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Samadhi - Communion with God
Light and Love
Many parts of Swami's Teaching are concentrated to the
explanation the essence of humans' real Self, humans' goals on
the Earth, the relations between human beings, between human
beings the nature and God (Brahman, Atma, Absolute). Among them,
the significant global role plays the spiritual development and
educare of a humanity. Without spiritual development of humanity
there is needless to expect to reach to the higher state of
society - 'Golden Age'.
The spiritual development begins from a person's spiritual,
moral, ethical values and skills as Swami has many times has
mentioned. One of the skills is a personal awareness. How to
reach to this? It is possible when there is a will through
different Sadhanas, rituals, scholarships, worships. There are
many ways and methods, about what I will hope to write
time-by-time.
Swami indicates:
"Samadhi is as the ocean to which all Sadhana flows. The
seven streams of Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Prathyahara,
Dharana and Dhyana all find their consummation in it. Every
trace of name and Form disappear in that Ocean. He who serves
and He who receives the service, he who meditates and He who is
meditated upon, all such duality is dispelled and destroyed. One
will not experience even the experience, that is to say, one
will not be aware that he is experiencing! Oneself alone, naught
else - that will be the Samadhi. If there is aught else, it
cannot be Samadhi. It is something like a dream, a fantasy, a
passing vision at best. Samadhi can admit of nothing other than
Brahman."(Excerpts from: Sathya Sai Baba."Prashanthi Vahini," p.
60).
Samadhi is as the central
point for spiritual awareness about what is interesting to
contemplate by the guidance and help of Swami's quotations.
"What is Samadhi? In common parlance, in the eyes of
worldly people and in the books written by worldly individuals,
Samadhi may be described in various ways. One may be a state of
trance during meditation. But this cannot be called Samadhi.
Samadhi means merging the mind in the Atma. In that state there
are no two entities. Samadhi is a state of equal-mindedness. It
is the state in which the oneness of everything is experienced."
(Excerpts from: Sri Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 23. Chapter 21).
Swami explains the inner meaning of Samadhi: "It is not a
state of unconsciousness or some kind of consciousness. Samadhi
is "Sama-Dhi" - the state in which the intellect has achieved
equanimity. Whether in pleasure and pain, in praise or blame, in
gain or loss, in heat or cold, to be able to maintain in equal
mind in Samadhi." (Sri Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 22. Chapter
21).
The essence of Samadhi one cannot easily to understand.
Various spiritual circles have a little different explanations
and approaches to Samadhi.
By my insight the most clear for Westerns are explanations
made by Swami. He indicated to the variety of approaches to
Samadhi and concluded that the ways may be many however, the God
is One.
"Samadhi is ordinarily mistaken to be an emotional state in
which a person acts abnormally, as if in a state of high
excitement or trance. You may think that Samadhi is something
different from the waking, dream or deep-sleep states. But,
truly, Samadhi is something common to all three states. A
person who is immersed in Samadhi, whose mind is in equanimity,
will always be in a state of bliss, whether he is in the waking
state immersed in his every-day life, or whether he is in the
dream-state or in the deep-sleep state. To attain it, a great
deal of spiritual practice is necessary.
After describing the noble characteristics of a truly wise
man, Krishna told Arjuna, "Arjuna, Follow my commands! Discharge
your duties while all the time thinking of me. Then you will be
able to experience and enjoy the divinity that is everywhere.
This divinity is the unity which underlies all the diversity in
the world. Base your actions on that. Constantly concentrate on
that divinity. I am that divinity and you are very dear to me.
When you concentrate on me, then I will be fully concentrated on
you." ( Exerpts from: Sai Baba Gita. XXII, page 222).
The first advice to humans for the sake their awareness
through meditation and its final state Samadhi is constantly
concentrate to the God and to dedicate all actions to Him as
through this is possible to experience the divinity everywhere.
Devotion and faith has a profound importance in the
development of meditative states and Samadhi Oneness of the
Self, God. Devotion draws the interest of the God and attracts
spiritual initiation. Devotion focuses the mind more intently
and gives for meditation feeling and power. It allows one to
turn mind completely within. Faith is implicit in devotion.
Without devotion one will has no results. A great saint can
achieve Samadhi without a formal meditation. Devotion brings
meditation naturally. However, all happens by the Divine Will.
By Swami suffering is caused because there is lack of
faith that Divine is in person. The religions and beliefs are
different, but Brahman is the One.
