Have you ever experienced that moment where your mind is calm and you feel uplifted and satisfied? Maybe while listening to some beautiful song. Or after watching a nice movie, when the end credits come up. Or perhaps after some solution to a problem suddenly came to mind.
As a child this question came up once: ‘What if nothing existed?...’
Think about it yourself. No humans, no earth, no universe...not even space or the colors black and white…
At that moment my mind was completely blank as I could not imagine that thought of nothingness. It is only now that I realize that I was experiencing samādhi, a balanced state of a mind. A state in which the mind is quiet and uplifted (equanimous). Samādhi is not something far fetched for which you have to be in the Himalayas or an ashram to experience. It is something you have already experienced.
Samādhi is not to be confused with the goal of yoga, but a part of yogic practice. Maharishi Patanjali consciously mentioned samādhi as one of the limbs of yoga that should be practiced. When the state of samādhi becomes stable, then it is said that you are enlightened. You become established in your true nature.
There are many different types or levels of samādhi mentioned by Maharishi Patanjali. These will not be discussed in this blog. Some things are better to experience than to read or hear about. For example, someone can describe water to you in much detail. It might all sound very interesting and wonderful. But unless you have experienced water for yourself, you won’t really know what water is.
I am also still exploring this path of yoga including samādhi myself. I could not explain to you nor let you experience all the different types of samādhi as an enlightened master could.
I am very grateful to Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the amazing experience on this path of yoga. I highly recommend searching for an enlightened master yourself for the full experience of yoga.
With this blog, we conclude the series on Maharishi Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. We hope that the information of this series may trigger you to truly experience yoga or at least bring some clarity to your mind.