Understanding Hindu concepts surfacing in the West (Part 2 - The practice of Samadhi)

Samadhi (extract)

Thoughts of all men, past, present, to come,

Every blade of grass, myself, mankind,

Each particle of universal dust,

Anger, greed, good, bad, salvation, lust,

I swallowed, transmuted all

Into a vast ocean of blood of my own one Being!

Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation,

Blinding my tearful eyes,

Burst into immortal flames of bliss,

Consumed my tears, my frame, my all.

Thou art I, I am Thou,

Knowing, Knower, Known, as One!

Tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever new peace!

Enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, samadhi bliss!

Not a mental chloroform

Or unconscious state without wilful return,

Samadhi but extends my conscious realm

Yogananda

Where do the words Samadhi come from?

Samadhi is the eighth and final step on the path of Raja yoga, one of the four classical paths in Hinduism which leads to Moksha - liberation, and it represents the exploration of the depths of the self and the boundless realms of the mind. The term derives from Sanskrit roots; sam meaning "completely/together/as a whole), a meaning "toward" and dhe meaning "put." It is profound absorption. The concept was later adopted by the Buddha: Samyak Samadhi meaning right concentration is the eighth and final step of Eightfold path. Raja yoga literally means the 'royal path' and comes from the 'Yoga Sutras' of Patanjali, a classical yoga text dating to 200 BCE – 200 CE.

Samprajnata Samadhi: In this level of Samadhi you are still dealing with intrusive disturbances of the mind in the form of thoughts, ideas and stimulus through peaceful meditation, and you should respond to any stimulus as it happens in the best way possible, in accordance with your Pragina (knowledge). This type of Samadhi is less profound, hence there is likely mind chatter but equally you should be still relatively well adjusted to the outside world, and the fact you respond to disturbances mean you should be sharp mentally.

In Savitarka samadhi, the mind tends to focus on an object with full prior knowledge about it. It therefore alternates its focus on the object using knowledge based on words, instincts and sensory perceptions, in a mixed state. Savichara involves meditating on the subtle elements leading to Samadhi, with analysis. Ananda Samadhi is focusing on the bliss peace and tranquility in Samadhi. In Asmita Samadhi the focus is no longer on the bliss of peacefulness within you, but just on the separation of the individual from all else, on what constitutes just yourself, the I am. Ramana Maharshi, described Savikalpa Samadhi as "holding on to reality with effort.”

Asamprajnata Samadhi: This second level of Samadhi is often parallel to the first, only where you go deeper into yourself, away from the world outside and are less affected by mental stimulus, and if it pops up certainly less responsive. Imagine when your mind forgets all your day to day problems playing sport, reading books or watching films. Equally, the mind can achieve such a sensation purposefully through meditation.

In contrast to Svitarka Samadhi, Nirvitarka Samadhi requires the mind identifying with an object, but without any awareness of its name or its quality. In contrast to Savichara Samadhi, Nirvichara Samadhi involves meditating on the subtle elements leading to Samadhi, but without analysis (Sa means with and nir means without).

Nirbija Samadhi is the highest level of Samadhi and can be translated as “Samadhi without seed”, a metaphor for absolute liberation from the attachments and thoughts of the mind, from which Kaivalya can be achieved. Kaivalya means just alone (root: kevala), and is a deeper trance similar to Asmita Samdhi. Thus, this side of Samadhi is most connected with the Buddhist term - Nirvana.

My western beliefs of the Samadhi State - an inner-absorption and reflections of the shapes and textures of the inner environment

What I will then call then the Samadhi state is a meditative concentrated state (or mindful trance) where you completely observe your inner environment without any other objective (such as in Vipassana where you aim to feel equanimously or as in guided hypnosis where you aim to form a visual journey). As Samadhi is achieving a union with the object of meditation, if you look completely inwards, the object of meditation should be the internal universe, just as it is.

First things first, I do not believe entering a Samadhi State is about understanding yourself at all verbally, intellectually or even trying to, but more about how you individually absorb and reflect everything from your inner environment. I believe in a way it would be most tedious to extroverts, and for introverts potentially dangerous if a person becomes overly introverted as a result of too much attaining of Samadhi.

You are not really your environment, even as your environment changes you; just as you are not just what you are feeling - you may be feeling angry about something for instance but that doesn't make you an angry person, likewise with any emotion - after all, even sadist masochists can feel happy.

