On Samadhi and Asthanga Yoga

09-06-2000, 07:38 AM

Thanks Bob for your nice comments and some great posts on traditional
practices leading to Samadhi. Horia, you raise some good questions on the
nature of Samadhi. There is much literature on this topic in scriptures as
well as by modern writers.

Based on my experience, there are many different types of Samadhis. Samadhis
associated with Kundalini Yoga involve a loss of body consciousness as in
sleep (but there is retention of awareness at subtle levels). In higher
Samadhis, typically the body is temporarily paralyzed as in sleep. Traveling
to celestial planes, visions of angels, gods and the Goddess take place
during various types of Samadhis brought on by the rising of the Kundalini
Shakti. The highest Samadhi is Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Here, not only the body
consciousness, but any remaining mental consciousness is also lost so there
is no room for visions, thoughts, doubts, etc. The mind itself having been
swallowed up, time and space disappear. Here Fullness of Awareness
Recognizes It Self in All Clarity.

Love
Harsha

-----Original Message-----
From: Horia Cristescu [mailto:horia@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 10:08 AM
To: Kundalini-Gateway@egroups
Subject: [K-list] On Asthanga Yoga

Hi Bob,

I like the way you explained the meaning of all the 8 limbs of Yoga. I was
always wondering what were the separation lines between pratyahara, dharana,
dhyana and samadhi. I just call them all 'meditation'. I know their
definitions but I never quite satisfactory understood the exact differences
in terms of personal experience. Your description sheds more light on this
matter.

I'm asking anyone who can help me : What are the exact signs of samadhi as
in personal experience, not theory ?
I think I experienced samadhi recently but I am not quite sure. It could
have been just a mental void or a state close to samadi.

Love
Horia

P.S. I just run my spell check and it tried to correct "samadhi" into
"salad". hahaha

))

> For review, the 8 limbs of yoga are:
>
> 1. Restraints (Yamas)
> -Non-harming & Non-lying (Ahimsa)
> -Non-stealing (Asteya)
> -Non-attachment to sensuality (Brahmacharya)
> -Non-possessiveness (Aparigraha)
>
> 2. Observances (Niyamas)
> -Purity of body and mind (Saucha)
> -Contentment (Samtosa)
> -Intensity for enlightenment (Tapas)
> -Spiritual study (Svadhyaya)
> -Surrender to ultimate truth (Ishvara Pranidhana)
>
> 3. Postures (Asanas)
>
> 4. Breath Control (Pranayama)
>
> 5. Withdrawal from worldly attachments (Pratyahara)
>
> 6. Bringing attention to a point- concentration (Dharana)
>
> 7. Expanding attention from a point- meditation (Dhyana)
>
> 8. Transcendence of attention to unbounded awareness (Samadhi)

09-06-2000, 10:27 AM

Hello to Harsha, Horia and all,

Sharing in response to your post...from both my exposure to Robert Adams (a
self-realized devotee of Ramana Maharshi, who actually had an experience of
complete realization at the age of 14 - 4 years prior to meeting Ramana in
the flesh) and my own personal experience:

....when your concentration becomes one pointed, you go into a state of
Savikalpa Samadhi

....merging in consciousness for awhile, you taste the bliss of eternity. You
may become proficient in this samadhi; Nirvikalpa Samadhi, where you can do
feats like being buried alive and then being unburied and you're still
alive. You may make your heart stop beating, look as if you're dead, but you
have merged with Absolute Reality, but it doesn't last. You come back to the
world. This is as far as a person can go by themselves. It is only a rare
few who can go further by themselves. The average meditator has to find a
Satguru, one who has passed that stage, and the enlightened one may "give"
them Grace, that they may transcend that stage and go into

....Sahaja Samadhi, which is becoming normal again, but always in a state of
bliss, transcending the world, being in a permanent state of liberation and
yet back to functioning in the world. But deep inside you are not of this
world. You have become totally liberated. You have become Absolute Reality,
Pure Awareness, all-pervading and totally free.

However, all experiences are of a personal nature, and ultimately, the
greatest "samadhi" leads to the non-personal, nobody home; no individual
doership. In my own personal experience, (this is impossible to describe,
but I'll do the best I can) about 17 years ago, when I was not a meditator,
one day, while reading a book, ( nothing of significance) suddenly, my
breath was being sucked out of me. I have no idea how long this lasted.
Simultaneously, I felt an indescribable, almost unbearable Love and felt as
though my heart would burst. I felt connected to everybody and everything in
the entire Universe and beyond and in that instant there was a Knowing,
there was no time, only awareness.

Horia, in response to your question about the "signs", those would be of an
individual nature.

The Light of Awareness has brought the understanding that ultimately all
experiences are of the mind. All of the samadhis, eventually lead to the
greatest samadhi, Sahaja samadhi, wherein one is taken beyond mind; where
there is no experiencer left; all experiences melting away, revealing
nothing ever really happened, no you, but rather the "you" is the space in
which all experiences arise. You are "God".

Love to all,

jessica

----- Original Message -----
From: "Harsha"
>
> Thanks Bob for your nice comments and some great posts on traditional
> practices leading to Samadhi. Horia, you raise some good questions on the
> nature of Samadhi. There is much literature on this topic in scriptures as
> well as by modern writers.
>
> Based on my experience, there are many different types of Samadhis.
Samadhis
> associated with Kundalini Yoga involve a loss of body consciousness as in
> sleep (but there is retention of awareness at subtle levels). In higher
> Samadhis, typically the body is temporarily paralyzed as in sleep.
Traveling
> to celestial planes, visions of angels, gods and the Goddess take place
> during various types of Samadhis brought on by the rising of the Kundalini
> Shakti. The highest Samadhi is Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Here, not only the body
> consciousness, but any remaining mental consciousness is also lost so
there
> is no room for visions, thoughts, doubts, etc. The mind itself having been
> swallowed up, time and space disappear. Here Fullness of Awareness
> Recognizes It Self in All Clarity.
>
> Love
> Harsha
>
> snip

> From: Horia Cristescu [mailto:horia@...]
>
> I'm asking anyone who can help me : What are the exact signs of samadhi as
> in personal experience, not theory ?
> I think I experienced samadhi recently but I am not quite sure. It could
> have been just a mental void or a state close to samadi.
>