Viveka Chudamani: Samadhi-Its Nature

        Viveka  Chudamani: Samadhi-Its Nature(354-372)

• When  the  non-dual   Atmanis  realised  in nirvikalpa Samadhi,  the heart's "knots   of  ignorance" are   completely   destroyed(354)
• "You","I","THIS","That"--these   concepts   are   fancied in  the  Supreme Self,  which   is  Absolute   andnon-dual,  due    to inherent   defects   of   the   intellect.  When   the Real Nature of Brahman is realised in Samadhi,all these concepts are  dissolved(355).
• Serene,self-controlled, perfectly withdrawn from sense-objects steadfast in silently enduring, struggling to attain Samadhi,the seeker  always contemplate on his own  Self as the Self in  the  universe.Destroying by thesemeans,all imaginations   which   arise from the blindness of ignorance,he lives blissfully as Brahman,free from ego-centric actions and oscillations of the  mind(356).

         According  to   Swami Chinmayananda,  this   is a very  important verse  which  indicates all  the essential   adjustments  a  Seeker (Sadhak) must  make  in  himself  before he becomes fit for the   higher  meditaions. Those who ignore these  values and  disciplines  suffer  endless  disturbances on the  path and  rarely achieve any  enduring success.An  aspirant, in  order   tobe  successful in  his  meditation,should have the   following fundamental   qualities:

Serenity(santi),Control  of the  sense-organs(dantah),Total  withdrawal from mental pre- occupations (paramauparatha), Forbearance(kshanti  yuktah). Siuch  a  seeker at his meditation seat  struggles  to lift himself to the  vision of the one Self everywhere(Samadhi).

• They   alone  are   free   from  the   bondage   of   birth   and   death who,having  attained  Samadhi,  merge  the   objective   world, the  sense-organs, the   mind,  nay,  the  very  ego,  in   the Atman, the Knowledge  Absolute,  and  none  else,  who blabber their indirect Knowledge(357)
• Just   as the"insect", renouncing attachment   to   all  other   activities  thinks  intensely  upon  the   wasp  and  metamorphoses  into one, so   too, a  Yogi  meditating   upon   the nature of  at  Parmaman,  attains   it   through  his  single- pointed   devotion   to   it (360)
• The Real Nature  of  Parmatman  is extremely  subtle and   cannot   be   reached by   the   gross out-going  tendency   of   the   mind. It   is  accessible  to noble   ones  with   extremely   pure  intellects, through  Samadhi,brought   aboutby   an  extra  ordinary  subtlety   of   mind(361)
• Just as  gold,  by  through heating  in  fire,gives   up  its   impurities  and  gains  its   own  lustre,  so  too,  the   mind   throughmeditation,sheds  its   impurities  of Sattwa, Rajas  andTamas  and attains    the  nature   of  Brahman(362)
• 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(363)
• By     this  Samadhi,  all  desires  which  are   like"knots"  are   destroyed.  All  work  comes  to  an   end.  And  within  and   without,  everywhere   and   always,  takes   place   a   spontaneous  manifestation  of  one's  own  Real   Nature(364)
• "Reflection"  should be considered   a hundred   times   superior   to "listening"  and "meditation"  a   hundred   thousand   times   superior   to reflection;but Nirvikalpa  Samadhi  is   infinitely more  sacred(365)
• By  Nirvikalpa  Samadhi, the  truenature   of  Brahman  is  clearly and   definitely  manifest , never   otherwise,  for   then, the   mind being  unsteady,  is   apt   to be  mixed   up  with   other   perceptions(366)
• Therefore,  with   a   serene mind  and   the   senses   controlled,  ever  drown   the   mind   in   the   subjective   supreme  Self,  and   by   realising   your   identity  with   that  Reality, destroy   the   darkness  created   by   the   beginningless  avidya(Nescience)(367)
• The   first gateway   of  Yoga   consists  of:(1)control  of speech,(2)non-acceptance  of   possessions,(3)non-entertainment   of  expectations,(4)freedom   from   activity, and(5) living  always   in  a   retired mood(368)
• Living in solitude helps   controlthe   sense-organs, control   of   the   senses  serves   to   control  themind,  and   by   controlling   the   mind  the   ego  is   destroyed;  this   gives  the Yogin  the Absolute   Realisation   of   the   Bliss  of  Brahman.  Hence,  the  man  of   reflection  should   alway  strive  to  quieten  the   mind   alone(369)
• 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, gain supreme  Peace(370)
• When   this  is  completely   removed,  a   man   of   reflection is  found   to  detach easily   from   everything,  and   to   get   into  the riotous  revelry  of   the Essence   of  Bliss(372)

Vedprakash