The human life path is expressed through actions in past and
present lives. However, it is an illusion. When a person
acknowledged it he/she achieve to Brahman, to own real Self,
Samadhi.
By Yoga-Sutra, the three main practices that produce
Samadhi are austerities*, "self study," and "devotion to the
Lord." There is mentioned that Samadhi is more easily
understandable through the cultivation of wisdom (jnana). Wisdom
is the knowledge about the Self, the divine inner Self as the
'self study' (1, 2).
(*The Vedic word for austerities is "tapasya" meaning to
burn. Austerities purify the physical and astral bodies and burn
away karma that obstructs practice. The true austerities are:
Sexual Restraint, Meditation, Pure Food, Pranayama, Fasting,
Silence, and Solitude).
Obtained wisdom, one comes to the realization that the
outer material world is not more real than our nightly dreams
and not any more important. This knowledge makes it easier for
the mind to turn inward and the world represents as a beautiful
dream of the Divine.
The modern science has discovered tens of years ago that
there is abyss of 'emptiness' between atoms' nucleons and
electrons. Practically all around us so-called material world in
fact consists in 'emptiness' by scientific term - consists in
physical vacuum). Humans bodies are also practically consist in
physical vacuum where 'swim' the particles of atoms formed
molecules. The structure of atoms today knows any student of
high school. This scientific truth as underlines the Vedic
wisdom by what "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form." (1).
The recent discoveries made under guidance of CERN (The
world's largest particle physics laboratory) show the that two
entangled photons can be far away from each other and still
yield correlated results for measurements. A more exotic
scenario, and one that has recently been measured, is when a
photon hits a beam splitter and turns into what are effectively
two versions of itself in two different places, which display
the same sort of correlations between its two manifestations. Is
it not an indirect scientific proof that all is the same Atma,
Brahman? By the same research, the bizarre predictions of
quantum mechanics really do hold in our universe (3). In this
bizarre illusion the nature of life is not a life, not a death,
there is no coming, no going only being in one state or
another...what in essence are only appearances of eternal Atma.
However, the predictions of quantum mechanics being connected
with spiritual wisdom alias parts from Swami's Teaching are not
bizarre at all.
What is life's meaning without devotion, faith, spiritual
awareness?
"To a superficial observer, the life of man appears as an
endless round of eating and drinking, toiling and sleeping. But,
verily life has a much greater meaning; a much deeper
significance. Life is a sacrifice, a yagna. Each little act is
an offering to the Lord. If the day is spent in deeds performed
in this spirit of surrender, what else can sleep be except
Samadhi? Man commits the great fault of identifying himself with
the body. He has accumulated a variety of things for the upkeep
and comfort of the body. Even when the body becomes weak and
decrepit with age, he attempts to bolster it up, by some means
or other. But, how long can death be postponed? When Yama's
warrant comes each has to depart. Before Death, position, pride
and power, all vanish. Realizing this, strive day and night,
with purity of body and mind and spirit, to realize the Higher
Self, by the service of all living beings." (Sathya Sai Baba.
Prema Vahini, p. 5).
Below is brief general information about Samadhi what helps
more properly to understand this state of being and significance
of Swami's explanations on this topic.
The word Samadhi the first is mentioned in the Maitrayni
Upanishad (6.18, 34) and in some of the Yoga and Sannyasa
Upanishads of the Atharvaveda.
Samadhi as a term became more properly known to Western
world on the end of the 1930s. Two known thinkers, Aldous Huxley
and Christopher Isherwood, were impressed by Indian ancient
philosophy. Swami Vivekananda and his followers, monks of the
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Order of India were founded the Vedanta
Society in California in the late 1930s.
By encyclopedia of Britannica Samadhi is the highest state
of
mental concentration that a person can achieve while still bound
to the body and which unites him with the highest reality.
Samadhi is a state of profound and utterly absorptive
contemplation of the Absolute that is undisturbed by desire,
anger, or any other ego-generated factor.
By thesaurus: Samadhi is Happiness, Nirvana Parinirvana
(Sanskrit meaning: establish, make firm).
Different thesaruses give little different explanation to
this state of being. I selected the more complete of them (by my
opinion).
Samadhi includes a non-dualistic experience in which the
consciousness of the experiencer becomes one with consciousness
itself. This occurs when all other mental functions pause except
consciousness. Concentration is not Samadhi. Rather,
concentration helps create a mind capable of experiencing
Samadhi by strengthening the mind.
