4,485
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − + Line 79:
Line 110: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Added Category
{{ToBeEdited}}
{{ToBeEdited}}
Samadhi, which we could call absorption, is the capacity to become one with the obj ect of our perception. It is the unity of the perceiver and the perceived in direct perception, through which the nature of ultimate reality can be clearly known. Samadhi is our capacity to merge with things in consciousness that shows our joy and fulfillment in life. It brings us to the underlying Divine nature in all things . It is the natural outcome of true meditation. Samadhi or union is the goal of all that we seek. Yoga does this inwardly so that we can be one with all.<ref name=":4">David Frawley (1999), [https://archive.org/details/yogaayurvedaselfhealingandselfrealizationdavidfrawley_757_/mode/2up Yoga & Ayurveda], Wisconsin: Lotus Press.</ref>
Concentration or dhāraṇā produces in us a state in which the natural wandering of our thoughts, the fluctuations of the psyche, are brought under control. In a state of concentration, the psyche attends to one thing so that there is intensification of activity of the mind in one particular direction. In a state of concentration the focus of attention is narrowed. This focus is expanded when one goes from concentration to contemplation or dhyāna. Contemplation helps to concentrate longer and to fix one’s attention on any object for a length of time with ease and in an effortless manner. When this is achieved, the psyche progresses to a standstill state in which the mind is steady and becomes one with the object of concentration. This is the state of samādhi.<ref name=":5">K. Ramakrishna Rao & Anand C. Paranjpe (2016), Psychology in the Indian Tradition, India: Springer.</ref>
== परिचयः ॥ Introduction ==
The states of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are progressive in nature.
देशबन्धश्चित्तस्य धारणा ।। ३.१ ।। तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानं ।। ३.२ ।। तदेवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यं इव समाधिः ।। ३.३ ।।<ref name=":2">Yoga Sutras, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A9 Pada 3 (Vibhuti Pada)]</ref>
Meaning: Dharana is holding the mind on to some particular object. An unbroken flow of knowledge to that object is Dhyana. When that, giving up all forms, reflects only the meaning, it is Samadhi.
That is, when in meditation all forms are given up. When the mind is trained to perceive only the internal sensations, the meaning, unexpressed in any form, that state of Dhyana is called Samadhi. Then, the form of the thing vanishes and only its meaning remains in the mind.<ref name=":1" />
If you can fix the mind for ten seconds on a particular object or Murti, it is Dharana (concentration). Ten such Dharanas become Dhyana. Ten such Dhyanas become a Samadhi. This is according to Hatha Yoga.<ref name=":6">Swami Sivananda (2006), [https://archive.org/details/practice-of-yoga/mode/2up?view=theater Practice of Yoga], Shivanandanagar: The Divine Life Society.</ref>
== The Progressive States of Samadhi ==
Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are together known as Samyama.
When one has succeeded in making this Samyama, all powers come under his control. This is the great instrument of the Yogi. The object of knowledge are infinite, and they are divided into the gross, grosser, grossest, and the fine, finer, finest, and so on. This Samyama should be first applied to gross things, when when you begin to get knowledge of the gross, slowly, by stages, it should be brought to finer things.
However, These three (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) would not make the mind Nirvikalpa, changeless, but would leave the seeds for getting bodies again; only when the seeds are, as the Yogi says, “fried,” do they lose the possibility of producing further plants. These powers cannot fry the seed.<ref name=":1" />
सर्वार्थतैकाग्रतयोः क्षयोदयौ चित्तस्य समाधिपरिणामः ।। ३.११ ।।<ref name=":2" />
Meaning: Taking in all sorts of objects and concentrating upon one object, these two powers being destroyed and manifested respectively, the Chitta gets the modification called Samadhi.<ref name=":1" />
Transcendence may be understood in a metaphysical, absolutistic, and otherworldly sense or in a relativistic and secular sense. In a relativistic sense, it is the progressive striving toward the goal of achieving the unconditioned state, the ideal of perfection. It signifies the transformation of the individual so that she overcomes in various degrees and through different stages the subjectively conditioned biases, prejudices, and predispositions that limit her knowledge, action, and being. These are represented as a variety of samādhi states in Patañjali yoga. (Refer to the chapter on consciousness)
The goal of yoga practice, as we frequently mention, is to control the natural tendency of the mind to wander. When the wanderings or mental fluctuations are controlled, one reaches a state of stillness, mental quiescence, quietude, and absorption. It is designated as a state of samādhi, where awareness is unaffected by the normal psychological processes that tend to bias and distort one’s thoughts and perceptions.
