Samadhi --Godman

[Guest guest]

Q: What is samadhi?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The state in which the unbroken

experience of existence-consciousness is attained by the still

mind, alone is samadhi. That still mind which is adorned with

the attainment of the limitless Supreme Self, alone is the reality

of God.

 

When the mind is in communion with the Self in darkness, it is

called nidra (sleep), that is the immersion of the mind in

ignorance. Immersion in a conscious or wakeful state is called

samadhi. Samadhi is continuous inherence in the Self in a waking

state. Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self but in an

unconscious state. In sahaj samadhi the communion is continuous.

 

The immersion of the mind in the Self, but without its destruction,

is known as Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi. In this state one is not free

from vasanas and so one does not therefore attain mukti

(liberation). Only after the vasanas have been destroyed can one

attain liberation.

 

 

Q: When can one practice Sahaj Samadhi?

 

A: Even from the beginning. Even though one practises Kevala

Nirvikalpa Samadhi for years together, if one has not rooted out the

vasanas one will not attain liberation.

 

Q: Is samadhi, the eighth stage of raja yoga, the same as the

samadhi you speak of?

 

A: In yoga the term samadhi refers to some kind of trance and there

are various kinds of samadhi. But the samadhi I speak of is

different. It is sahaj samadhi. From here you have samadhan

(steadiness) and you remain

calm and composed even while you are active. You realise that you

are moved by the deeper real Self within. You have no worries, no

anxieties, no cares, for you come to realise that there is nothing

belonging to you. You know that everything is done by something

with which you are in conscious union.

 

 

Q: If this sahaj samadhi is the most desirable condition, is there

no need for nirvikalpa samadhi?

 

A: The nirvikalpa samadhi of raja yoga may have its use. But in

Jnana yoga this sahaj sthiti (natural state) or sahaj nishtha

(abidance in the natural state) itself is the nirvikalpa state. In

this natural state, the mind is free from doubts. It has no need to

swing between alternatives of possibilities and probabilities.It

sees no vikalpas (differences) of any kind. It is sure of the truth

because it feels the presence of the real. Even when it is active,

it knows it is active in the reality, the Self, the Supreme Being.

 

 

Q: How can one function in the world in such a state?

 

A: One who accustoms himself naturally to meditation and enjoys the

bliss of meditation will not lose his samadhi state whatever

external work he does, whatever thoughts may come to him. That is

Sahaja Nirvikalpa. Sahaj Nirvikalpa is Nasa Manas (total destruction

of the mind). Those who are in the laya samadhi state (a trance like

state in which the mind is temporarily in abeyance) will have to

bring the mind back under control from time to time. If the mind is

destroyed, as it is in sahaj samadhi, it will never slide down from

their high state.

 

 

Q: Is samadhi a blissful or ecstatic state?

 

A: In samadhi itself there is only perfect peace. Ecstasy comes when

the mind revives at the end of samadhi. In devotion the ecstasy

comes first. It is manifested by tears of joy, hair standing on end,

and vocal stumbling. When the ego finally dies and the Sahaj is won,

these symptoms and the ecstasies cease.

 

 

 

David Godman,

 

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