him to meditate. This Ramakrishna did and slipped into samadhi, a
condition that was by now quite natural to him. Then the monk took
a shard of broken glass and pressed it between Ramakrishna's eye
brows. Ramakrishna's reaction to this was both terrible and transcen
dent. In his spiritual ecstasy (inner bliss) he felt himself with a sword
kill his consort goddess, the being he loved and worshipped above all.
And so he passed into (seedless) nirbija samadhi, the void, the final
state of aloneness, a Oneness with no Other, like the pure beauty of a
prime number to a mathematician-an indivisible state. It sounds
cruel, but at last he was truly and forever free. He had achieved the ul
timate goal of yoga.
Lest you think that we are simply in the realm of anecdote and
metaphor, I want to express the physical and even neurological basis
for the bliss of which we speak. It is the reflective processes arising
from the back of the brain that also work to lead us toward the state
of bliss that is ananda. The brain stem is the location of asmita, which
is the seed of individuality. Above it resides the hypothalamus, which
is the neurological nexus of the whole body. Patanjali called this the
place of the moon (chandrasthana or anandasthana), the seat of bliss.
It corresponds to the navel, which is the seat of the sun (suryasthana).
There must be perfect alignment between them for energy to flow un
interruptedly and equally; the four spheres of the brain must be in
balance. In this way, the human body acts as a spindle or perfect con
ductor between the earth and the heaven, linking the two forces that
form us through their divine marriage. The lunar plexus keeps our
body cool and leads to a cool brain. All pains and pleasures are stored
here. It is from this source that one comprehends and lives in the pure
and tranquil state of anandamaya kosa, experiencing the core of hrin�.
What Ramakrishna underwent was the final transformation of
consciousness. Patanjali described this accession to nirhija samadhi
(seedless hliss) in these words, "A new life hc�ins ... prt·vious imprt•s
II I I\\ I II 1'. II IV I N 1'. II I 1 I 1 Y I .1 N .1 N I 1 .1 1