs 1037).

Sargun nirgun nirankaar sunn smaadhee aap. Aapan keeyaa Nanaka aape hee phir jaap: He possesses all qualities; He transcends all qualities; He is the Formless Lord. He Himself is in Primal Samaadhi. Through His Creation, O Nanak, He meditates on Himself (sggs 290).

Arbad narbad dhandhookaara....: For endless eons, there was only utter darkness. There was no earth or sky; there was only the infinite Command of His Hukam. There was no day or night, no moon or sun; God sat in primal, profound Samaadhi (sggs 1035).

If Sunn Samaadhi or God union is the soul nature, then what is it that stop the Jiva from realizing it? It is the veil of the mind's restlessness that inhibits us from becoming permanently absorbed in God-union. Owing to our bondage of Maya — evil passions, undigested desires or Vaasnaas, and emotional attachment — and the effects of our past actions or Karma, we keep falling down again and again into false ego and body consciousness.

The nature of restlessness of our mind is opposite to Sunn Samadhi. Mind in control is one with the Celestial Stillness. Therefore, only that mind which does not get disturbed by the changes in the material world is said to have attained absolute ease and poise (i.e., perfect control).

Maya phaas bandh nahee phaarai aru man sunn sunn na lookai..... Jiyu pritibimb bimb ko kayu mileehai udak kumbh bigraanaa. Kahu Kabeer aisaa gun bhram bhaagaa tayu man sunn samaanaa: The mortal does not break free from the bonds of the noose of Maya, and he does not seek the shelter of the profound, absolute Lord. He does not realize the dignity of the self, and Nirvaanaa; because of this, his doubt does not depart....... As the reflection of an object blends in the water when the pitcher is broken, says Kabeer, just so virtue dispels doubt, and then the soul is absorbed in the profound, absolute Lord (sggs 475).

Unman manooaa sunn samaanaa dubdhaa durmat bhaagee:

The disturbed mind has been absorbed in the Lord; duality and evil-mindedness have run away. Says Kabeer, I have seen the One Lord, the Fearless One; I am attuned to the Name of the Lord (sggs 333).

Some of the Gurbani's most repeated terms include "Panch Shabad" (the five celestial sound currents) and "Anhad Naad" (unstruck celestial sound current). Although these primal sound currents reside within our inner being, we are still unable to realize them. Why? It is like the deer who searches for the musk in the bushes. The deer does not know the secret; the musk is within its own body, but it searches for it outside. The Gurbani says that the same story applies to man; he also wanders around in the wilderness of doubts caused by Maya's deception or mental restlessness. Consequently, he also searches for the Naam, Panch Shabad, or Anhad Naad outside; in other places and objects. The fact is they are hidden within his own body. Here the Guru Sahib (SGGS) reveals the secret to us.

Panch Shabad tah pooran naad..... Sunn samaadhi prabhu kirpal:

The Panch Shabad, the five primal sounds, echo the perfect sound current of the Naad. The wondrous, amazing unstruck melody vibrates. ..... There, they meditate only on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. How rare are those who find this place of rest. The love of God is their food, and the Kirtan of the Lord’s Praise is their support. They obtain a permanent seat in the infinite. No one falls there, or wavers, or goes anywhere. By Guru’s Grace, some find this mansion. They are not touched by doubt, fear, attachment or the traps of Maya. They enter the deepest state of Sunn Samaadhi, through the kind mercy of God (sggs 888).

The Guru Sahib explains us that when this world had not yet appeared in any form, or when the Lord Himself was in Sunn Samaadhi, or when the Supreme Lord Himself was Himself All-in-all, then there was nobody to experience joy and sorrow, or life and death. Similarly, with the grace of the Waheguru, when we enter into the state of Sunn Samaadhi, we become one with the Lord. In that state of Primal Void, we again become free from the notion of duality, birth and death, sins and good deeds, happiness and suffering, hunger and food, hate and jealousy, bodily attachments and doubts, sleep, etc. That's why the scriptures relentlessly challenge us to experience the state of Sunn Samaadhi or God while incarnated in human form. This intimate experience can only be experienced while in the physical body. One comes back and back again into flesh simply to realize Him. Nothing more.

