AW: samadhana and nidhidyasana

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Dear Dhanyaji,Pranamswhereas I totally agree with what you said about nidhidyasana, I have a different view of samadhana (which is still "in the making", so to say).What you described as samadhana seems to me the natural result of a combination of shama, dama and maybe also uparati. It does not seem to do justice to the very high position of smadhana as the last of the shatka sampatti and the one before last of all ten.I think one has to look deeper into it, considering 1. the fact of its position in the chatushtaya sampatti and 2. that is has been desribed as something happending IN the buddhi.Om ShantiSitaraVon: durga <durgaji108An: advaitin Gesendet: Dienstag, den 23. März 2010, 23:21:27 UhrBetreff: Re: samadhana and nidhidyasana

 

 

 

advaitin@ s.com, Shyam <shyam_md@.. .> wrote:

>

> Pranams Sitara-ji

> Here is my understanding.

> Samadhana is one-pointedness of the mind. It is hence a mind with a extraordinary capacity to focus, singlepointedly, as opposed to our normal "scatterbrain" prone minds which are running off in a hundred different directions.

 

> Shankara crisply points this out in huis tattvabodha - Samadhanam Kim? What is samadhana? Chitta Ekaagratha It is singlepointedness of the mind.

 

>

> I hope this is perspective is of help.

>

> Hari OM

> Shri Gurubhyoh namah

> Shyam

 

Namaste Sitaraji,

 

Sri Shyamji has hit the nail on the head, IMO.

 

I couldn't remember what samadhana meant,

and then after reading his post, I remembered.

It means, the ability to stay single-pointed.

 

Let's say a friend tells me about a Vedanta

class, and I think, "Oh, that sounds good,

I think I'll give it a try."

 

Then tomorrow someone tells me about a good

movie. So I give that a go. Then the next day

I take a ballroom dancing class. Then I think,

"Well, maybe I'll check out sky diving."

 

So that person doesn't have samadhana. You

need samadhana in order to benefit from the

study of Vedanta, or otherwise Vedanta could

just become one in a list of 'things,' a pursuit

as easily dropped as it is taken up.

 

One really needs to take the study of Vedanta as one's

top commitment. Yes, one will probably need to work,

and one may have family and perhaps community commitments,

(and they can all help with one's sadhana

from the POV of karma yoga), but one's

highest priority should be listening to

the teachings and focusing on gaining the vision

which they have to give.

 

Nidhidhyasana can only be done when the

mind has recognized that my self is the self

of the whole, my atma is brahman.

 

Then why do we do it after that recognition has occurred?

We do it for nishta, to become firm in our 'knowledge.'

 

As my teacher often says, "We have lifetimes

of conditioning, lifetimes of taking who I

am to be a body/mind/sense organs individual."

 

So in the early stages of knowledge the mind

can sometimes get swept away by past conditioning,

and we can even act like an old samsari again.

The we need to bring in what we know to be true.

To recognize, "I don't need to act like that

anymore." My source of happiness is my self.

 

A version of a story from my teacher

(and from her teacher) A prince

as a young child somehow became lost and lived

as a beggar for awhile. Then he was found,

and brought back to the palace to live in

luxury and splendor. One day as his retinue

was traveling down a street he saw a man

distributing free candy to some children.

 

The prince ran to the man, holding out his hand,

pushing the other children aside,

so he too, could receive some candy. Then

he remembered, "I am a prince. I am

not a beggar. I don't need to act

this way anymore," and he retired

slightly embarrassed by his behavior.

 

Thus one needs to do nidhidhyasana again and

again, until one doesn't need to do it any

more. Until one's hand will never go out

for candy, because one knows without

even the slightest waver, that the entire

kingdom of happiness is mine already,

and that happiness I am.

 

Best wishes,

Dhanya (new name from my teacher) Om

 

 

 

 

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