SAMADHI

“Which having obtained, he thinketh there is no greater gain beyond it, wherein,

established, he is not shaken even by heavy sorrow.”—Bhagavad-Gita: Ch. VI-22

 

The fruit of meditation is Samadhi. Samadhi is super conscious state, wherein the Yogi gets

superintuitional or supersensual knowledge and Supersensual bliss. He gets the vision of the Lord.

He is in a state of communion with the Lord. He is in full enjoyment of the Divine Ecstasy or Divine

Thrill. He has seen the Light of lights now.

 

The five afflictions, reference to which was made in Lesson I, have now come to an end. All

sorts of imperfections have disappeared. Just as the river has joined the sea, the individual soul has

joined the Supreme Soul. All limitations have dropped now. This state cannot be described in

words: It has to he felt by actual practice. There are neither wants nor desires here. All doubts and

delusions, all sorrows and tribulations, all fears, differences, distinctions and dualities have

vanished entirely. This is the ultimate goal of all spiritual practices. This is the goal of life.

 

Samadhi is the eighth step of the Yogic ladder. Intuition, revelation, inspiration and ecstasy

are all synonymous terms. The meditator and the meditated, the thinker and the thought, the

worshipper and the worshipped, the subject and the object have now become identical. The

meditator has merged himself in the Soul or the all-pervading Spirit. All watertight compartments

have disappeared. The Yogi feels oneness and unity everywhere. He feels: “I have nothing more to

learn. I have nothing more to do. I have nothing more to obtain.”

 

That which is night of all beings is the time of waking for the illumined Yogi; when other

beings are waking, then it is night for him. Yajnavalkya, the greatest Yogi says: “By Pranayama

impurities of the body are destroyed; by Dharana or concentration impurities of the mind. By

Pratyahara the impurities of attachment and by Samadhi everything that hides the Soul is removed.”

 

Samadhi is of two kinds viz., Savikalpa Samadhi and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Savikalpa is a

lower Samadhi. In the Savikalpa Samadhi the Samskaras or latent impressions are not fried in toto.

There is support for the mind. There is still the triad of subtle type viz., the seer, sight and seen, or

the knower, knowledge and knowable. So Savikalpa Samadhi cannot give full satisfaction, full

freedom, full bliss and knowledge.

 

In Nirvikalpa Samadhi all Samskaras are burnt in toto. There is no support for the mind. The

mind has merged into the all-pervading Spirit. There is no triad of seer, sight and seen, and so forth.

Nirvikalpa Samadhi gives full satisfaction, full freedom, full bliss and full knowledge.

 

There is also another classification viz., Jada Samadhi and Chaitanya Samadhi. In Jada

Samadhi there is no awareness. It is more or less like deep sleep. The Yogi does not return with

intuitional knowledge. The Samskaras and desires are not destroyed. This is the Samadhi of the

Hatha-Yogins who practice Khechari Mudra.@ Somehow the Prana is fixed in some lower Chakra

or centre of spiritual energy, and the Yogi remains like a dead corpse. The Yogi can even be buried

in a box underneath the ground for several days at a stretch. Jada Samadhi cannot give liberation or

Mukti. It is more like an acrobatic feat. The Samadhi that we often hear of persons entering into, in

public places is nothing but Jada Samadhi. In the other variety of Samadhi viz., Chaitanya Samadhi,

there is “perfect awareness.” The Yogi has intuitional knowledge.

 

William Wordsworth, the great English poet, describes Samadhi as follows:—

 

“....That blessed mood,

In which the burthen of the mystery,

In which the heavy and the weary weight

Of all this unintelligible world,

Is lightened—That serene and blessed mood,

In which the affections gently lead us on,

Until the breath of this corporeal frame

And even the motion of our human blood

Almost suspended, we are laid asleep

In body, and become a living soul;

While with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,

We see into the life of things.”

