Day 46
When the consciousness which grabs or holds, the object it holds and senses through which it holds are in harmony, there is samadhi. The one who is seeing, the mind, the Self, which is seeing, is in harmony. The senses are in harmony.
The eyes are the instruments through which you hold the scene. The ears are the instrument through which you hear the sound. Your ears, the sound that is heard and its source are connected. They all become keen, crystal clear. When can this happen?
This can happen when your mind is not going on its own trip to regret, anger, anticipation, sleep, the five vrittis - proof, wrong knowledge, fantasy, sleep and memory. When you look at a mountain, you just don't look at it as it is. Something is added to it. You are not seeing things as they are, but you are seeing them through your memory, seeing through comparison. That is no samadhi.
There is an old story in India. A king heard about a beautiful sunflower garden that a person had made in a desert in Rajasthan. Everybody said that it was very beautiful and that he should see it. So, he decided to go there. There he saw just one flower. The person had removed all the others. The king was surprised.
Then, the person offered that one flower for the king to see. He said that if there were many flowers, the king would begin to compare. His calculating mind would start wondering which was the biggest, which had blossomed and which had not, etc. So he had removed all the other flowers to make it easy for the king.
Now, he has no choice. He could look at only one flower. Graheeta - that which holds - the mind, the soul, that which is held - the sight, sound, taste, memory, and through which it holds - the senses and the object - all the three are in harmony. That is sampattihi.
Though you are engaged in the activities of the senses, there is no feverishness. There is a steadiness. You may be eating food. You taste every bit of it and it is just moving smoothly down your throat. When you are not steady, you will just stuff the food inside you. It will be like a stampede.
The more anxious, nervous or shaky that you are, the faster will you stuff food into yourself. This is not samadhi. You should eat food thoroughly. Sixty percent of the food gets digested in the saliva in the mouth. And, the Patanjali went on to explain about the very subtle modification of the senses.
You may be experiencing something. Even here, the mind comes up with some knowledge about it - that it is an apple that you are eating. Or, that it is a rose that you are seeing and so on. All this is a very subtle discussion, or awareness of the knowledge of the past and the future. Patanjali called it savitarka.
In this state, there is little debate and few thoughts come and go. But these thoughts have not disturbed the harmony. There are certain thoughts that do not disturb the harmony and the certain ones that throw you off balance.
There are certain thoughts that help you to arrive at that steady and calm state of awareness. Patanjali said that was savitarka samadhi, when there are some thoughts or discussion.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS
