Samadhi (Was Re: "Jagat satya!")

[S Jayanarayanan]

"Ravishankar Venkatraman" <sunlike at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Jaldhar wrote:
>
> >For Advaita Vedanta even nirvikalpa samadhi is at
best the penultimate
>
> >stage. The freezing of the mental state is not
enough, there must also be
> >the positive knowledge of the oneness of Brahman.
>
> What is the difference between Nirvikalpa Samadhi
> and Sahaja Samadhi?
>

FYI: there is a great resource on the net where you
can read important extracts from several books
published by Ramanasramam. The website is
http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/ (click on "All
publications" to be directed to the publications
site).

I just went to
http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/crumbs.htm ("Crumbs
>From His Table" by Ramanananda Swarnagiri) and found
this:

------------------------------
D: What is samadhi?

B: When the mind is in communion with the Self in
darkness, it is called nidra (sleep) i.e. the
involution of the mind in ignorance. Involution in a
conscious or wakeful state is called samadhi. Samadhi
is continuous inherence in the Self in a waking state.
Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self but in an
unconscious state. In sahaja samadhi the communion is
continuous.

D: What are kevala nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja
nirvikalpa samadhi?

B: The involution of the mind in the Self, but without
its destruction, is kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. There
are four obstacles in this, namely, vacillation of:

i. mind
ii. life breath or prana
iii. body,
iv. drishti.

In kevala nirvikalpa samadhi one is not free from
vasanas and does not, therefore, attain mukti. Only
after the samskaras have been destroyed can one attain
salvation.

D: When can one practice sahaja samadhi?

B: Even from the beginning. Even though one practices
kevala nirvikalpa samadhi for years together, if one
has not rooted out the vasanas, he will not attain
salvation.
--------------------

Also http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/gospel.htm
("Maharshi's Gospel") tabulates the distinctions
between sleep, Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi and Sahaja
Nirvikalpa Samadhi. I've listed the differences below:

-------------------
Sleep
(1) mind alive
(2) sunk in oblivion

Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi
(1) mind alive
(2) sunk in Light
(3) like a bucket tied to a rope and left lying in the
water in a well.
(4) to be drawn out by the other end of the rope.

Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi
(1) mind dead
(2) resolved into the Self
(3) like a river discharged into the ocean and its
identity lost
(4) a river cannot be redirected from the ocean
-------------------

It looks like kevala nirvikalpa samaadhi is simply a
mode of the mind whereas sahaja nirvikalpa samaadhi is
the same as GYAna.

-Kartik

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com