 

Sankara, Dattatreya, Vamadeva, Jada Bharata, Madalasa and Yajnavalkya had all the

experience of supercosmic consciousness (Nirvikalpa Samadhi), while Ramadas, Tulasidas, Kabir,

Tukaram, Mira, Gouranga, Hafiz, Madhva and Ramanuja had the experience of cosmic

consciousness (Savikalpa Samadhi). Dr. Maurice Bucker the celebrated author of “Cosmic

Consciousness” believes that St. John of the Cross, Bacon, Jacob Behman, Pascal, Spinoza,

Swedenborg, William Wordsworth, Alexander Pushkin, Honore de Balzac, Emerson, Tennyson,

Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Edward Carpenter had the good fortune to taste the nectar of cosmic

consciousness. As a Hindu example he also mentions the name of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa of

Bengal.

 

@ Reversing the tongue backwards and upwards, fixing it at the root of the palate and closing up the posterior nasal

openings is Khechari Mudra.

 

He who poses for a great Yogi before the public and advertises in newspapers that at such

and such time on such and such day he is going to enter into Samadhi does so with a view to make

money and also a name for himself. He is actually deceiving and swindling the public in broad

daylight. A real Yogi who has reached the goal of life and is always in Samadhi throughout the

twenty-four hours will never make a parade of his attainment. He will never even tell others that he

is enjoying the bliss of Samadhi. It is only the empty drum that maketh much sound.

 

In the waking state you do conscious work, but you are not conscious of the working of the

heart, stomach, liver, etc. Just as there is unconscious work beneath the level of objective

consciousness, so also there is superconsciousness above the level of physical consciousness,

wherein there is play of neither the mind nor the senses. The man who returns from sleep does not

possess any new knowledge, whereas he who comes down from Samadhi possesses supersensual

knowledge. He can clear any doubt concerning the problems of life.

 

“The Yogin is one who has realised the Brahman that is all-full beyond Turiya.+ They (the

people) extol him as Brahman; and becoming the object of the praise of the whole world, he

wanders over different countries.... Then the Yogin becomes immersed in the ocean of bliss. When

compared to it, the bliss of Indra and others is very little. He who gets this bliss is the supreme

Yogin.” (Mandalabrahmana-Upanishad).

 

Again in the Yogatattva-Upanishad it is said: “One who is engaged in Nirguna Dhyana

attains the stage of Samadhi. Within twelve days at least, he attains the stage of Samadhi.

Restraining the breath, the wise one becomes an emancipated person. Samadhi is that state in which

the Jivatman (Lower Self) and the Paramatman (Higher Self) are differenceless (or of equal state).

If he desires to lay aside his body, he can do so.... But if he does not so desire, and if his body is dear

to him, he lives in all the worlds possessing the Siddhis of Anima, etc. Sometimes he becomes a

Deva and lives honoured in Svarga; or he becomes aman or a Yaksha through will. He can also take

the form of a lion, tiger, elephant, or horse through his own will. The Yogin becoming the great

Lord can live as long as he likes.”

 

The word Samyama is used in Yogic literature to denote the triple process of concentration,

meditation and Samadhi practiced at one and the same time. The Yogi acquires various powers by

practicing this Samyama. Samyama on the three kinds of changes viz., of form, time and state gives

knowledge of the past and the future. Samyama on word, meaning and knowledge bestows

knowledge of all animal sounds. One acquires the knowledge of life by perceiving the impressions.

Samyama on the signs of another’s body (such as the complexion, voice, mole, or any such sign on

the body) reveals the knowledge of your own mind. Samyama on friendship, mercy, and love

enables you to excel others in those qualities. Samyama on the strength of an elephant and others

gives you their respective strength. Samyama on the navel circle gives you the knowledge of the

constitution of your body. By doing Samyama on the light emanating from the top of the head

 

+ There are four states of consciousness viz., waking (Jagrat) state, dreaming (Svapna) state, deep sleep (Sushupti)

state, and superconscious (Turiya) state. There is a state still higher, or rusher the highest of all, and that its

Turiyateeta state. In this state the Jivatman gets absorbed into Brahman. This is the goal of life.

