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The term samadhi is derived from two Sanskrit roots: sam with it's English equvalent “syn” means “together with,” and adhi (the Primal Being) with it's Hebrew equivalent of Adon or Adonai which denotes “Lord”, the two together, Sam plus adhi, denoting a state in which the mind is completely absorbed in the Lord or God. It is a state in which all limiting forms drop away and the individual, with his individuality all dissolved, experiences the great truth – Ayam Athma Brahma – “ I am Thou.” It is the last and culminating stage in the long-drawn-out process of experimental yoga, and may therefore be said to be the efflorescence of the yogic system. The dhyan itself gradually develops into samadhi when the comtemplator or the mediator loses all thought of himself, and the mind becomes dhya-rupa, the very form of his thought. In this state the aspirant is not conscious of any external object save of consciousness itself, a state of all Bliss or perfect happiness. There are two means through which the state of Samadhi may be attained. The vedehas ( or those who rise above body consciousness), achieve it by destroying the very Nature of the mind stuff which runs after material object all the time, by channelizing it to a one-pointed attention inward. The others develop this state by practicing in the first instance discernment and discrimination through faith, energy and memory. There are other variations of samadhi as well. In dhyan or meditation ( one-pointed attention), one retains the distinction between the contemplator and the contemplated, but in samadhi, or identification with the totality, even these disappear, for one’s own individuality is, so to say, annihilated. It is this absorption into the Infinite that gives liberation from all finitizing adjuncts, for then one gets an insight into the very heart of thing and has an experience of the subtle (adhi-devaka) and the abstract (adhi-atmic) aspects of all that exists. Samadhi, or identification with the Absolute, may be accompanied with consciousness of one’s individuality, in which case it is know as savikalpa, or it may not be accompanied with any such consciousness and is then know as nirvikalpa. The former was compared by Sri Ramakrishna to a cotton doll which when put in water gets saturated with it, and the latter to a doll of salt which when immersed in water dissolves and loses itself in it. of these, nirvikalpa is clearly the higher, for savikalpa, though it greatly widens ones’ vision, is yet only a preliminary step towards the unconditioned state. Not all yogins can achieve nirvikalpa, and those that do attain it generally do only once in their life. They thereby finally escape the realms of name and form and become liberated souls. Their unfructified Karmas, both past and present (sanchit and kriyaman) can no longer bind them, but the momenturm of their present lives ( prarabdha) must be completed kalpa, or the unconditioned state, to everyday human consciousness, they live and move as other human beings. But while engaged in worldly duties, they are forever centered in the Divine and are never separate from it. this state of normal activity on the plane of the senses but imbued with God-realization, is designated as Sehaj Samadhi or the state of Easy Union. Whether sitting, standing or walking
about, They ever remain in a state of
eternal equipoise. KABIR We may also mention yet another form of samadhi, called Bhavan Samadhi, in which the devotee, lost in devotional music and singing, loses all thought of himself and the world around. This form of samadhi is easy to attain for those of an emotional temperament and affords momentary ecstasy and inner mental relief, but it does not give at-one-ment with the Divine or expands one’s consciousness. As such, the term samadhi is only loosely applied to it, for it displays none of the central attributes of the super-conscious state, nor is it therefore of much help on the inner spiritual journey. The state of samadhi is not a stone-like, inner state, or a state of withdrawal similar to that of a tortoise withdrawing into it's shell. Each one of us is endowed with a rich inner life, full of untold spiritual gems of which ordinarily we are not conscious in the work-a-day present life of the sense that we usually lead. We can turn inward and expand our vision so as to embrace within it's fold not only a cosmic life but even a super-cosmic life as well, extending into vistas Beyond human ken. It is a state of being, a direct perception, an integral experience of the soul, an immediate and direct knowledge of spiritual anubhava (inner realization), as it is generally called. Professor Bergson, a great philosopher, believed and felt that there was a higher source of knowledge than intellect, which is confined to ratiocination or the reasoning process. He called it intuition, but this state of being goes even Beyond intuition to direct and to immediate knowledge, for intuition is only another name for the sum total of one’s past experiences. An ordinary man does not have to reason or intuit about the sun in order to believe in it's existence. It is there before him, it is prataksha and that renders all proof unnecessary. “All true knowledge exists by itself and is quite independent of the senses. It is the action of the soul and is perfect without the senses. . . .” says Ben Jonson. “The surest way into Truth,” says Henri Bergson, “is by perception, by intuition, by reasoning to a certain point, then by taking a mortal leap.” It is divya drishti or jnana chakshu (i.e., direct experience of the soul, of the reality itself). It is through spiritual flashes and glimpses from Beyond that one gets some view of Truth in the form of spiritual insight, inspiration and revelation. The spiritual experience, though it stands by itself and is Beyond the farthest limits of reason, does not however contradict reason, but makes reason perfect. Again, samadhi is chaitanya or all –consciousness, as distinguished from jar samadhi. A Hatha yogin, by the practice of Kechari Mudra, withdraws his pranas into the Sahasrar Chakra, the seat of the Jiva- atma or soul, and can sit in a mountain cave or underground cavity in this state of inanity for months and years. This is a kind of yoga nidra or yogic sleep, and does not give any super-sensory knowledge or spiritual experience. As opposed to this, one who is in chaitanya samadhi is in a state of perfect awareness and can come out of it at will with a new supra-mental experience and spiritual wisdom. In jar samadhi, one cannot break the samadhi by oneself and others have to do it by a complicated procedure of messages, etc. A Raja yogin, a Bhakta or a Jnana yogin, can be awakened easily by someone merely shaking his body, or by blowing a conch or striking a gong. This chaitanya samadhi is achieved when the gunas, devoid of motion, becomes dormant and the power of consciousness gets established in it's own Nature; hence it is often termed as kaialya samadhi or a samadhi or perfect ease and independence. |