The Path to Wisdom: From Fleeting Samadhis to True Knowledge

Commentary on the text “Tripura Rahasya,” Chapter 17, “On the Uselessness of Fleeting Samadhis and the Path to Wisdom”

The chapter begins with a discussion of fleeting samadhis. Since comments have already been made on this topic, we will proceed directly to the following questions.

On the Nature of Fleeting Samadhis in the Lives of Ordinary People

“The young Brahmin asked further: ‘O king, why then are all people not yet liberated, if fleeting samadhis occur so often in their lives, and if it is the light that brings enlightenment in the unmanifest emptiness of sleep? Liberation is the direct result of nirvikalpa samadhi. Why then does the Supreme Essence, being pure intelligence, not realize itself and remain liberated forever?’”

Before this, Janaka explained that even in the lives of ordinary worldly people, fleeting experiences of nonduality occur. These are times when the conceptual mind is paralyzed. Some extreme event, a moment when the mind passes from one perception to another, that is, is in an intermediate state. The first instant after awakening, the moment of experiencing an intense feeling or sensation—all these are varieties of fleeting samadhi.

For example, laughter, humor, is also a kind of direct introduction, when, through paradox, the conceptual mind is blocked. For a time, logical thinking is paralyzed, and the true essence comes to the surface. Therefore, when people visit comedians and love to laugh, in reality they come for darshan, and comedians act as gurus who give direct introduction through such paradoxical monologues.

Ashtavakra asks: “If people so often experience in their lives the opening of deep consciousness, when their conceptual mind is paralyzed, why have they not attained liberation?” A logical question.

The Cause of the Cycle of Birth and Death

“Ignorance is dispelled by pure intelligence, which is samadhi, and this is the immediate cause of salvation. Please tell me about this so that all my doubts may disappear.”

The king answered as follows: “I will tell you this secret. The cycle of birth and death, existing from time immemorial, is conditioned by ignorance, which manifests in the form of pleasure and pain, yet remains only a dream and something unreal.”

The cycle of birth and death is conditioned by ignorance. Ignorance consists in manas, that is, the conceptual mind, failing to recognize its subtle nature—namely buddhi and Atman—as the Source. As a result of non-recognition, manas identifies with the body, the objects of the senses, and the sense organs. And then the play of energy, which constitutes the essence of the universe, is perceived dualistically (in terms of like or dislike, bad or good), and becomes completely colored by personal interpretations; a rigid dualistic position is adopted.

That is, the favorite trick of our ego is to declare itself something truly existing, self-sufficient, and to separate itself from the world, from external objects, and, of course, from the Supreme Source. And then such a rigid opposition arises between “I” and “not I.” That is, “I” is the mind and body, and “not I” is everything else.

Of course, a living being lives in such rigid opposition, and it has nothing left to do but constantly divide the world into what it likes and what it does not like, into what is beneficial for it and what is not. Thus arise the categories of bad and good, good and evil, and others, although in reality there is and never has been anything of the kind in nature. It is said: “There is no bad; there is only what you do not like. There is no good; there is only what you like.” All these are purely human, subjectively colored value criteria arising from duality, from ignorance.

The moment when the negative is rejected and passionate attachment to what is liked arises is precisely the moment of binding the jiva to the cycle of birth and death. And since the discernment of the subtle cognitive activity of buddhi and Atman is absent, such binding does not self-liberate. On the contrary, it becomes fixed, generating new branching causes for future lives.

But the simple act of discovering the subtle awareness of buddhi, regardless of how many lives have passed and how much karma has been accumulated, instantly begins to self-liberate all these ramifications of karma. It is like a room in which darkness had existed for a thousand years, yet even a single moment of a lit lamp is enough to dispel that darkness. In the same way, as the sutras say, no matter how much ignorance may exist, one clear glimpse of the nature of consciousness is enough to begin dispelling the darkness of inner ignorance.

In other words, as soon as we are sufficiently clear, vigilant, and aware of the nature of the “I,” our mind begins to become identical to the minds of all Buddhas. Another matter is that our residual karmas are different from those of all Buddhas, and therefore some time is needed for the final dissolution to take place.

On the Nature of True Knowledge and Self-Realization

“And since this is so, the wise say that knowledge can put an end to it. But what knowledge? It is the wisdom born of self-realization: that is, ‘I am That.’ Ignorance cannot be removed by the mere experience of a qualityless expansion of the mind, such as nirvikalpa samadhi. For such an expansion is in harmony with everything, including ignorance. It is like a canvas used in painting; the canvas remains one and the same, whatever picture may be painted on it. Qualityless knowledge is simple light; objects manifest through it and in it. But ignorance or delusion must not be confused with the state of savikalpa, for ignorance is merely the primordial impurity (that is, the cause), continuing as an effect, a consequence. The primordial cause lies in the knowledge of the perfection of the Supreme Essence. The idea of perfection is conditioned by the absence of parts. Parts can appear only due to time, place, and form.”