Often in spiritual literature Samadhi as the highest form
of prayer is called the "Holy Union", "Holy Communion",
"Satori", "Enlightenment", "Dhawq", "Tao", "Mystical Union",
"Gnosis", "Sat-Chit-Ananda", "Beingness-Awareness, Bliss", etc.
To refer to the state of samadhi often is used terms: nirvana,
gnosis, trance, ecstasy, nirodha. But these terms are often used
loosely, referring to states that may or may not be true
Samadhi.
The Yoga philosophy of Patanjali distinguishes between two
stages of Samadhi: Samprajnata-Samadhi and Asamprajnata-Samadhi,
corresponding nearly to Savikalpa-Samadhi and Nirvikalpa-Samadhi
in Vedanta. In the first stage mental activities, such as
desires, feelings, thoughts and behaviors, are still present.
The individual's desires exist and reemerge. The second, highest
stage is desirelessness, feelinglessness, thoughtlessness and
behaviorlessness. Limitations, desires and the cycle of
unhappiness have overcome.
Swami completed:
"Samadhi is of two types, Savikalpa, Nirvikalpa. In
Savikalpa, the Thriputi, or the Threefold nature of Knower,
Knowing and Knowee will still persist. When it is realised that
the Knower is Brahmam, Knowing too is Brahmam and the thing to
be known is also Brahmam, then there is no more Vikalpa or
Agitation or Activity; that is the Nirvikalpa Samadhi." (Sathya
Sai Baba. Prashanthi Vahini, p. 60).
"When Form is ignored and Meaning alone is felt, that is
Samadhi. This is the opinion of Pathanjali. This can be
explained in another manner also. When the person engaged in
Dhyana (meditation) forgets both himself and the fact that he is
engaged in Dhyana, then it becomes Samadhi. That is to say, when
he is merged in the thing he meditates on, he enters into the
stage called Samadhi. Dhyana fulfils itself, becomes complete,
in Samadhi. Dhyana strives, proceeds through effort, but,
Samadhi comes effortlessly. It is the culmination of the
eight-fold discipline, the Ashtanga." (Sathya Sai Baba.
Prashanthi Vahini, p. 59).
"They are eight in all, Ashtanga, in fact - Yama, Niyama,
Asana, Pranayama, Prathyaahaara, Dhaarana, Dhyana, Samadhi -
these are the names of the eight.
Samadhi means the fixing of the mind, free from all
impulses and agitations, on the Lord, or on one's own Reality.
It indicates the state in which one is in one's own real nature.
Samadhi is when one is free from all duality. ?(Excerpts from:
Sathya Sai Baba. Prasnottara Vahini. XV - Ashtaanga Yoga).
"When the mind has been brought under control by these eight
disciplines, the Will can easily be developed thereafter. The
will is the Nature of the Lord; it is also referred to as the
Lord's Ordinance. The Lord, by mere willing, can do anything
immediately and easily. But man cannot realize his will as soon
as he entertains it. The Power of the Will is the deciding
fator. In Man the Will is not so overpoweringly strong; when he
achieves that Power, he gets something equal to the Power of the
Lord. That is the meaning of Laya, Merger. Such Merger is made
possible through Dhyana." (Sathya Sai Baba. Dhyana Vahini, p.
16).
(Sanskrit word dhyana, derived from the verbal root dhyai "to
contemplate, meditate, think").
"When one knows that there is absolutely no iota of
distinction between the Jiva and the Atma, that they are One and
the Same, then it is the highest Samadhi. It is the fruit of
ripest Dhyana, the dearest moment of Yogis, the destroyer of
Ajnana, the signal of the Grace of God. Incessant thirst to know
the Atman as all, is worthy to be encouraged and welcomed, for,
it is the path through which all doubts can be eliminated."
(Sathya Sai Baba. Prashanthi Vahini, p. 60).
By the Yoga-Sutras Samadhi is the third of three stages of
mental concentration. The first stage is Dharana, which means
simple concentration. One attempts to focus the mind repeatedly
for example on the Divine Incarnation. (This is why the divinity
takes human form: a human being relates easily to another human
form; can feel more powerfully attracted to same).
The second stage is Dhyana. This is where the mind achieves
steady concentration on the object. In Dhyana the thoughts of
the object flow continuously and uninterrupted. Some say that
only the stage of Dhyana is a true meditation.
The third stage comes soon after, and is Samadhi. Here the
mind merges with the object, takes on the object's own nature,
and becomes still. If the object has been a transcendental
divine object, one merges in God. This is the goal and the
attainment for the spiritual seeker. If the concentration has
been on some lower object, the meditator attains perceptions and
powers related to that object.
