Attaining Samadhi

Dr. Rajesh Bhola
India
Nov 29, 2013

 

The body is the source of all our suffering and so the body must be overcome. Overcoming the body (and therefore our suffering) means going against what the body seems to want. We need to assert mind over matter. We all meet suffering in one form or another and feel a great urge to remove ourselves from the painful spectacles of life. The great mass of suffering all around can weigh heavy upon us. We can slip into a deep state of concentration and feel a kind of intense rapture that we call Samadhi. Samadhi in its simplest form means ‘concentration’ – in the quest for attaining inner peace. It is the concentration in a wholesome state of mind - the intensified concentration that results from a deliberate attempt to raise the mind to a higher, more purified level of awareness. Samadhi is also a psychological technique that can offer a transformative vision – an opening to a pure and contented life. Samadhi enables us to find ‘our light’. Young learners may also need it for developing their concentration and memory abilities.

Samadhi has great spiritual power. With this vision, many of our troubles can be transformed into opportunities for spiritual growth. Our essence of mind is intrinsically pure, but we allow ourselves to be carried away by circumstances. When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be at peace. The transformative on-going visionary experiences through Samadhi help transport us to the doors of enlightenment - which changes what a person sees and experiences.

He who is able to keep his mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, is said to have attained Samadhi.

The Samadhi experience is defined as the centering of the mind and mental faculties rightly and evenly on an object. Samadhi gathers together our ordinarily dispersed and dissipated stream of mental states, to induce an inner unification. The two salient features of a concentrated mind are: an unbroken attentiveness on an object, and the consequent tranquility of our mental faculties.. The mind untrained in concentration moves in a scattered manner; it rushes from idea to idea and thought to thought, without inner control. Such a distracted mind is also a deluded one. Overwhelmed by worries and concerns, it sees things only in fragments, distorted by the ripples of random thoughts.

To centre our mind and concentrate, we need to clear stray thoughts and to slow down and still our thought process. Sustained application, by anchoring the mind on the object, drives away doubt. This is achieved through the mindfulness of breathing; and later, through various meditations on various subjects. Once the initial excitement subsides and the mind begins to settle into the practice, hindrances are likely to arise. They appear as thoughts, images, obsessive emotions – surges of desire, anger and resentment, heaviness of mind, agitation or doubts. The hindrances pose a formidable barrier, but with patience and sustained effort they can be overcome. At times, when a particular hindrance becomes strong, we may have to lay aside our primary subject of meditation and take up another subject expressly opposed to the hindrance.

To help us reach there, there are positive markers on the road to Samadhi. Rapture is the delight and joy that accompany a favourable interest in the object. Happiness is the pleasant feeling that accompanies successful concentration. The difference between them is illustrated by comparing rapture to the joy of a weary desert-farer who sees an oasis in the distance, and happiness to his pleasure when drinking from the pond and resting in the shade. One-pointedness is a pivotal function that helps unify the mind on the object. Rapture shuts out ill-will, happiness excludes restlessness and worry and one-pointedness counters sensual desire - the most alluring inducement to distraction. When concentration is developed, all these factors help counteract the hindrances. However, hindrances can only be eradicated by wisdom, by reducing them to a state of quiescence, whereby they cannot disrupt the forward movement of concentration.

Samadhi takes us to a level where our heads would not be full of either arrogance or self-depreciation. Our thoughts, speech and action would all flow together in a constructive manner.. This  brings about a peace of mind. A mind in Samadhi naturally finds bliss in the eventualities of everyday life, and so enables us to fulfill our life’s purpose.

Dr. Rajesh Bhola is President of Spastic Society of Gurgaon and is working for the cause of children with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities for more than 25 years. He can be contacted at rabhola@yahoo.com