WHAT IS SAMADHI?PART-01..INNER YOGA-13

WHAT IS SAMADHI ?--

07 POINTS;--

1-Some practitioners believe samadhi and enlightenment are synonymous. Others think samadhi leads to enlightenment, while yet another group is convinced samadhi makes the mind go blank.

2-Some of those seeking samadhi hope it will fall into their hands if they pray hard enough, and others believe the techniques of yoga and meditation will push them toward samadhi or pull samadhi toward them.

3-Let’s examine the difference between meditation and samadhi. In meditation you are fully one-pointed, but that one-pointedness simply refers to the fact that your mind is focused on one object. When you analyze it, you see that deep down, the mind is not perfectly one-pointed.

4-In meditation you are still aware of yourself as a meditator and at the same time you are aware of the object of meditation and of the process of meditation. So three things are going on continuously in your mind:

1- you know you are meditating,

2- you know on what you are meditating,

3- you know you are the meditator.

5-However, you have only one mind and that mind cannot be broken into pieces. It’s not that one part of your mind is on yourself, and another part is on the meditative objective. It’s a matter of intensity.

6- It requires an exclusive absorption in the object of your meditation for these three streams to merge. That is why in English samadhi is called “spiritual absorption.” No part of your mind is left to maintain the awareness of anything other than the object of your meditation.

7-Then neither internal nor external causes distract you. You are simply in a state of deep stillness, tranquility. And that state may last 30 seconds or two minutes (much longer when you become well practiced), and then suddenly you become aware of some external sound, or you remember you have to meet someone, and you slip from samadhi and become outwardly oriented. You realize you are sitting on your meditation cushion and you still have some practice time remaining, so then you start all over again, making an effort to go from concentration to meditation to samadhi.

HOW TO CHECK Spiritual Progress;--

04 POINTS;--

1-Before you enter a state of samadhi, there is a thrill of experiencing stillness. And there are experiences which go with stillness that may distract you, such as clairvoyance or extraordinary sensory experiences. These experiences are called siddhis—yogic accomplishments for those who have never experienced samadhi, and obstacles for those who have experienced it.

2-These siddhis, regardless of how profound or shallow they are, how meaningful or meaningless, are signs that you are on your way to samadhi.

3-As a practitioner, you should not be anxious about these signs nor should you have any fear if these signs appear.

4-Simply keep your focus on your destination, your main goal, which is samadhi itself.This attitude, called vairagya(dispassion or non-attachment), is necessary for protecting and nurturing your practice.

ARE TEN TYPES OF SAMADHI The Sequential Stage ?--

10 POINTS;--

1-It must be emphasized that all the types of samadhi are altered states of consciousness. They are outside the experience of normal people who do not practice yoga. 2-Non- practitioners of yoga can get a small glimmer of insight into the types of samadhi by reflecting on the differences between their waking and dream experiences, which are two major forms of consciousness accessible to everybody. 3-In the Yoga Sutras different adjectives are added to the word “samadhi”, such as “SABIJA ”, “ASAMPRAJNATA ” etc. All ten types of samadhi share in common the absorption of the yogi in the state of extreme concentration of the mind. What distinguished the ten types is that each occurs at a different level of consciousness. To understand the levels of consciousness, one must be aware of cosmologies that include the nonphysical worlds. 4-It is taught particularly in theosophy that one interacts with the nonphysical planes via nonphysical “bodies” or “vehicles”. The physical body is an instrument allowing the mind to interact with the physical universe. The nonphysical bodies allow the mind to interact with the nonphysical planes, and have names such as the “astral body”, “mental body”, etc. 5-Some of the methods of Raja Yoga serve to train the mind to operate at the different levels of consciousness. Other methods train the mind to transfer consciousness amongst the various levels. Therefore, four types of samadhi are distinguished by the level of consciousness at which samadhi is performed. Four types of samadhi are transition states between adjacent levels of consciousness. The remaining two types of samadhi are very special states of consciousness. 6-Diving into the Depths of Consciousness is samadhi. After the eight limbs (yama, niyama, asanas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi) are mastered, samadhi is the means used to dive through consciousness. Learning samadhi is not the end of yoga, it is the beginning. This is very important to understand. 7-The ten types of samadhi form a sequence whereby consciousness descends from its superficial into its deeper layers, one after another. 8-The goal of yoga is to “join”. To join with what? To join with the infinite. In the Yoga Sutras the joining with infinity is called “Kaivalya”, which means “alone” or “isolate'. To the Western mind these are mere intellectual ideas. 9-In yoga, the experience of the infinite is the coveted (desire )reality. It is called “Brahman” in Hinduism, but sometimes Parabrahman, sometimes Parashiva, sometimes Parameshwara. Whatever it is called, it is the experience of everything. That is why Patanjali called it “Kaivalya”, “alone”. There is nothing beyond, beside, or outside of it. It is all that is, was or ever will be. 10-The ten types of samadhi are the sequential stages one must pass through in moving from the relative existence of our waking consciousness to the state of infinity, so it is crystal clear that yoga is the protocol, method, steps, by which we can directly experience the infinite. The steps from the relative to the Absolute are the ten types of samadhi. NOTE;-Let us first name and organize the ten types, then return back to how they cause this sequential passage from the waking world of relative-ness to the state of infinity or Kaivalya CONTD.......SHIVOHAM.....