The hardest stage to pass through is Dharana, simple
concentration. The mind of everyone naturally wanders. The task
of making it stay on an object seems very difficult until
practice improves concentration. But when one arrives at Dhyana,
Samadhi is near.
Yoga-Sutra verses 1, 2 and 3 from the third chapter:
Sutra III.1 Dharana is binding the mind to a place.
Sutra III.2 Continuity of the mind there is Dhyana
(meditation).
Sutra III.3 That same (meditation), when it comes to shine
forth as the object alone, apparently empty of its own nature as
knowledge, is called Samadhi (2).
Samadhi has definite physical patterns. The first level of
Samadhi Savikalpa involves the natural cessation of breath and
heartbeat, or kumbhaka. The life force reverses itself up the
spine to its Source (pratyahara). If inclined, the aspirant then
becomes able to see the astral plane, consciously leave the
body, and engage consciously in astral activities.
The second level Nirvikalpa (in Sanskrit it means "Ecstasy
without form or seed) is the realization of the Self, Parasiva,
a state of Oneness beyond all change or diversity; beyond time,
form and space. Nir means "without." Vi means "to change, make
different." Kalpa means "order, arrangement; a period of time."
(1).
However, Samadhi is the state of undifferentiated
Beingness, there are not really different kinds of Samadhi.
Savikalpa refers to the beginning state of Samadhi, Nirvikalpa
is the end result.
Swami gives practical advices how reach to Samadhi in a
form of a popular scholarship in: Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS.
Vol. 22. Chapter 21, "Self -control and Self-realization."
Beside practical advices, Swami tells (excerpts from the
mentioned chapter):
"Many image that all Dhyana calls for is sitting in the
padmasana (lotus pose). But one does not know where his mind is
wandering at the time. The concentration is disturbed by a
mosquito sitting on the nose.
Meditation in these days is often confined to the puja
room. As soon as one emerges from the shrine, one is filled with
all sorts of mental agitations. This does not mean giving up all
worldly affairs. Fulfill your duties. But in all these
activities, use your Dharana power (the power of concentration).
In the process, you develop your powers of Dhyana (meditation).
Dhyana means single- pointed contemplation. Dhyana means
absorption of thought. It should be centred on only one specific
subject. This is described in Vedantic parlance as Saalokyam.
This means concentrating your thought on what you desire,
whatever is the object or subject."
Swami points to the internal method of meditation.
"There is also an internal method of practicing Dharana.
When you close your eyes, a small dark spot appears before the
inner eye. You may concentrate on this spot for 12 seconds
without letting it move. By this practice, the power of
meditation can be developed." (Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS.
Vol. 22. Chapter 21).
There is a warning by Swami not to fall into imaginable
state what is far from real Samadhi:
"The state of inertia into which one is driven by despair
cannot be called Samadhi; or one might even indulge in
day-dreaming in order to escape from present misery; or one
might start building castles in the air. All this is due to
attachment, to the temptations of the outer world. There is
another type of attachment too, the attachment to the inner
world ... the planning within oneself of various schemes to
better oneself in the future as compared to the past. Both these
form part of what is called Kshaya. The basis for both is the
attraction of the outer world." (Sathya Sai Baba. Jnana Vahini,
p. 3).
Swami's outlook to the various types of meditation:
"The various types of meditation practiced today are
concerned with the trivial. Through these methods the Divine
cannot be realized. The very first requisite is control the
vagaries of the mind. Only then meditation can be effective.
The practice of meditation leads to the proximity to the
Lord. This leads to the next stage - Saroopyam (experience of
the vision of the Lord). This may be compared to the arrival of
a river to merge in ocean. Spiritually, this process of merger
of the jivatma (the divine spark) with the Paramatma is
described as Saayujyam (mergence in the Divine).
The first stage in the process is Salokyam - continuous
contemplation of the Divine. Think about the Lord in whatever
action you do. Then you achieve Sameepyam - nearness to the
Lord. Coming nearer, develop closer relations with the Divine.
The state of Saroopyam is attained. The realisation that "you
and I are one" dawns. Then Sayujyam is experienced - complete
oneness with the Divine.
This fourfold approach to the Divine is to be found in any
philosophy of religion. The creeds may vary, but the spiritual
process is one."
(Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 22. Chapter 21).