Tah harakh na sog na janam na marat: There (Sunn Samaadhi) is no pleasure or pain, no birth or death there (sggs 894).

Tah paavas sindhu dhoop nahee chhahiaatah utpat parlayu naahee. Jeevan mirat na dukh sukh biaapai sunn samaadhi doyoo tah naahee. Sahaj kee akathkathaa hai niraaree:

There is no rainy season, ocean, sunshine or shade, no creation or destruction there. No life or death, no pain or pleasure is felt there. There is only the Primal Trance of Samaadhi, and no duality. The description of the state of intuitive poise is indescribable and sublime (sggs 333).

Jeevat marai marai phun jeevai aise sunn samaayaa:

One who remains dead while yet alive, will live even after death; thus he merges into the Primal Void of the Absolute Lord (sggs 332).

Taaree na tarai aavai na jaai. Sunn sahaj mahi rahio samaai:

Man merged in God is not diverted by diversions and reincarnation. He remains intuitively absorbed in the celestial void (sggs 1162).

How we can advance towards attaining this state of awareness? The teachings of the scriptures are intended to awaken this pure consciousness in man. By practicing control over the nine gates of the body (material Vasnaas or desires), one attains perfect control over the Tenth Gate (celestial realm). Consequently, the mind turns away from the world, enters into the Mind of God (i.e., Sunn Samaadhi).

Sahaj sunn ik birva upjyaa dhartee jalhar sokhyaa. Kahu kabeer hayu taa kaa sevak jin ih birvaa dekhyaa:

In the profound void of intuitive Samaadhi, the one tree rises up; it soaks up the water of desire from the ground. Says Kabeer, I am the servant of those who have seen this celestial tree (sggs 970).

Chhet aavai taa sahaj ghar paayaaa. Cheet aavai taa sunn samaayaa:

When He comes to mind, I find the home of peace and poise. When He comes to mind, I am absorbed in the Primal Void of God (sggs 1141).

God lives in the cave of the heart — the deepest trance or celestial void. He does not live in the cave of mountains or jungles. The Primal Lord sits within the celestial sphere of deepest Samaadhi within our inner being. He is within and also without. In this context, the Guru Sahib helps eliminate the mental delusions or doubts of so called Yogis as follows:

Sun mashindraa Nanak bolai.....:

Listen, Machhindra, to what Nanak says. One who subdues the five passions does not waver. One who practices Yoga in such a way, saves himself, and saves all his generations. He alone is a hermit, who attains such understanding. Day and night, he remains absorbed in deepest Samaadhi (sggs 877).

Surati simriti duyi kannee munndaa...:

Let contemplation and intuitive meditation be your two ear-rings, and true wisdom your patched overcoat. In the cave of silence, dwell in your Yogic posture; let the subjugation of desire be your spiritual path. O my King, I am a Yogi, a hermit, a renunciate. I do not die or suffer pain or separation. The solar systems and galaxies are my horn; the whole world is the bag to carry my ashes. Eliminating the three qualities and finding release from this world is my deep meditation. My mind and breath are the two gourds of my fiddle, and the Lord of all the ages is its frame (sggs 334).

Mortals are challenged by the scriptures to become "living dead" or Jivanmukta. How one can be living as well as dead the same time? However paradoxical it may seem, this is the state recommended by the scriptures to pursue. To become Jivanmukta does not mean committing suicide, abandoning one's duties, remaining inactive, or running away from the world. It simply means to transcend the three modes of the material nature (i.e., dissolving of the mind or false ego). As long as one is caught in Maya's triple-trap, he can not be Jivanmukta or liberated. Therefore, in simple terms, liberation or Mukti can be defined as freedom from the material consciousness or false ego. Sunn Samaadhi is the death knoll for false ego.

Janam maran kaa bhram gayaa Gobind liv laagee. Jeevan sunn samaanyaa gur saakhee jaagee:

The illusion of birth and death is gone; I lovingly focus on the Lord of the Universe. In my life, I am absorbed in deep silent meditation; the Guru’s Teachings have awakened me (sggs 857).

