How can I attain it?

Seeker: What is Samadhi?

Sirshree: In the state of Samadhi, the Experiencer experiences the Experiencer in the Experience.  Samadhi is the state of consciousness before time began. It is the state of being in the state of undifferentiated beingness; a state of tranquility and bliss, where the mind continues to be alert. It is the state of eternal presence, the everlasting present moment, which exists before the world came into existence. The measurement of time based on a frame of reference such as the clock or the calendar was conceived for the sake of convenience, only after the world came into being. In the state of samadhi, you get to experientially know the Creator of the world. The Creator exists within you and to know Him is true spirituality. When you are in deep sleep, you are indeed in the state of samadhi. The only difference is that when you are asleep, you are not conscious of the state of samadhi. You are unaware of time while you are asleep. It is only after you wake up that you realize how long you slept based on the ticks of the clock. We need to attain that state which is beyond time, beyond the body, mind and intellect, while we are in the waking state.

How can I attain it?

If it is possible to attain the state of samadhi in the waking state, then what is the roadblock in its attainment? The chief blocking factors are false beliefs and imagination. It is essential to get rid of them before getting into the state of samadhi. You believe in certain so-called truths which are not real. When you eliminate all your wrong beliefs, you are naturally at the seat of Being. However, the mind tends to look for security in the external world. True security lies within you. You experience true security in the state of samadhi. It is in this state that you gain the conviction that you are not the body.

The one who is enlightened casts off his physical body (at the time of physical death) with the same ease as a porter would unload the luggage at the destined place without any hesitation. This is the very reason why there is no fear of death after attaining Self Stabilization. The enlightened one is established in the unshaken conviction about eternal life of the Universal Self. In this very lifetime, he is able to experience eternal happiness by being stabilized in his true state of Being.

His physical body functions in the same way as others’ do; his senses can perceive the world just like others. However, internally he is always seated in the state of samadhi. He remains in the original Experience of Being which is beyond the body, mind, and intellect. Being stabilized in the state of Being before time, He sees Himself in each and every living and nonliving aspect of the world. To see oneself everywhere, to be one with all that exists, is true spirituality.

Seeker: How can samadhi be attained? How can the Self be experienced? Will I experience the Self inside the body in Samadhi?

Sirshree: The experience of the Self is neither inside nor outside; it is beyond the concepts of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. Until the Experience of the Self is recognized with Understanding, questions will keep arising as to whether this Experience exists outside the body or within; whether this Experience can be felt on the body, or due to the body. This can be grasped with the help of some examples.

1) There are sweets called rasgullas that are popular in India. These are spongy sweet balls that are soaked in sugar syrup. Is the syrup present inside the rasgullas, or outside them? One who has tasted rasgullas would say that the syrup is present within as well as outside the rasgullas. In the same way, Self Experience is both inside as well as outside the boundaries of the physical body.

2) A fish lives in water, and is thus surrounded by water on all sides. It could keep searching for water and not find it, because water is so close to its eyes, stuck to it, so much so that, it does not realize that it is inside water. The fact is that water alone exists outside as well as inside the fish. In the same way, Self Experience is so close, so innate to us that we do not realize whether the Experience is inside us or we are inside the Experience. In fact, Self Experience is present all around the physical body and also pervades the body.

In this way, Self Experience pervades and transcends everything. You only need to attain the understanding of how to know it. Understanding Self Experience intellectually is the first step. Having understood it intellectually, when you develop unshaken conviction about it, you stabilize in the Experience. It is like one who has learnt the alphabet from A to Z, and yet does not know how to form words. You would tell him, ‘Since you have learnt the alphabet, you will soon learn to form words.’

Seeker: Can you teach me the alphabets? How can the first step of Self Stabilization – that is understanding Self Experience happen clearly? How can the conviction grow then?

Sirshree: The Magic of Awakening retreats held here are for this purpose. You are welcome to participate in it.

Seeker: What happens in this retreat?

Sirshree: The purpose of the Magic of Awakening retreat is for the experience of the Self. For clearly understanding the experience and know how the conviction can be increased that leads to Self stabilization. The purpose is simply Self Experience – with understanding and clarity.

The Experience of the Self is your essential feeling of ‘being’, the feeling of your ‘presence’. You are not the body; but due to the body you are able to experience your presence. If you are able to see this clearly, then ask yourself: Why am I associated with this body? What am I doing with this body? Am I fulfilling the purpose for which I have taken up this body form?

If the Experience of the Self is understood, it begins to show in your daily life. You would then question yourself in every incident: ‘What am I considering myself as in this incident?’; ‘What do I believe myself to be while taking this decision?’; ‘Am I thinking myself to be this body, or the all-pervading Experience that is felt due to the presence of the body?’ When you begin to constantly remember this, then the bliss of the Self begins to deepen at the experiential level.

Seeker: What will I get on attending the Magic of Awakening retreat. How much I will have to pay?

Sirshree: The answer to both questions is “nothing”. What you will get is “nothing”. The meaning of enlightenment, Self Stabilization, nirvana, moksh is to become ‘nothing’ or ‘zero’. However, this ‘nothing’ is not the ‘no-thing’ that the mind or intellect would imagine. The mind always tries to understand everything in its own terms. Therefore, when we discuss ‘nothingness’, the mind tries to imagine absence or non-existence of everything. This ‘nothing’ encompasses and transcends everything. This ‘nothing’ has the potential for everything. It is the experience of this ‘nothing-everything’ that many seekers attain in the retreat. The state of nothingness transcends all dualities like heaven and hell, joy and sorrow, praise and censure. Enlightenment is the state in which Nothingness alone is experienced at each and every moment of life..

And what you will have to pay is nothing. How can one value this experience – value what is priceless, value what is beyond value.

There is no price or cost you have to pay for this wisdom

Seeker: Will I attain samadhi in the retreat?

Sirshree: Come to the retreat with the expectation that ‘nothing’ shall be attained. All that happens in the retreat is that you understand who you really are and build conviction about the same by experiencing few moments of samadhi. People have misunderstood samadhi as being seated with eyes shut for long hours. It is because of this that the mind becomes more prominent instead of dissolving. The mind believes that ‘it had gone’ into the state of samadhi. It is for this reason that the right understanding is given a lot of importance in the retreats. Understanding alone will lead you to the successful state of samadhi. In this state, you get convinced that the ‘false individual I’ will dissolve in the state of samadhi and the ‘true Bright I’ (the Universal Self) will awaken. You get convinced that you are not the body in the final state of samadhi. For example, a girl is fully convinced about being a girl. She has no doubt about it. She does not need to be reminded about her being a girl. She is aware about it at every moment, while performing all activities in life like eating, sleeping, walking, etc. Similarly, samadhi should also help in realizing your true identity. If you are not gaining such a conviction from samadhi, then such a samadhi is useless.

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