?All forms of worship and meditation, which are regarded as
spiritual exercises, are in fact mental excursions intended to
please the mind. God is described as father, mother, brother,
friend and so on... But all these are unnecessary epithets if it
is recognized that we and God are one. You are in God and God is
in you. There is no room for feeling of duality. " (Bhagawan
Sathya Sai Baba. SSS. Vol. 23. Chapter 21).
"In the state of Samadhi Atma is the 'seer' and intellect, 'the
seen'. There is nothing that can see the Atma. Hence it is
always the 'Seer' and never the 'Seen':" (Bhagawan Sathya Sai
Baba. SSS. Vol. 24. Chapter 11).
The experience of Samadhi often brings the development of
spontaneous siddhis, or esoteric powers. This is a natural
result of the meditator's direct contact with the Divinity. God
is miraculous, steel merges with fire for a long time it becomes
like fire. Siddhi the source of law and power, so this is a
natural outcome.
All siddhis take place in the outer world when the
consciousness of the practitioner is outward turned. So even
siddhis are seen as only more worldly phenomena, albeit using
higher laws. Thus siddhis are not made a goal by the wise. The
attitude of the wise is to spurn conscious pursuit of siddhis,
and allow the Divinity to do whatever it lists. Most of the
miracles that have happened around great saints are not a
product of their conscious will but it is the product of the
Divine Will.
Below are some my thoughts, experiences concern to Samadhi
and inspired by Swami's Teaching and His ardent devotees -
Swami's Messengers.
There are two aspects of Samadhi. One is after passing the
world - when a person is 'entered' in the Atmic reality as unity
of the God, Absolute.
The other aspect is a state what is possible to experience
through meditation, through devotional longing, or any type of
rituals in order to reach to Samadhi. Sometimes the voices and
images of people can hear or see, but they are as not relate to
the world, what disappears into some 'thick' trancidental light
what insists quiet, peace, bliss and inner joy. It is possible
to feel that oneself is as fuse into the infinite sky of light
and acts as one with this infinite and bright sky. This
brightness is not clearly seen but feeling is such and
thereafter all thoughts as has fallen into 'black hole.'
However, the much more difficult is to leave 'black hole' than
to fallen in it. It is an attempt to describe 'feelings' before
and after falling into 'black hole'. Such are my experiences,
but I do not know how real they are in comparison with true
Samadhi. I obtained this as a 'method of personal protection' in
early childhood (in age three - four) being in unliberty. At
that time, this experience was alone what belongs to me as my
parent, friend... (Naturally, at that time I had no idea about
spirituality, Swami, God... it happened at that time
spontaneously and till today my friends are these 'fields of
Nature'. I think now that this spontaneous skill, experience
helped me not to die. A few little children remained in such
conditions alive). It seems that everyone has his/her own
experiences near to Samadhi or real Samadhi what can quiet the
mind and lead to the peace in mind.
"In the Sastras, Vedas and the Upanishads have they not
declared how they have realised God in their Dhyana Samadhi,
each in his own way, according to his attitude and devotion and
worship; how each has been blessed with the vision of the Lord
and the actual consummation of union with him." (Sathya Sai
Baba. Sandeha Nivarini. Dialogue III).
I seems that state Samadhi has not influenced to mental
functions, as it is beyond the mind, beyond mayaa reality. It
cannot be explained exactly by words which are only pale and
indirect pinpointers of such feeling. However, this state seems
to have an additional property to spread around the saint the
special divine vibrations (energy, aura) which as calls for
spiritual action those who is in the field of its influence.
When to observe images (idols) of great ancient saints it
is possible to feel the energy what spread from them and
inspired the (observer) person to catharsis. This Divine energy
as calls ones for actions to express the divinity within through
spiritual and worldly activity.
The same kind vibrations are always around Swami, His Form
in physical body. It is the purpose why millions of people long
for His direct Darshan. His Omnipresent Cosmic form has the same
energy but for normal human beings this is more difficult to
access through 'fields of Nature'.
I imagine that true Swami's devotees is not only spread
Swami's Teaching among the seekers of Truth, but they spread
Swami's Divine energy, what calls for actions...The role of
Swami's devotees is pictorially to be as transformations
stations. The last are responsible for spreading electrical
current and bringing the light to distant regions...
Reference:
1.
http://samadhi.info/
2. "Sankara on the Yoga Sutras," by Trevor Leggett
Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1981.
3. Cern-Curier Vol. 44, Number 6. 2004. "Entangled photons
show interference and biolocation."
For additional information, not practically used in this
story telling.
http://www.nibbana.com/nu2.htm
Namaste - Reet
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