There are two kinds of ego: false ego and true or pure ego. The true ego is nothing but the soul or the incarnated Jivaatmaa. The false ego grows out of man's identification with the body (senses), mind (emotions), and intellect (thoughts). Thus the false ego in man is the mental-ego, which has the potential of being perverted by intellect waves, mental vibrations, and sense impressions.

The attainment of Sunn Samadhi is the elimination of this false ego; the sense of separateness from God. Just as fire, having consumed the fuel, disappears into its unmanifest form, just as the dreamer and his world of dream merge and disappear upon awakening, so too the ego, as our sense of individuality, disappears into the experience of the supreme state, Sunn Samadhi.

Sunn samaadhi sahaj man raataa. Taj hayu lobhaa eko jaataa:

My mind is intuitively absorbed in the state of the Sunn Samaadhi; renouncing egotism and greed, I have come to know the One Lord (sggs 904).

Upon the death of false ego, our senses become widow! This inner transformation results in so called control or purification of the mind, necessary for attaining oneness with the Infinite Consciousness. Without the complete removal of false ego or complete surrender unto Waheguru, the complete oneness with Spirit is not possible; no matter how much one remains in silence or meditation.

Chuppai chupp na hovayee je laayi rahaa livtaar:

The Lord cannot be attained by observing silence, even though one may remain in constant meditation.

Bin man mooye kaise hari paayi:

God is unattainable without destruction or annihilation (i.e., purification) of the mind (sggs 665).

Man maile bhagti na hovayee Nam na paya jaye:

Devotional service can not be performed with a filthy mind, and the Name can not be obtained (sggs, 159).

According to the scriptures, once the seeker has purified the mind, he becomes fit for employing his mind in unwavering contemplation, discovering the total identity of the essence behind both the individuality (Jivaatmaa) and the universal Self (Parmaatamaa). When the shining light, direct knowledge of the Self — the destroyer of the separateness between the soul and God — arises in the heart of the individual, then Maya, the cause for the material world, disappears instantaneously, along with its deceptive effects.

The state of Sunn Samaadhi reminds the soul of its eternal nature, omnipresence, and omnipotence. The attainment of this highest state is only possible by the practice of deepest love and devotion for God through the Naam Simran or Shabad Kamaaee (deep meditation on the Lord's Name). Hearing, perceiving, and contemplating it, the mind is enraptured and becomes perfect; consequently, it does not waver, and it is no more affected by Maya.

The spiritual practice of Shabad Ghaalnaa or Naam Simran helps establish the purity of the ego outwardly as well as inwardly. As a result, the awareness becomes centered on the Primal Void of the Absolute Lord — the victorious union of soul and Timeless Spirit in cosmic consciousness. What it means is that in order to link with God, we must become imbued in Shabad-Consciousness; which is the same as God-Consciousness, Divine-Consciousness, Cosmic-Consciousness, and so on.

Jin antar Sahabad aap pachhaanahi gati miti tin hee paaee. Eh manuaa sunn samadhi lagaavai jotee joti milaaee:

Those who have Shabad deep within, understand themselves; they find the way of salvation. Their minds enter into the Sunn Samaadhi, and their light is absorbed into the Light (sggs 910).

Jo jan Naam niranjan raataa. Nanak soee purakh bidhaataa:

That humble being who is imbued with the Immaculate Naam, O Nanak, is himself the Primal Lord, the Architect of Destiny (sggs 943).

Kahu kabir jo Naam samaane Sunn rahiaa liv soee:

Says Kabeer, whoever is absorbed in the Naam remains lovingly absorbed in the Primal, Absolute Lord (sggs 1104).

The devotion and unselfishness are the two rivers. In between these rivers is the shore of Divine Wisdom or Celestial Silence. Let's pray to Waheguru so that we all can make that place our Home. For all humble servants of the Lord search for the way to get to that place!

Nayu nidh amrit prabh kaa naam....: The nine treasures and the nectar are in the Name of God. Within the human body is its place of rest. The Sunn Samaadhi, and the unstruck sound current of the Naad are there. The wonder and marvel of it cannot be described. He alone sees it, unto whom God Himself reveals it. O Nanak, that humble being understands (sggs 293)."

T. Singh, Reflections on Gurbani

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