Samadhi and Untrained mind
Chapter-25
Atmanishtha and Swadhrma
Two ways of Samadhi
On the Seventh day of the first fortnight of the month of Paush of Samvant 1876, Shriji Maharaj came to the chambers of the Paramhams. He was dressed in all white. He had covered his body with a white cotton shawl and had worn a white turban. He was sitting facing east in the western wing of the Verandah in the Durbar of Shri Dada Khachar at Gadhada. Paramhams and the disciples from the different places were seated before him.
With a deep compassion in his heart, Shriji Maharaj said, 'One who has not developed Atmanishtha and does not have the knowledge of the infinite greatness of God, does not experience fulfilment inspite of worship to God. One can experience fulfilment only when he developes Atmanishtha and has the knowledge of God in all his greatness and profundity of powers. If devotee has not developed these two fundamental essentials, of Atmanishtha and the knowledge of God fully, to that extent he does not feel fulfilled by the observance of Swadharm and the worship he offers to God. A devotee, therefore, should develop two attributes fully, since the deficiency in realising one's own Atma and in possessing the knowledge of God acts as an impediment in enjoying bliss in Samadhi. Recently a devotee was sent to trance and when she faced with the flood of light, she said, 'I am burning'. Then I explained to her, you are Atma, your name Lakhibai and your caste Bhat are not you. You are Atma which can not be cut, pierced or burnt. Then sent her into trance again and asked her to move to the lotus seat of
Ganapati, which is four petalled. When the devotee in trance goes to this place, he hears divine music and beholds divine flood of light. when he furthers towards the Seat of Brahma which is six petalled lotus flower. he hears roaring sound of music and the waves of divine light. And as he moves towards the seat of Vishnu, the roar of divine music and the flooding waves of light increases in tremendous intensity which sometimes frightens the devotee. Arjun, the great amongst the warriors, also lost the balance at the sight of the divine Vishwaswarup, and was struck with the terror. He with the folded hands said 'Oh Lord !, I am unable to behold your divine form. Please, therefore, reveal before me your usual graceful human form.' Even such a warrior like him, loses courage on seeing and hearing the unusual and terrific flood of divine light and roaring sounds of music, whose intensity is so enormous that it would burst the whole universe. The loss of courage and the intensity of fear which a devotee experiences in trance are due to his consciousness of his physical self. He should cast off his consciousness and should regain the knowledge of his true self which is Atma.
'One attains Nirvikalpa Samadhi by two ways, one is Yoga involving eight steps or Angas, and another is by the way of Bhakti. In AShtang Yoga, the Yogi controls Prana by Pranayama and ultimately establishes control over his Chitta, In the latter process it is by the control of Chitta the Pran is controlled and the Yogi attains Nirvikalpa-Samadhi. The Chitta is controlled by renouncing all worldly desires and focusing its' Vrittis on God only, Chittavritti gradually gets fixed on God as the desire to realize God becomes stronger. Chittavritti when so fixed strongly on God, Does not get deflected. As the flow of twenty rivulets flowing separately does not possess the necessary force, but, if all the twenty revulets join togather their force would be so powerful as to drag away any thing that comes across their flow, similarly, the yogi devoid of all worldly desires has his diffused Chittavrittis concentrated on God only, with such an overwhelming force that it pushes away. any object that tries to hamper his Vritti. And one, who still has the desire in "his Chitta for the worldly objects, gets his Chitta Varitti disconcentrated by the diversions caused by the sense organs. By the sense organ ear it diverts towards the different words and the sounds, by the sense organ of touch it diverts it self towards various touches, by the sense organ eyes, it diverts towards thousands of shapes and figures, by the sense organ of tongue it diverts towards different tastes and the sense organ nose diverts it towards various smells. Similarly, the acts of various senses diverts Chitta in different directions. Thus through these ten sense organs, his Antahkaran gets diverted in all the directions. His Chitta when thinks On God, the mind when images only about the God, the intellect when concentrates only on God and the ego when images it self as 'I am Atma and the devotee of God', the Vasana of the Sadhak then gets fully concentrated. The Chitta in yoga is controlled by the control over Prans by following the eight steps of Yoga
culminates into Nirvikalpa Samadhi and the yogi enjoys sublime bliss in Samadhi which emanates from the divine form of God. In Bhakti, the
Chitta is purified and attached to God only. The Chitta so attached to God consciousness, controls the Pran, and the devotee attains Nirvikalpa Samadhi. As such, one who has purified his Chitta and has attached it to the divine form of God, attains perfection in Yoga without going through the process of Ashtang yog. Therefore, one who has purified his Chitta and has attached it to the divine form of God attains union with God by passing eight steps of Yoga.
I, therefore, desire that first you should all thoroughly develop Atmanishtha and then the knowledge of God in his infinite greatness and the profoundity of powers. Swadharma is required to be thoroughly observed, as it is the order from the God. As it is the Dharma of Brahmin to take bath and remain pure. He never drinks water from a Shudra's house. Similarly, a Satsangi, should not divert himself from the following of the orders of God, as God always pleases on the followers of his orders. Therefore, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the self as Atmal should be retained firmly and the devotee should feel greatified since he has nothing more to attain. Being so fulfilled he should offer unbroken worship to God. But with this fulfilments if he develops a wanton feeling and disregards the canons of the moral and ethical codes, it would spell his total ruin like a seed thrown into a fire. Again if one feels unfulfilled in spite of the grace of God showered upon one, the grace so proferred will not materialise like seed sown in a salty land. Therefore, one who behaves in the manner explained will not lack in progress, so saying Shriji Maharaj returned to his holy seat.
Thus Ends Vachanamrit : Gadhada First - 25.
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