Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

“Certainly,” said Bhagavan. “In that group, goodness
(satvam) is the personal God (Ishwara); activity (rajas) is the
individual soul (jiva); and heaviness (tamas) is the world
(jagat). It is said that the Self is pure goodness (suddha satva).”
A young Bengali who was present asked, “Swami,
samadhi
1
is said to be of two sorts: ‘kevala nirvikalpa’
2
and ‘sahaja
nirvikalpa’
3
. What are their attributes?”
Bhagavan looked kindly at him, and said, “One who
accustoms himself naturally to meditation (dhyana) and
enjoys the bliss of meditation, will not lose his samadhi state
whatever external work he does, whatever thought may
come to him. That is called ‘sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi.’ It is
these two states that are called complete destruction (nasa)
and suppression (laya); nasa is sahaja nirvikalpam and laya is
kevala nirvikalpam. Those who are in the laya (suppressed)
samadhi state will have to bring the mind back under control
from time to time. If the mind is destroyed, it will not sprout
again; the mind will then be something like a fried seed.

Whatever is done by such people is just incidental; they
will not slide down from their high state. Those that are in
the kevala nirvikalpa samadhi state are not siddhas
4
; they are
mere sadhakas.

5
Those who are in the sahaja nirvikalpa state
are like a light in a windless place, or the ocean without
waves; that is, there is no movement. They cannot find
anything which is different from themselves. For those who
l
Samadhi is that state of absorption within when distinction between
subject and object is lost.

2
Kevala nirvikalpa samadhi is the state of absolute thought-free
awareness. The mind which is subject to Vasanas is forcibly stilled
by a person sitting quietly for some time. At other times he gets
back to his normal worldly activities.

3
Sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi is the state of pure awareness even during
normal activities.

4
Semi-divine beings supposed to be of great purity and holiness
and said to be particularly characterized by eight supernatural
faculties called Siddhis.

5
Those who are practising to become Siddhas.

do not reach that state, everything appears to be different
from themselves.”
Two days ago, a young man in ochre robes and
belonging to the Ramakrishna Mission, asked, “What is
meant by the ‘Fourth State’ (turiyavastha)?”
Bhagavan replied, “There is no such thing as the Fourth
State. Self itself is the Fourth State.”
“Why then do people say the ‘Fourth State’ and ‘Beyond
the Fourth State’ (turiya and turiyatita)?” asked the questioner.

Bhagavan replied, “What there is, is one state only; you
may call it turiya or turiyatita or what you like. The wakeful
state (jagrat), the dream state (swapna) and the state of deep
sleep (sushupti) — these three states go on changing like the
scenes in a cinema. All the three are ideas of the mind. That
which is beyond these three, and which is real and
permanent, is the Self itself. That is the state called the Fourth,
the turiya, state. In common parlance, people talk of the
‘Fourth State ‘and of ‘Beyond the Fourth State’, and so on,
but strictly speaking, there is only one state.”