there is no externality at all. Hence, there is no seeing, and the senses cease to
function. No seeing, no hearing, no touching, no tasting, nothing of the kind, because
these operations of the senses are only in respect of the externality of objects. That
was due to the presence of space and time—and that has become the subject now. So,
there is immediately a flash of cosmicality arising in oneself. This is what they call
God-realisation, or God-experience—amrita anubhavah or entry into the Absolute.
It is this magnificent experience which is so hard to attain.
Chapter 88SAMYAMA: THE UNION OF DHARANA, DHYANA AND SAMADHIIt was mentioned earlier that in the state of nirvitarka samadhi, the object alone
shines before one’s consciousness, and this is the result of the purification of the
mind into the state of sattva. You have to bring to your memory here, in the context
of the Vibhuti Pada, everything that you have learned in the Samadhi Pada, because
the entire series of expositions in this section is a large commentary on the state of
samadhi; therefore, no details are given once again in the Vibhuti Pada. Many of you
may have forgotten the whole thing. But the details are very important, because the
processes that lead to the absorption of consciousness are as important as the actual
absorption itself.
Tadeva arthamātranirbhāsaṁ svarūpaśūnyam iva samādhiḥ (III.3). In this particular
sutra that we were studying in the previous chapter, there is a specific mention of the
essential feature of samadhi—namely, the obliteration of personal consciousness.
There is, therefore, neither a need for comparison of the definition of the absorption
of the mind in nirvitarka, mentioned in the Samadhi Pada, with a general definition
of samadhi given in the Vibhuti Pada, nor is there any kind of contradiction between
the two. The definition of spiritual communion that is given in this sutra is a
common characteristic of any kind of absorption—whether it is savitarka or
nirvitarka, or savichara or nirvichara, or whatever it is. Communion is of various
stages. In this sutra, the stages are not mentioned; it simply states what communion
is. What sort of communion do we have to pass through? What are the experiences
we have at the different levels of experience? They are mentioned in the Samadhi
Pada. It is something like defining education. Education may be defined in one
sentence, but we can imagine what vast implication there is behind this definition,
because it is a single-sentence definition that implies years and years of hard effort of
psychological training.
Likewise, this particular common definition of communion, or samadhi, given in this
sutra, tadeva arthamātranirbhāsaṁ svarūpaśūnyam iva samādhiḥ (III.3), is a common
denominator of every stage of communion. The stages are described in the Samadhi
Pada: savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, nirvichara, sananda, sasmita. The point
that has been emphasised while defining the nature of communion is that there
should be a movement of the mind towards identification of itself with its object. This
identification takes place by degrees. It does not suddenly jump upon the object. This
is not even possible, because of the various difficulties we considered previously. The
mind is not really prepared for the communion in spite of the fact that it has been
struggling hard for this very same aim and objective. This is an essential point to