Samadhi – its nature (verses 354-372) :-

 

354. When the non-dual Self is realized in nirvikalpa samadhi* , the heart‘s ‗knot of ignorance‘** is completely destroyed.

* Nirvikalpa Samadhi is attained by means of one-point absorption of the mental activity (cittavṛtti) in the Self in such a way that the distinctions (vikalpas) of the tripartite process (triputi) of knower, known, and knowing get dissolved.

 

**Heart‘s knot of ignorance: Hindu scriptures speak about chid-jadd-granthi, the knot between the sentient, the conscious (Self) and the insentient, the inert (body). Due to ignorance about our essential nature, we take the ever-luminous Self to be the insentient body. This knot is not real—thank God, otherwise there will be no way out! It is only imaginary; however, due to timeless samskaaraas (tendencies gathered over countless lives), this knot has become very strong and unties with great difficulty.

Says Goswami Tulsidaas:

Jadd-chetan granthi par jaaee,

yadpi mrisha chuutat kathinaaee.

The knot between the conscious (Self) and the inert (body) has come about. Although ―unreal??, it unties with great difficulty.

 

Two important verses from Gaudapada‘s Karika on Mandukyopanisad explain the alchemy of untying this knot:

Bidhtey hridyey granthi cheedantey sarva sanshaya,

Ksheeyante chasyey karmaani tasmin drsishtey pravarae. (II.2.viii)

When a person realizes Him in both the high and the low, the knots of heart are rent asunder, doubts dispelled, and all karmas exhausted!

Anaadi mayaya supto yada jeevah prabhudhaytey;

Ajamm, anidaramm, asvapannamm, advaitamm bhudhaytey tada." (I.7. xvi)

When the self, sleeping under the influence of beginningless Maya is awakened, it then realizes itself as free from sleep and dream, and as the Birthless and the Non-dual!

355. "You", "I", "This"--- these concepts are imagined in the Supreme Self, which is attributeless and non-dual, due to the inherent defects of the intellect. When the real nature of Brahman is realised in one-pointed absorption (samadhi), all these concepts are dissolved.

356. Serene, self-controlled, withdrawn from sense-objects, steadfast in in forebearance, practicing one-pointed absorption, the seeker experiences his Self as the Self of all. Destroying, by these means, all imaginations born of the darkness of ignorance, the seeker lives blissfully as Brahman, free from (egocentric) actions and all imaginations.

357. They alone are free from the bonds of becoming who, having attained one-pointed absorption (samadhi), merge the objective world, the sense-organs, the mind, nay, the very ego, in the Self as pure Consciousness; and not those who merely blabber about their indirect Knowledge.

358. By association with conditioning adjuncts, the many, a person is apt to think of the Self as full of diversity; but my removing these one gains one‘s own Immutable Self. Hence, until the dissolution of conditionings, let the wise person remain devoted to the practice of Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

359. One devoted to the Real becomes the Real through single-pointed devotion, just as the "worm" exclusively thinking upon the wasp (bhramara), becomes itself the wasp.

360. Just as the worm, giving up all other activities and thinking intently upon the wasp metamorphoses into that wasp, so too, a yogi meditating on Reality as the Supreme Self, "enters into It" through one-pointed devotion to It.

361. The Real Nature of Supreme Self is extremely subtle and cannot be peceived by the coarse vision of the outward-bound mind. It is accessible to noble ones with extremely pure intellects, through samadhi, brought about by extraordinarily subtle mind.

362. Just as gold, by thorough heating in fire, gives up its impurities and gains its own lustre, so too, the mind through meditation, sheds its impurities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and attains the nature of Brahman.

Guna is a technical term of Sankhya philosophy also used in the same sense by the Vedanta. Prakrti or Nature is constituted of three Gunas: Sattva (equilibrium or purity), Rajas (attraction or activity), and Tamas (inertia). Prakrti is the three Gunas, not that she has them. Guna is wrongly translated as quality; it is substance as well as quality, matter, and force. Where ever there is name and form, there is Guna. Guna also means a rope, that which binds. (Swarupananda, 1996, pp. 55-56)

While it is understandable that one has to shed the taint of rajas and tamas gunas, it may not be clear at first why one has to give up sattvas which signify purity. To get a clarity on this point, let・s consult the Bhagavad Gita. Early on, in verse 45 of chapter 2, Sri Krishna has explained to Arjuna that Vedas deal with the subject of the triad of gunas (traegunyah vishya Veda) and has urged him to stay free from the pairs of opposites (nirdvandav) and the triad of the gunas: nistraigunyah bhava, Arjuna. The following seems to be clearest expression of the role of gunas, as enunciated in the Bhagavad Gita:

When the seer beholds no agent other than the gunas and realizes THAT which is beyond these gunas, he attains to My Being (BG 14.19). Sankara・s comment: ・\Seeing all is Vasudeva (Vasudeva sarvam-iti・BG 7.19), he attains My status. Or else, transcending the three Gunas (Gunateeta), he attains immortality, the Supreme Bliss, Liberation while living.‖ (BG 14.20)

363. Thus purified by constant practice when the mind merges with Brahman, then Samadhi passes from the Savikalpa* to the Nirvikalpa stage, leading directly to the experience of the Bliss of Brahman, the Non-dual.

*Savikalpa samadhi is absorption with conceptual distinctions of knower, known and knowing in tact. In nirvikalpa samadhi, these distinctions melt away.

364. By this (nirvikalpa) samadhi, ‗knots‘ of all residual impressions (vasanas) get destroyed. All actions come to an end. One‘s Real Nature (swarupa) manifests spontaneously and effortlessly, forever, everywhere and always, within and without.

365. "Reflection" should be considered a hundred times superior to mere "listening;" sustained "meditation" a hundred thousand times superior to "reflection"; but the value of nirvikalpa samadhi is infinetely superior to all.

366. By nirvikalpa samadhi, the true nature of Brahman is clearly and definitely realized, never otherwise; for the mind being unsteady, is apt to get mixed with other modifications.

367. Therefore, with a serene mind and the senses controlled, ever concentrating on inmost Self and realizing your identity with That Reality, destroy the darkness of beginningless ignorance.

368. The first doorways to Yoga consists of: (1) control of speech, (2) non-accumulation of possessions, (3) freedom from expectations, (4) freedom from activity and (5) living always in (inner) solitude.

369. Living in solitude helps to control the sense organs; control of the senses serves to control the mind and by controlling the mind the ego gets dissolved; this gives the Yogi an Absolute Realisation of the Bliss of Brahman. Hence a sages hould always strive deligently to quieten the mind.

370. Restrain speech in the mind and restrain the mind in the intellect; and this again restrain in the ‗Witness‘ of the intellect and merging that too in the infinite Absolute Self, attain Supreme Peace.

371. The body, pranas, sense-organs, mind, intellect, etc., whichever of these conditioning adjuncts the mind gets associated with, the Yogi also gets transformed, as it were, into that.

372. When the mind is completely detached from everything, the wise person attains perfect cessation and is seen immersed in the eternal experience of Being and Bliss.