FEAR OF SAMADHI

[Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian]

Chelluri Nageswar Rao wrote:

[ ... ]

> I found out from experience that there are two steps in the process:
>
> Step 1.  One is Aware
> Step 2. That "one" disappears and only Awareness remains.
>
> The transition from step 1 to step 2 is very difficlut if not impossible.
>  One encounters Fear as one is stepping into uncharted territory and afraid
> of loosing identity.  Attachments and Responsibilities, EGO in general
> prevents from proceeding further. When one reaches 2nd step, body
> consciousness is discarded, then there is no identity and there is no second-
> One becomes One with universal consciousness/Brahman.
>
> Ten years ago I explained my experience to my father and asked whether I
> should try taking the second step.  My father was a great Shiva bhakta and he
> understood and appreciated my experience but to my surprise, he strongly
> advised not to venture until such time that I do not have any
> responsibilities.  I look at responsibilities and attachments as impediments
> but I can not escape from them for various reasons.

While reasoning and the vedas are the source of guidance in all matters, one
also needs some one experienced to advise on matters like this. Being your
father and also by virtue of his experience IMHO, your father's opinion should
be given, at the very least a good consideration.

If you feel like trying anything more than what you are doing now, but are
unsure, my suggestion would be to contact any of the sha.nkarAchArya-s who are
probably the best sources for answering such questions. You may want to ask
shrI sannidhAnaM, the present pontiff of Sringeri about things like nirvikalpa
samAdhi. This is because the pontiffs of this maTha are always adepts at
pata.njali yoga. I don't know if the other maThadhipatis make a study of this
system. If they do, they'd be good sources too, or at the very least they would
be able to direct you to the proper sources. You may wish to write to HH, but
the best would be to meet him in person on matters such as this.

While people on the internet may mean well, it's best to take opinions on
things like kuNDalini yoga, pata.njali yoga and such with a grain of salt.

Ramakrishnan.
--
                  http://yake.ecn.purdue.edu/~rbalasub/