Again, samādhi has several shades and grades. Patañjali himself speaks of more than one variety of samādhi.<ref name=":5" />
वितर्कविचारानन्दास्मितारूपानुगमात्संप्रज्ञातः ॥ १.१७ ॥<ref name=":0">Yoga Sutras, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A7 Pada 1 (Samadhi Pada)]</ref>
वितर्कविचारानन्दास्मितारूपानुगमात्संप्रज्ञातः ॥ १.१७ ॥<ref name=":0">Yoga Sutras, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A7 Pada 1 (Samadhi Pada)]</ref>
Meaning: The concentration called right know-ledge is that which is followed by reasoning, discrimination, bliss, unqualified ego.
Meaning: The concentration called right knowledge is that which is followed by reasoning, discrimination, bliss, unqualified ego.
This Samadhi is divided into two varieties.
This Samadhi is divided into two varieties.
Even after reading all the Vedas, one does not realise anything, but when their teachings are practised, then one attains to that state which realises what the Scriptures say, which penetrates where reason cannot go, and where the testimony of others cannot avail.<ref name=":1" />
Even after reading all the Vedas, one does not realise anything, but when their teachings are practised, then one attains to that state which realises what the Scriptures say, which penetrates where reason cannot go, and where the testimony of others cannot avail.<ref name=":1" />
तज्जः संस्कारोऽन्यसंस्कारप्रतिबन्धी ॥ १.५० ॥ तस्यापि निरोधे सर्वनिरोधान्निर्बीजः समाधिः ॥ १.५१ ॥<ref name=":0" />
Meaning: The resulting impression from this Samadhi obstructs all other impressions. By the restraint of even this (impression, which obstructs all other impressions), all being restrained, comes the “seedless” Samadhi.
The goal is to perceive the self. It cannot be perceived because it has got mingled up with nature, the mind and the body. The different waves (vruttis) that arise in the Chitta and cover the self make the self get mingled up with different identities like the nature, mind or body itself.
The real nature of the Soul is not perceived until all the waves have subsided; so, first, Patanjali teaches us the meaning of these waves; secondly, the best way to repress them; and thirdly, how to make one wave so strong as to suppress all other waves, fire eating fire as it were. When only one remains, it will be easy to suppress that also, and when that is gone, this Samadhi of concentration is called seedless; it leaves nothing, and the Soul is manifested just as It is, in Its own glory. Then alone we know that the Soul is not a compound, It is the only eternal simple in the universe, and, as such, It cannot be born, It cannot die, It is immortal, indestructible, the Ever-living Essence of intelligence.<ref name=":1" />
Perfection in its ultimacy is a total absorption of the individual in the subject of experience, and a complete blending of one’s thinking, feeling, and willing to make one function as a holistic being. It involves complete coalescence of one’s cognitive, volitional, and affective states into a unified experience that transcends the conventional dichotomies of common experience, such as the subject and object, the “I-ness” and “otherness,” and reason and experience. It involves knowing truth (transcending subjective bias), experiencing bliss (transcending pain and pleasure), and acting free (transcending situational constraints).Again, the various states of samādhi, as described in the Yoga Sūtras, are states progressively leading to perfection.<ref name=":5" />
=== Vedantic Perspective ===
Mind, minus Vrittis, with Samskaras, only is termed potential mind. In Savikalpa Samadhi, this form of potential mind exists. A Raja Yogi, in his Savikalpa Samadhi operates through this potential mind. If this potential mind is also destroyed, you enter into pure Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
Samadhi is superconscious state. It is union with Brahman. It is of two kinds: viz., Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa. When the mind is fixed in Brahman along with Triputi, viz., Jnata (knower), Jnana (Knowledge), and Jneya (knowable), it is Savikalpa Samadhi. There is recognition of subject and object in this Samadhi.
In Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the mind is fixed in Advitiya Brahman without any Triputi, i .e., the idea of knower, knowledge and knowable and is without recognition of subject and object. Savikalpa Samadhi is a means (Sadhana) to the end-Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is the fruit or the result of Savikalpa Samadhi.
"Though there is a perception of duality in the Savikalpa Samadhi, inasmuch as there is distinct recognition of subject and object, yet the duality only helps to know the Advitiya Brahman; in the same way as in an earthen jar there is a perception of clay, though there may be an appearance of a jar. So also, there is the perception of the secondless Brahman alone, even though there may be an appearance of duality."
Nirvikalpa means free from all sorts of Vikalpas. Vikalpas are modifications and imaginations of the mind. The Nirvikalpa state of a Yogi is concerned with the mind.<ref name=":6" />
Following the Upaniṣadic tradition, Śaṅkara offers three lines of argument in support of the existence of Brahman as supreme consciousness. The third line of argument, possibly the most central of them, is that its truth is revealed in meditative realization. In other words, the existence of Ātman is a matter of direct experience. Through the practice of meditation, one can attain a state of samādhi where he/she experiences consciousness as-such, participates in Brahman and realizes the oneness with it. It is a state of non-relational and nonintentional pure consciousness devoid of subject–object duality, a self-luminous state of absolute bliss. It is self-revealing in that it does not need anything else to reveal it, just as a burning lamp requires no other lamp to make it visible.<ref name=":5" />
== Steps to attain Samadhi ==
तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः ।। २.१ ।। समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थश्च ।। २.२ ।।<ref name=":3">Yoga Sutras, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A8 Pada 2 (Sadhana Pada)]</ref>
Meaning: Mortification, study, and surrendering fruits of work to God are called Kriya Yoga. (They are for) the practice of Samadhi and minimising the pain-bearing obstructions.<ref name=":1" />
Tapas (Self-discipline), Svadhyaya (self-study) and Ishvara Pranidhana (surrender to God) are the foundation of Kriya Yoga, the yoga of internal action that renders one fit for samadhi.<ref name=":4" />
The first step, the preliminary step towards Samadhi, is called Kriya Yoga. Literally this means work, working towards Yoga. The organs are the horses, the mind is the reins, the intellect is the charioteer, the soul is the rider, and this body is the chariot. Mortification refers to holding the reins firmly while guiding this body and mind: not letting the body do anything it likes, but keeping them both in proper control. Study refers to study of those books which teach the liberation of the soul. Vada and Siddhanta - these are the two sorts of Scriptural knowledge, Vada (the argumentative) and Siddhanta (the decisive). When a man is entirely ignorant he takes up the first part of this, the argumentative fighting, and reasoning, pro and con.; and when he has finished that he takes up the Siddhanta, the decisive, arriving at a conclusion. Also, books are infinite in number, and time is short; therefore the secret of knowledge is to take that which is essential. By “surrendering the fruits of work to God” is to take to ourselves neither credit nor blame, but to give both up to the Lord, and be at peace.<ref name=":1" />
The results of Tapas, Svadhyaya & Ishwara Pranidhana
कायेन्द्रियसिद्धिरशुद्धिक्षयात्तपसः ।। २.४३ ।। स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवतासंप्रयोगः ।। २.४४ ।। समाधिसिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात् ।। २.४५ ।।<ref name=":3" />
Meaning: The result of mortification is bringing powers to the organs and the body, by destroying the impurity. By repetition of the mantram comes the realisation of the intended deity. By sacrificing all to Isvara comes Samadhi.
By resignation to the Lord, Samadhi becomes perfect.<ref name=":1" />
A Hatha Yogi draws all his Prana from the different parts of his body and takes it to the Sahasrara Chakra at the top of the head. Then he enters into Samadhi. Therefore, it is very difficult to bring him down to objective consciousness by mere shaking of his body. Hatha Yogins have remained buried underneath the earth in Samadhi for several years. They plug the posterior nostrils through Khechari Mudra.
A Raja Yogi gets Nirodha Sarnadhi through Chitta-Vritti-Nirodha (by restraining the mental modifications).
