Samadhi
Samadhi,
or total absorption, is the
ability to become one with
the True Self and merge into
the object of concentration.
In this state of mind, the
perceiver and the object of
perception unite through the
very act of perception—a
true unity of all thought
and action. This is the acme
of all yogic endeavors—the
ultimate 'yoga' or connection
between the individual and
the universal Soul!
When
we succeed in becoming so
absorbed in something that
our mind becomes completely
one with it, we are in a state
of samadhi. Samadhi means
"to bring together, to
merge". In samadhi our
personal identities completely
disappear. At the moment of
samadhi none of that exists
anymore. We become one with
the Divine Entity.
During
samadhi, we realize what it
is to be an identity without
differences, and how a liberated
soul enjoys a pure awareness
of this pure identity. The
conscious mind drops back
into that unconscious oblivion
from which it first emerged.
The final stage terminates
at the instant the soul is
freed. The absolute and eternal
freedom of an isolated soul
is beyond all stages and beyond
all time and place. Once freed,
it does not return to bondage.
The
perfection of samadhi embraces
and glorifies all aspects
of the self by subjecting
them to the light of understanding.
The person capable of samadhi
retains his/her individuality
and person, but is free of
the emotional attachment to
it.
|
Samadhi
in Buddhism
Samadhi,
or concentration of the mind
(one-pointedness of mind,
cittassa-ekaggata), is the
third division of the Eightfold
Path of the Buddha's teaching:
pañña (wisdom),
sila (conduct), samadhi (concentration).
It developed by samatha meditation.
It has been taught by the
Buddha using 40 different
objects of meditation, according
to the Visuddhimagga, an ancient
commentarial text. These objects
include the breath (anapanasati
meditation), loving kindness
(metta meditation), various
colours, earth, fire, etc.
(kasina meditation).
Upon
development of samadhi, one's
mind becomes temporary purified
of defilements, calm, tranquil,
and luminous. Once the meditator
achieves a strong and powerful
concentration, his mind is
ready to penetrate and see
into the ultimate nature of
reality, eventually obtaining
release from all suffering.
Important
components of Buddhist meditation,
frequently discussed by the
Buddha, are the successively
higher meditative states known
as the four jhanas which in
the language of the eight-fold
path, is "right concentration".
Right concentration has also
been defined as concentration
arising due to the previous
7 steps of the noble eightfold
path in the Mahacattsarika
sutta/MN. |
Samadhi, a description
In his book
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa
Yogananda, a reputed modern-day
spiritual saint of India and
teacher of Kriya Yoga, gives
this stirring description
of Samadhi consciousness:
My
body became immovably rooted;
breath was drawn out of my
lungs as if by some huge magnet.
Soul and mind instantly lost
their physical bondage, and
streamed out like a fluid
piercing light from my every
pore. The flesh was as though
dead, yet in my intense awareness
I knew that never before had
I been fully alive. My sense
of identity was no longer
narrowly confined to a body,
but embraced the circumambient
atoms. People on distant streets
seemed to be moving gently
over my own remote periphery.
The roots of plants and trees
appeared through a dim transparency
of the soil; I discerned the
inward flow of their sap.
The whole
vicinity lay bare before me.
My ordinary frontal vision
was now changed to a vast
spherical sight, simultaneously
all perceptive. Through the
back of my head I saw men
strolling far down Rai Ghat
Road, and noticed also a white
cow who was leisurely approaching.
When she reached the space
in front of the open ashram
gate, I observed her with
my two physical eyes. As she
passed by, behind the brick
wall, I saw her clearly still.
All objects within my panoramic
gaze trembled and vibrated
like quick motion pictures.
My body, Master's, the pillared
courtyard, the furniture and
floor, the trees and sunshine,
occasionally became violently
agitated, until all melted
into a luminescent sea; even
as sugar crystals, thrown
into a glass of water, dissolve
after being shaken. The unifying
light alternated with materialisations
of form, the metamorphoses
revealing the law of cause
and effect in creation.
An oceanic joy broke upon
calm endless shores of my
soul. The Spirit of God, I
realized, is exhaustless Bliss;
His body is countless tissues
of light. A swelling glory
within me began to envelop
towns, continents, the earth,
solar and stellar systems,
tenuous nebulae, and floating
universes. The entire cosmos,
gently luminous, like a city
seen afar at night, glimmered
within the infinitude of my
being. The sharply etched
global outlines faded somewhat
at the farthest edges; there
I could see a mellow radiance,
ever undiminished. It was
indescribably subtle; the
planetary pictures were formed
of a grosser light.
The divine dispersion of rays
poured from an Eternal Source,
blazing into galaxies, transfigured
with ineffable auras. Again
and again I saw the creative
beams condense into constellations,
then resolve into sheets of
transparent flame. By rhythmic
reversion, sextillion worlds
passed into diaphanous luster;
fire became firmament.
I cognized the center of the
empyrean as a point of intuitive
perception in my heart. Irradiating
splendor issued from my nucleus
to every part of the universal
structure. Blissful amrita,
the nectar of immortality,
pulsed through me with a quicksilver-like
fluidity. The creative voice
of God I heard resounding
as Aum, the vibration of the
Cosmic Motor.
Suddenly the breath returned
to my lungs. With a disappointment
almost unbearable, I realized
that my infinite immensity
was lost. Once more I was
limited to the humiliating
cage of a body, not easily
accommodative to the Spirit.
Like a prodigal child, I had
run away from my macrocosmic
home and imprisoned myself
in a narrow microcosm. |
