SAMADHI AND REALISATION OF BRAHMAN

What is the state of ones mind in Samadhi ? It is like the state of bliss that is experienced by a live fish which, after being kept out of water for some iime, is again put into it.

Mysterious is that sacred state which recognises neither teacher, nor pupil. Brahma-jnana is so mysterious that when one attains it there remains no distinction between the Guru and the disciple.

As a lamp brought into a room that has been dark for a thousand years illumines it immediately, the light of Jnana illumines the Jiva, and dispels his age-long ignorance.

On being questioned as to whether he was conscious of the gross world in the state of Samadhi, the Master replied, " There are hills and mountains, dales and valleys under the sea, but they, are not visible from the surface. So in the state of Samadhi one sees the broad expanse of the Sachchidananda only, and the individual consciousness lies in a latent condition.

In true Jnana not the least trace of egotism is (eft. Without Samadhi, jnana never comes. Jnana is like the midday sun, in which one looks around but finds no shadow of oneself. So when one attains Jnana or Samadhi, one retains no shadow of egotism. But even if there be some ego left, know for certain that it is now composed of Vidya (purely divine elements) and not of ignorance or Avidya.

When the question was raised whether the Buddha was an atheist, the Master said: " He was no atheist; only he could not speak out his realisations. Do you know what Buddha' means ?—To become one with 'Bodha', the Supreme Intelligence—through deep meditation, to become Pure Intelligence Itself. The state of self-realisation is something between Astl' and Nasti' —' being ' and non-being '. These being ' and non-being ' are modifications of Prakriti. The Reality transcends them both.

Get to the other side of both knowledge and ignorance. Ignorance is the consciousness of the many, i.e., the knowledge of diversity without knowing the Unity, without knowing the one God. The egotism due to erudition proceeds from ignorance. The conviction that God is in all objects—that there is unity in variety—is called knowledge of Oneness. Knowing Him intimately is realisation (Vijnana).

Suppose your foot is pricked with a thorn. Well, you want a second thorn to take it out. When the first thorn is taken out, you throw away both. So, in order to get rid of the thorn of ignorance, you bring in the thorn of knowledge. Then you throw away both ignorance and knowledge with a view to the complete realisation of the Absolute. For the Absolute is beyond knowledge as well as ignorance.

Lakshmana once said to his Divine brother Rama: ' O Rama, is it not strange that a God-knowing man like Vasishtha Deva should have wept for the loss of his sons, and would not be comforted ? " Thereupon Rama replied : 4<>

Such a person is not in the nature of things free from ignorance as to God, for knowledge and ignorance in this case are as correlatives. For a knowledge of Unity in the universe presupposes a concurrent knowledge of diversity. One who feels the existence of light has also an awareness of the existence of darkness.

The Absolute is beyond knowledge and ignorance, beyond sin and virtue, good works and bad works, cleanliness and uncleanhness—as understood by the limited faculties of man.

An enquirer: Sir, may I ask what remains after you have thrown away both the thorns as you call them— knowledge and ignorance.

The Master: Well, % what remains is the eternally pure and absolute Consciousness (Nitya-suddha-buddha-rupa). But how can I make it clear to you ? Suppose some one asks you what isthe taste of clarified butter? Is it possible to make the matter perfectly clear to him ? The utmost one may say in reply to such a question is, " The taste of butter is precisely like the taste of butter." A girl who was unmarried once asked a friend, " Your husband is come. Do tell me what sort of joy you feel whenever you meet him." Thereupon the married girl said in reply, ' My dear, you will know everything when you have got a husband of your own. How can I make it clear to you now ? "