Sri Ramana Maharshi on Samadhi

Talk 187

Devotee: I maintain that the physical body of the man sunk in samadhi as a result of unbroken contemplation of the Self becomes motionless for that reason. It may be active or inactive. The mind fixed in such contemplation will not be affected by the body or the senses being restless. A disturbance of the mind is not always the forerunner of physical activity. Another man asserts that physical unrest certainly prevents nirvikalpa samadhi or unbroken contemplation. What is your opinion? You are the standing proof of my statement.

Ramana: Both of you are right, you refer to sahaja nirvikalpa, and the other refers to kevala nirvikalpa. In one case, the mind lies immersed in the Light of the Self (whereas the same lies in the darkness of ignorance in deep sleep). The subject discriminates one from the other - samadhi, stirring up from samadhi, and activity thereafter, unrest of the body, of the sight of the vital force, and of the mind, the cognizance of objects and activity, are all obstructions for him. In sahaja, however, the mind has resolved itself into the Self and has been lost. Differences and obstructions mentioned above do not therefore exist here. The activities of such a being are like the feeding of a somnolent boy, perceptible to the onlooker (but not to the subject). The driver sleeping on his moving cart is not aware of the motion of the cart, because his mind is sunk in darkness. Similarly, the sahaja Jnani remains unaware of his bodily activities because his mind is dead, having been resolved in the ecstasy of Chit Ananda (Self). The two words contemplation and samadhi have been used loosely in the question. Contemplation is a forced mental process, whereas samadhi lies beyond effort.

SLEEP	KEVALA	SAHAJA
(1) mind alive	(1) mind alive	(1) mind dead
(2) sunk in oblivion	(2) sunk in dead	(2) resolved into the Self
	(3) like a bucket with the rope left lying in the water in a well;	(3) like a river discharged into the ocean and its identity lost;
	(4) to be drawn out by the other end of the rope	(4) A river cannot be redirected from the ocean.

-Shambho-