Samadhi *

Vanished the veils of light and shade,
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailedaway all dawns of fleeting joy,
Gone the dim sensory mirage.
Love, hate, health) disease, life, death,
Perished these false shadows on the screen of duality.
Waves of laughter, scyllas of sarcasm, melancholic whirlpools,
Melting in the vast sea of bliss.
The storm of maya stilled
By magic wand of intuition deep.
The universe, forgotten dream, subconsciously lurks,
Ready to invade my newly wakened memory divine.
I live without the cosmic shadow,
But it is not, bereft of me;
As the sea exists without the waves,
But they breathe not without the sea.
Dreams, wakings, states of deep turiya sleep,
Present, past, future, no more for me,
But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere.
Planets, stars, stardust, earth,
Volcanic bursts of doomsday cataclysms,
Creation's molding furnace,
Glaciers of silent x-rays, burning electron floods,
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
Beyond the limits of the mortal frame
To farthest boundary of eternity
Where I, the Cosmic Sea,
Watch the little ego floating in me.
The sparrow, each grain of sand, fall not without my sight.
All space like an iceberg floats within my mental sea.
Colossal Container, I, of all things made.
By deeper, longer, thirsty, guru-given meditation
Comes this celestial samadhi
Mobile murmurs of atoms are heard,
The dark earth, mountains, vales, lo! molten liquid!
Flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae!
Aum blows upon the vapors, opening wondrously their veils,
Oceans stand revealed, shining electrons,
Till, at last sound of the cosmic drum,**
Vanish the grosser lights into eternal rays
Of all-pervading bliss.
From joy I came, for joy I live, in sacred joy I melt.
Ocean of mind, I drink all creation's waves.
Four veils of solid, liquid, vapor, light,
Lift aright.
Myself, in everything, enters the Great Myself.
Gone forever, fitful, flickering shadows of mortal memory.
Spotless is my mental sky, below, ahead, and high above.
Eternity and I, one united ray.
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.

Through Oneness in samadhi, the dualities of human experience disappear. Everything is perceived to change into Spirit. In this state, the man in samadhi can perceive the spiritual ocean, with its waves of creation; or see the same spiritual ocean, transcendentally calm, existing without the waves of creation.

In the first state of samadhi, the yogi (one who unites his soul with Spirit by right meditation) is so absorbed in Spirit that he is oblivious of the material and created universe. A somewhat similar experience on a lower plane is experienced when one is so absorbed in books or thoughts that he is unaware of what is happening around him. This state is not unconscious, for unconsciousness implies lack of awareness, both inwardly and outwardly. Such unconsciousness is easily brought about by the use of drugs, anesthetics and other outward means. The full spiritual consciousness of samadhi, however, can be attained only through the regular, continuous, right discipline of meditation, and has nothing in common with unconsciousness.

The first state of samadhi, in which the yogi finds everything withdrawn and absorbed into Spirit, is called sabikalpa samadhi The higher and greater state of samadhi is nirbikalpa, in which the yogi, after realizing the Spirit alone—without creation—perceives it also, simultaneously, both as above creation, and as manifested in all creation. Here his consciousness becomes the cosmic consciousness. The domain of his consciousness now extends from his body to include the whole universe. He becomes the Ocean of Spirit, and watches the bubble of his body floating in it. His consciousness perceives all motion and change of life, from the circling of the stars to the fall of a sparrow and the whirling of the smallest electron.

The yogi who has entered into these two states of samadhi finds that solids melt into liquids, liquids into gaseous states, these into energy, and energy into cosmic consciousness. He lifts the four veils of solids, liquids, gases and energy, and finds the Spirit, face to face. He sees the objective universe and subjective universe meet in Spirit. His expanded material self mixes with the greater spiritual Self and knows their unity. The spiritual Self, being the first cause, and capable of existing without material manifestation, is therefore greater than the material self.

Thus, the negative conception of God is removed. The yogi, instead of finding cessation of life and joy, becomes the fountain-head of eternal bliss and life. The tiny bubble of laughter becomes the sea of mirth itself. By knowing God, one does not lose anything, but gains everything.

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* Samadhi means: oneness of human consciousness with cosmic consciousness. The human consciousness is subjected to relativity and dual experience. In meditation, there are: The meditator, the act of meditation, and God (as the object of meditation). Samadhi is the final result of deep, continuous, right meditation, in which the above mentioned three factors of meditation become one. Just as the wave melt' in the Sea, so the human soul becomes the Spirit.

** The Aum vibration—see glossary.

Whispers from Eternity by Swami Yogananda, 1929/1949 Editions

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