[Advaita-l] Re: samAdhi -Universe merging into brAhmaN of shruti- is not an Experience

[Abhishek RK]

Namaste,
In "Yoga, Enlightenment and Perfection", Shri Abhinava Vidyatirtha
Mahaswamiji clearly states that his own nirvikalpa samAdhi did not
last for more than a few hours. Also, just "believing" in some
interpretations of a Yogi's experiences certainly is not recommended
in any shAstra. Don't you agree that samAdhi is just a momentary
experience and j~nAna leads to jIvanmuktAvasthA, which is certainly
not momentary? Of course, Ishvara's (or Guru's) grace is a necessary
factor in gaining j~nAna. Sorry if I sound harsh, but just going by
the words of some stories does not help much. Anyway, I am not seeing
that some can not even accept some basics of advaita, so this is my
last post on this thread.

Regards,
Abhishek

On 9/22/06, RAMESH RAMANAN <rameshramanan at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Namaste Abhishekji,
>
>   Sri Abhinava Vidya Teertha Mahaswami (35fth pontiff of Sringeri Math) has
> clearly said that Nirvikalpa Samadhi is a  VERY SPECIAL WAY to attain
> knowledge, but it is NOT the ONLY way. Swami Premananda (a direct disciple
> of Sri Ramakrishna) was denied the experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, but was
> granted the direct experience of advaita by God according to Sri Ramakrishna
> and hence, he too attained Moksha, without ever experiencing Nirvikalpa
> Samadhi.
>
>   From this, it is clear that samadhi is not an action, but an experience
> and a state of spiritual attainment. One may have to make efforts to reach
> that state, but the state itself is not an action. Further, it is also clear
> from the words of the sages that it is a special way of attaining knowledge,
> but is not the only means of the attainment of knowledge. I am not able to
> understand how else could knowledge be attained without the experience of
> Samadhi, but I believe in the words of Sri Abhinava Vidya Teertha and Sri
> Ramakrishna.  I think that the Grace/Sankalpa of the Guru can confer direct
> realization of advaita, just as Sri Adi Sankara's Sankalpa alone converted a
> dull Totaka into a great Acharya.
>
> Pranams again, Ramesh Ramanan.

-- 
tasmAttvamuttiShTha yasho labhasva
jitvA shatrUn bhu~NkShva rAjyaM samR^iddham|
mayyaivaite nihatAH pUrvameva
nimittamAtraM bhava savyasAchin||11.33||
-bhagavAn shrIkR^iShNa, bhagavadgIta