Guest guest Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 SamadhiBy Nagamma This morning a European who was sitting in front of Bhagavan said through an interpreter: "It is stated in the Mandukyopanishad that there can be no Moksha (Liberation), however much dhyana (meditation) or tapas (austerity) is performed, unless samadhi also is experienced. Is that so?" Bhagavan replied: "Rightly understood, they are the same thing. It makes no difference whether you call it dhyana or tapas or samadhi or anything else. That which is steady and continuous like the flow of oil is tapas and dhyana and samadhi. To be one's own Self is samadhi." Questioner: But it is said in the Mandukya that samadhi must necessarily be experienced before attaining Moksha. Bhagavan: "And who says it 'is not so? It is stated not only in the Mandukya but all the books. But it is true samadhi only if you know yourself. What is the use of sitting still for some time like a lifeless object? Suppose you get a boil on your hand and have it operated under chloroform: you don't feel any pain at the time, but does that mean that you are in samadhi? It is the same with this too. One has to know what samadhi is. And how can you know samadhi without knowing your Self? If the Self is known, samadhi will be known automatically. Meanwhile a Tamil devotee opened the Tiruvachakam and began singing the 'Ten Songs on Pursuit'. Towards the end comes the passage: "Oh Ishvara,1 You are trying to flee but I am holding You fast. So where can You go and how can You escape from me?" Bhagavan commented with a smile: "So it seems that He is trying to flee and they are holding Him fast! Where could He flee to? Where is He not present? Who is He? All this is nothing but a pageant. There is another sequence of ten songs in the same book, one of which goes: 'Oh my God! You have made my mind Your abode. You have given Yourself up to me and in return have taken me into You. Lord, which of us is the cleverer? If You are given up to me I enjoy endless bliss, but what use am I to you, even though You take me? My Father and God, what have I to give You when You have made my body Your temple in Your boundless mercy to me?' This means that there is no such thing as 'I'. See the beauty of it. Where there is no such thing as 'I' who is the doer and what is done, whether it be devotion or Selfenquiry or samadhi?" 1 - Ishvara signifies the Personal God. www.ramana-maharshi.org The all-new My – Get yours free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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