To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/12/07 06:25
Subject: Re: Re: [K-list] Samadhi
From: Mhortling
On 1999/12/07 06:25, Mhortling posted thus to the K-list:
Paul wrote:
<<It's been interesting to read the descriptions of `Samadhi' that have
been offered so far. What I still am puzzled to know, however, is what
this Samadhi thing is actually meant to be. People are describing what
it was like to experience it, but I don't know how a person appraoches
it, what leads up to it, what it represents. Is it symbolic of
something, does it occur when kundalini gets to a certain stage of
doing what it does? It is something induced? Do you have to work at
some kind of practice for a time to bring it into being?>>
Hi Paul (Shri Rhubarb) & list !
Making sense of samadhi or any expanded consciousness-type experience is
really a major challenge for the mind of the poor (?) person having it...
First you try to grasp what's going on, then you relate it to whatever you
have known about reality up to there, then, if the experience just won't fit
into your previous neat little reality-box, you start looking for other
explanations. If you find them, you're still never sure that that is really,
really whatever happened to you and you never know if explanations aren't
misleading in the first place. Confusion lurks...It's good to be able to shut
up the mind to some degree, because then at least the questioning and the
mulling over is laid to rest, the experience is just whatever it is, no
problem - this in itself feels pretty liberating and enlightening -
Assuming however, there's a meaning to life & experience beyond just merely
randomly existing here on this planet for a short while - and a lot of the
expanded consciousness experiences tend to prove this, at least, subjectively
- one could also assume that it's possible to find this ultimate and usually
hidden sense of everything & the rest.
( I know some people claim the ultimate answer is "42", but that seems just
a little too trivial to me...)
Matter and mind-oriented philosophies haven't been able to provide a
satisfactory answer but rather seem to get lost in detail, endlessly
dissecting semantics and opinions but no big picture. So the next step would
be to check out the spiritual teachings and find out if they're really just
opium for the people or what. This is where samadhi comes in ( sorry for that
long bit of foreplay...) -
In all cultures mystical experiences of revelation and unity have been
reported throughout the ages. The science of yoga in India has been the
clearest in describing the mystical experience, it's meaning and the steps
leading to it. It's a good starting point also, since it stresses the
empirical and individual experience: look at life in this manner, do
so-and-so for long enough, avoid this and that, and the insight and
experience will eventually follow. This seems a fair enough deal to me, and
if as in my case you have a samadhi-type experience first, without
preparation, then the yogic path can be good for validating and understanding.
Anyway, in the yogic reality (applies to all other philosophies based on
mystical revelation also), the universe is created by God (or Ultimate Source
or whatever name one chooses to give). The beings within the universe are
actually little fractions of God sent out into life in order to have
experiences, i.e "just to live". Now if these little fractions knew that they
were really God, they wouldn't experience situations fully, wouldn't take
things seriously enough, so Nature as God's main agent equipped beings with a
weird mechanism that makes them believe they're something they actually are
not - that's why I usually think I'm Michael (and not God) and a dog believes
in it's dogness etc. Now, when enough experiences have been had in the univers
e, the next part of the Big Picture Plan is that the Little Fractions of God
Previously Believing They Were Individuals begin to shed the blindfolds and
slowly return to their original and true identity. This return journey can be
difficult, depending on the degree of stupidity and entanglement the
individual has gotten him or herself into. This is also where the role of
kundalini comes into play : although She is the master intelligence behind
the whole physical life, we as individuals aren't aware of this until it's
time for the return journey, when She "awakes". She then becomes the agent
that breaks apart our limited view of ourselves & the world, until we're
finally established in our true identity, i.e being just part of God. The
name given to this experience is Samadhi or Cosmic Consciousness. So in this
sense, complete Samadhi is really the final result of the work of kundalini
and the Culmination Of The Big Picture .
I think if one feels compelled to "do" things in order to assist Her, such as
meditation or yoga, then that's ok & part of the plan, if not She'll find
other ways to do Her thing. Or maybe then it just isn't time for the
return-journey yet.
Hmmm, lots of big talk again ....
Broccoli Baba Mike
P.S Loulou, I loved your post, almost fell off my chair laughing, this is
really the best metaphor I've ever heard for the relationship of the ego &
the Self !
>>And this other self is so big compared to the personality, the
physical body, and also I would say compared to the energy system too.
It's like a quiche, with the impersonal self the big cheesy part in
the middle, and the personality, the physical body, and everything else is
just like the crust at the edge <<
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