Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

Do they take food and other things during this period?”
“How can that be?” asked Bhagavan. “When you are
asleep, do you ever take food?”
“No. But then, during nirvikalpa samadhi, will the mind
be there or not?” asked the questioner.

“Why should it not be there? That which is there in
sleep, is there then also. Just see. Now, from noon 12 o’clock
to 2 p.m. we shut the doors of the hall and sleep inside. That
is also samadhi. A fine type of samadhi indeed! Who knows
whether the mind is there or not?” said Bhagavan.

The devotee asked once again, “What about those who
are in complete awareness (sahaja samadhi)?”
Bhagavan replied saying, “It is just because of such
questions that Vasishta narrated the story of the ‘Sage and
the Hunter’ to Rama to illustrate the fourth or turiya state.

In a forest, once a great Muni sat in the lotus posture
(padmasana) with his eyes open, but in deep trance. A hunter
hit a deer with an arrow, but the deer escaped and ran in
front of the Muni into the bush nearby and hid itself. The
hunter came in hot pursuit of the deer and not seeing it
asked the Muni where it had gone. ‘I do not know, my friend,’
said the Muni. The hunter said, ‘Sir, it ran right in front of
you and you had your eyes wide open. How could you have
not seen it?’ Finding that he would not leave him in peace
unless a proper reply was given, the Muni said, ‘My dear
man, we are submerged in the Self; we are always in the
Fourth State. We do not have the waking or dream or deep
sleep states. Everything is alike to us. These three states are
the signs of the ego and we have no ego. Egoism is itself the
mind and it is that which is responsible for all the deeds
done in this world. That ego (ahankara) left us long ago.

Hence it does not matter whether we keep our eyes closed
or open; we are not conscious of what is happening around
us. That being so, how can I tell you about your deer?” The
hunter thought that it was all sheer nonsense and went his
way.

“It may well be asked, ‘If there is no ‘I’ (aham), how did
he speak?’ When properly understood, that which occurred
as ‘I’ before, becomes our own Nature (swarupa) afterwards.

That is called destruction of mind (mano nasa). That thought-
free awareness or other signs of awareness are cases of
merging (laya) and not of destruction (nasa). So long as there
is merging and emerging, it is merely a state of spiritual
practice (sadhana),” said Bhagavan.

Taking up the thread of the conversation, another
devotee said, “Samadhi is said to be of several kinds such as
Savikalpa (absorbed in the thought) and Nirvikalpa (thought-
free). Can you tell us about them?” Thereupon, Bhagavan
explained thus:
“Yes. Sankara described the six kinds of Samadhi in his
Vivekachudamani and his Drigdrisyaviveka. The six are divided
into two main categories namely, Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa.

The former is divided into two, namely ‘Drisyanuviddha’ and
‘Sabdanuviddha’ and these two are again subdivided as under:
(1) Antar Drisyanuviddha Savikalpa Samadhi: Meditating
upon one’s own Self as a witness of desires and other visible
attributes of the mind.

(2) Antar Sabdanuviddha Savikalpa Samadhi: To know that
the Self is Asanga (contact-free), Swaprakasa (self-luminous),
Sat-chit-ananda (existence, consciousness, bliss) and Advaita
(non-dual).

(3) Antar Nirvikalpa Samadhi: With the exalted feeling of
the Self gained as a result of enjoying the ecstasy of the above
two states and discarding both of them and remaining
motionless like an unflickering light in a windless place.

(4) Bahya Drisyanuviddha Savikalpa Samadhi: As in the
case of the Self that is in the heart, to be able to discard with
indifference the outer things in the world which have their
names and forms and which are visible, and to meditate on
the underlying Reality.

(5) Bahya Sabdanuviddha Savikalpa Samadhi: To know and
be aware at all times that the Thing which manifests itself as
Sat-chit-ananda (existence, consciousness and bliss) is the
universal Brahman.

(6) Bahya Nirvikalpa Samadhi: With the experience of
the above two, to overcome all desires and to remain calm
and motionless like the waveless ocean.

“By constantly practising these six kinds of Samadhi, at
all times and without a break, one can attain a state of
thought-free awareness. Unless one attains that state, the
ego will not be completely destroyed. Persons whose ego is
destroyed are so detached that even if they appear to see
they do not really see; though they appear to eat they do not
really eat; though they appear to hear they do not really
hear; and though they appear to sleep they do not really
sleep. Whatever they do is not really ‘doing’.”