For me, the inner-environment can primarily be simplified into shape and texture, and the idea of this Samadhi is that you are feeling everything - the inner universe as a whole - to the extent that's possible. This is partial metaphor as you can't feel everything in its entirety nor would want to, there are healthy limits to how absorbent you can be, especially if you also aim to function and equally reflect at the same time as absorb.

No one knows how the universe feels, though many consider everything has a feeling that eventually hits you through the butterfly effect, be it partially. What is certain is that we are recipients and connected to many things we do not know and classify as separate from us. The entirety of these things remain at work during the Samadhi State in my view, as close you can get to observing the internal universe as much as possible.

How to enter Samadhi state well

First, I believe there's no one way to mediate or enter the mindful trance I call Samadhi State- after-all meditation is really any peaceful and stable method of feeling internally what you are like, requiring seeing truly what you reactions to your environment are - what life feels like moment by moment. Meditations like Vipassana have their limitations too, so sometimes less is more, meaning living a life with more action and more external focus in general will get you feeling Samadhi and internal textures more too.

However, some great ways to begin to enter into a fluid Samadhi State include watching psychedelic fractal visuals and kaleidoscopes first, known for inducing a pleasant and creative calm mental state. Verbal mantras, binaural beats may aid trance meditative states, as can deep instrumentals and classical music also aid concentration. Even thought spirals, inner-arguments and external competition affect us in shapes and texture internally, and so can improve Samadhi. Taking LSD, DMT or consuming magic mushrooms of course might open you up to a different way of interpreting your Samadhi State, and so are often linked with new-age spirituality.

Like anything that can be perceived there are many ways to perceive Samahdi in such different forms, be they happier or deeper or more reflective or more instinctive ways, all of which we can work on and even try mastering.

The purpose; mental peace, bliss, tolerance... but can we judge?

The question is why do such a thing through? Why bother with abstract textures and shapes? The danger is over-analysis, or as the Buddha taught - false aversions and cravings - to certain aspects of the Samadhi State.

Due to the Samadhi State's mysterious nature, much like the subconcience is in reality a mystery to us, when we enter a meditative state and observe texturally feelings at their roots, most obviously visually and physically if not in other ways (though music and sound has texture, etc.), and how interactive are we with the unknown- then, I think there is one question which hits us all first regarding our environment - is it safe to go this inwards. Do I feel like I am actually able to improve the inner environment or might I harm it?

The reason we ask playful questions to ascertain how is Samadhi is because no longer is there a straight answer to what it is, only that it is. Samadhi is too general and lacking context, and it can never be one thing but always all things - for instance it may be painful, bitter, tender and sweet. Entering the Samadhi state to me is just toning into how you and the environment match internally, and that is the way you understand your individuality, because otherwise you might confuse yourself more for what your environment believes you are.

Thus then more intuitive questions arise, such as how do you fit in Samadhi, or does the environment fit to you? How changeable, unpredictable or slow and stable are you and conversely, is the world to you when in a Samadhi state? What colours do you see in it? Is it static or watery, trippy or secure?

 I believe that entering Samadhi States regularly will both help people balance themselves and regain strength, but equally may cause disorientation (sometimes for days or even weeks and months) and potential complete confusion (as we are animals in need of the external world, and so adapted to deal with the outer-reality with our eyes more than the inner-one) if done naively.

How much context can we put into to our inwards environment through limited but shared spiritual knowledge and words so that we can actually judge Samadhi, giving a point to observe it (reference-wise)? Well, of course no-one's a perfect judge, and realisations can be elusive or arrive totally unexpectedly, but I am far from a person who states that everything means the same and we should not be aversive to or crave certain internal Samadhi States, just that we should take care not to be foolish. How dangerous is Samadhi if a wrong aversion or craving is made to a sensation?

Or on the other hand how austere, banal and destructive is an aversion to Samadhi itself and to not forming any insights over what's healthy or not? What riches will be lost should we to neglect the inner world?

So overall, lets not bash our judgement when thinking about Samadhi States as useless, impotent and foolhardy, but equally lets not laud it as the be-and-end all part too life (creating too much detachment from the outer-world we depend on, which we can effect more practically and understand more easily too). Finally, lets remember observing Samadhi is not just a harmless endeavor and remember our first question when we truly go deep internally which is can we be in danger when entering a deep internal state. If we are taking a deeper look at our subconscious it is worth knowing nature has its reasons for keeping her largely mysterious and also bearing in mind that the subconscious is far more powerful than our conscious mind gives it credit for. In my view, Samadhi is far more than a hedonistic pass-time or a banal nonsensical spiritual endeavor, but more about striving for internal balance.