A Bhakta gets Bhava Samadhi through Prema of the Lord. A Vedantin gets Nirvikalpa Samadhi through Nidhidhyasana.<ref name=":6" />
== Obstacles to Samadhi ==
ततः प्रातिभश्रावणवेदनादर्शास्वादवार्ता जायन्ते ।। ३.३६ ।। ते समाधावुपसर्गा. व्युत्थाने सिद्धयः ।। ३.३७ ।।<ref name=":2" />
Meaning: the knowledge of hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling, are obstacles to Samadhi; but they are powers in the worldly state.<ref name=":1" />
== Synthesis of Yoga and Advaita ==
Yoga shares with Advaita the notion that humans are situated in an existential matrix of suffering and that the human endeavor is to overcome and change it. Along with its twin school Sāṁkhya, Yoga sketches a psychological system that is both a theory of human bondage and a practical method to overcome that bondage.
We have here a psychological conception of consciousness and appropriate methods for cultivating it. In Yoga, as in Upaniṣadic thought, we find a basic distinction between two fundamental forms of consciousness—transactional and transcendental forms. Transactional consciousness is empirical consciousness as in vyāvahārika realm in Advaita.
The source of both kinds of consciousness in Yoga is puruṣa. Puruṣa, like the Brahman in Advaita, is consciousness as-such. It is self-manifesting and selfluminous. It has no content, nor does it have an object one is conscious of. It is apprehended intuitively. It is in principle irreducible to any form or manifestation of matter.
The fundamental difference in the conception of consciousness between Advaita and Sāṁkhya-Yoga schools is that in the former Brahman is one, whereas in the latter the puruṣas are multiple. Further, in Advaita, Brahman is the eternal, unchanging sole reality without any duality, whereas in Sāṁkhya-Yoga prakṛti, the foundational basis of all material forms, is just as real as puruṣas. This recognition in Yoga of the duality of reality in puruṣa and prakṛti provides a smooth transition from the metaphysical to the psychological conception of consciousness. In Sāṁkhya-Yoga tradition, there is not a single puruṣa, like the Brahman, but a plurality of them. Here then is the transition from the metaphysical conception to a psychological representation of consciousness from the absolute to individual.
The goal in both Vedānta and Yoga is to realize transcendental consciousness; and this involves cultivated transcendence of sense-mediated and mind-generated awareness.
The main issue is the radically distinct nature of consciousness (Brahman, puruṣa) and the world of matter (prakṛti, māyā).
Both Advaita and Sāṁkhya-Yoga share the assumption that consciousness as-such does not interact with mind/body; but consciousness does manifest in a variety of forms in human experience. The problem is therefore one of explaining manifest consciousness in the world. It follows there are two kinds of consciousness, consciousness as-such and manifest consciousness. In some ways, the two are utterly different. Consciousness as-such (puruṣa or Brahman) is contentless and nonintentional. The manifest, phenomenal consciousness, however, is intentional and has content.
The person, as we pointed out, is a unique composite of consciousness, mind, and body. The mind of the person, more precisely the buddhi, has the unique ability to reflect consciousness. Buddhi itself, an evolute of prakṛti, is constituted by a combination of the three primary elements, sattva, rajas, and tamas. It is the sattva component that has a special relationship with puruṣa. We, therefore, read in the Yoga-Sūtras (III.55) that the purity of sattva in buddhi is equal to puruṣa in the state of kaivalya, which means that the reflections of buddhi, the images of puruṣa in the mind, are nearly perfect and the knowledge they generate is apodictically true. However, the buddhi is generally muddled because it is saddled by rajas and tamas, the distorting aspects that prevent sattva from providing a true reflection and give instead sensorially muddled awareness. According to Yoga, it is possible to progressively control and even eliminate/neutralize the influence of rajas and tamas on the buddhi. When this happens and sattva of the buddhi is on its own, it is able to access consciousness as-such in its reflections. This is the state of intuitive awareness, the kind of realization that is incorporated in Śruti statements. Śaṅkara has no quarrel with Yoga and its practices presumed to give extraordinary knowledge and abilities. He explicitly accepts them.<ref name=":5" />
== References ==
== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Yoga]]