 

(during concentration and meditation) you will acquire the power of beholding the Siddhas

(perfected sages). You will also get clairvoyance, clairaudience, thought-reading, and so forth.

 

Patanjali Maharshi, the holy Author of the “Yoga-Sutras” gives a definite warning to the

students of Yoga in this connection. He remarks that though these are the accompaniments of the

outgoing mind, they are all obstacles to feel Samadhi. The real Yogi will reject these powers

ruthlessly. The seeds of bondage can be destroyed only by non-attachment and dispassion. Then

only you can attain Kaivalya or Absolute Independence. These Siddhis are, no doubt, very tempting

and alluring. Many Yogic students get deluded. They become slaves of these powers. Consequently

they get a downfall. They become stranded. They are not able to march onwards and reach the goal.

The real Yogi marches on towards the goal fearlessly. His aim is the attainment of the glorious

Freedom or the state of Asamprajnata Samadhi (same as Nirvikalpa Samadhi), wherein all the seeds

of actions are burnt. He therefore shines in his active Effulgence of eternal life and full illumination

and perfection.

 

There is an interesting story in the Yoga-Vasishtha illustrating the bliss of Samadhi. Kacha,

the son of Brihaspati, the priest of the Devas, came out from his Samadhi with a cheerful mind, and

soliloquised thus, in words bubbling with emotion: “What shall I do, where shall I go, what shall I

take and what shall I give up? The whole universe is filled with the Self, as if with the waters of the

Great Deluge. Within and without the body, below, above, and at all points of the compass, here,

there and everywhere, is the Self; there is no spot filled with the not-self anywhere. There is nothing

wherein I do not abide, nor is there anything which is not in me. What else shall I desire, when

everything is pervaded by the Supreme Consciousness! The seven mountain fabled to hold up the

globe of this earth are but the foam over the waters of this vast, mighty and pure ocean of the

all-pervading Brahman. Before the great radiance of the Sun of this Supreme Consciousness, all the

wealth and glory of the world are but so many mirages.”

 

The Trance of Prahlada also illustrates in an equally illuminating and thrilling manner the

glory of Samadhi. Wrapt in his thought, Prahlada lost himself in the Supreme Bliss of Ecstatic

Trance. While remaining in this blessed condition, he appeared, as it were, a mere picture or statue

of his painted on a canvas. He continued in this state with body ever fresh and bright and with his

eyes filled on one point, for a period of five thousand years. “Awake, ye great soul!”—addressing

thus, the Lord Vishnu blew His conch Panchajanya, filling the quarters with the echo of its sound.

By the impact of this mighty sound, generated by the vital breath of Vishnu, the Lord of the Asuras

(demons) was awakened, by slow degrees, to the life of the world.

 

And then the story of Sikhidhvaja is most awe-inspiring of all! Chudalai, the queen of

Sikhidhvaja, saw her lord immersed in the thought-suppressed variety of trance and thought within

herself; “Let me rouse my lord, the King, from this state of Ecstasy.” So saying, she roared mightily

like a lion, over and over, frightening the beasts of the forest. When he could not be moved by this

terrible noise though frequently repeated she shook him out of the trance by physical force. But,

though thus shaken and felled to the ground the King would not awake to the life of the ordinary

world!

 

When the Purusha is thus completely disconnected from the three Gunas and their effects,

when he has realised his own pristine glory, Isolation of Absolute Independence, and when he feels

his Absolute Freedom, then alone he attains Kaivalya, the highest goal of a Yogi. The past and the

future are now blended into the “PRESENT.” Everything is “NOW and HERE” for him. The sum

total of all knowledge of the three worlds is nothing when compared to the Infinite Knowledge of a

Yogi who has attained Kaivalya. Glory unto such blessed Yogins! May their blessings be upon us

all!#