SAMADHI: KEVALA AND SAHAJA
Talk 187.
D.: 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.M.: Both of you are right, you refer to sahaja nirvikalpa and the other refers to kevala nirvikalpa. In the 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
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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 | (2) sunk in light | (2) resolved into the Self; |
| oblivion | | |
| | (3) like a bucket with | (3) like a river discharged |
| | the rope left lying | into the ocean and its |
| | in the water in a | identity lost; |
| | well; | |
| | (4) to be drawn out by | (4) a river cannot be |
| | the other end of the | redirected from the |
| | rope. | ocean. |