The Supreme Essence possesses the fullness of perfection. We are bearers, expressions, manifestations of the Supreme Essence. Automatically, this means that we are bearers of the highest perfection. When we think that we do not feel or do not know the highest perfection, this only means that we have not reunited with it, although we do possess it. In other words, our cognitive activity is incapable of perceiving it, although we have never lost it.

This can be likened to a person who has a million dollars sewn into the lining of his coat, but cannot make use of it because he does not even suspect that he has it; nevertheless, he possesses this enormous sum. In the same way, primordial perfection exists at this very moment, but it exists as a potential. It is not activated because our cognitive activity is not reunited with it and cannot truly use it. As soon as our knowing consciousness begins to reunite with it, all this potential instantly unfolds. It is not something that we would do and then attain. This potential is perfect from the very beginning; the question is its recognition and the unfolding of its energy.

How, then, can the cognitive activity of manas connect with this potential? Manas, that is, our conceptual consciousness, must sensitively and vigilantly listen to its Source, be attentive, and every moment tune the channel of connection with this potential until such a channel becomes continuously active. As soon as it is established, the blessing of the descending power (Anugraha) comes, and then manas is powerless to do anything; its actions are not needed, and it itself can relax and yield its place to a higher spiritual power that descends through buddhi.

The Process of the Individualization of Consciousness

“However, the sense of completeness appears without these factors, which imply striving toward them and give rise to a feeling of lack and need. In time and space, limitations arise, and the fundamental cause of ignorance manifests as ‘I am.’ This is the embryonic seed from which the sprout of the body as an individualized entity then appears, growing further into the giant tree in the form of the wheel of births and death.”

First, a limitation connected with consciousness is generated, the individualization of the sense of “I am,” and then the subtle body, the five pranas, the physical body, destiny, birth, karma, conditioning by the past and future, and so on appear. But the essential consciousness itself, which lies deeper than the identification “I am,” is beyond time and space.

It is incomprehensible, therefore it is called aparichinna. It is infinite, therefore it is called aprameya, or ananta. It is beyond birth, becoming, maintenance, preservation, destruction, beyond the past or the future, therefore it is called kalatita. It is beyond the three categories (radiance, movement, and inertia), therefore it is called gunatita. It is beyond the doer, the agent, and attachment to the fruits of actions (beyond kartritva and karta).

This pure awareness is filled to the brim with energy, play, and bliss, therefore it is spoken of as paripurna — absolute universal fullness. It is incomprehensibly free and is guided only by its own will, therefore it is called svatantriya, or svachchhanda. It possesses infinity, or the capacity for manifestations, for play, for creative expressions, therefore it is said to possess vilasa, or lila (play), as well as spanda — the capacity to radiate.

It is originally self-perfect; it has no need to attain, to purify itself, or to do anything, because it is self-perfect by virtue of its nature, by birth; therefore it is called arya. It possesses spontaneous self-perfection, which is achieved without strenuous effort, practice, or anything else. That is, it is naturally self-perfect, therefore it is called sahajya (natural).

It is beyond all artificial efforts, constructions, beyond all fabrication; that is, it is not something that needs to be created. On the contrary, the entrance to it must be freed and it must be given the opportunity to manifest. If something had to be created artificially, we would understand what was meant. For example, if enough clarity and effort are applied, one can build a magnificent temple, but the principle of freedom from effort and fabrication means that the temple is already standing, that it simply needs to be found.

It is precisely the path of the teaching of laya yoga, the so-called path of the unity of the ground, path, and fruit, when the ground, the path, and the fruit are one, that is the distinctive feature of the direct path of the sahajya tradition. That is, we do not build the temple, but consider that it is already standing, and therefore we try to find it immediately, already complete.

From the position of the fruit, I even tried to act in service — this is how we came to have the “Serene Ocean” hall and the library. When we had only one hall, I thought from the position of the fruit that there surely must be more halls in “Divya Loka”; we just needed to look for them. I went and found a storage room — now it has become the library. That is, the hall already existed; we simply had not noticed it. I thought: “After all, this is only an act of consciousness; one simply needs to recognize that the hall already exists. If you recognize this, you look for where it is, and it is found.”

This is a very good example that shows that primordial perfection already exists; it simply needs to be found, and as soon as you find it, it instantly appears in your consciousness, that is, you do not need to build it. We did not build the library; we simply found it. But we would not have noticed this hall if we had not acknowledged this fact, and perhaps it would have remained just a shed, and the library would not have been within our field of vision. This is an example of how one can act from the point of view of self-perfection in the search for the natural state.

Question: A question immediately arises: in searching for the natural state, the practitioner searches and searches, but finds the wrong thing. After all, instead of a library, one could have found something else; that is, it could have been a place for a bhajan mandala, a granary, and so on. Depending on what your karmic vision is, that is what you will find. On the one hand, it is simple — just take it and find it. But of course, it is not easy.

Are you speaking about the relative dimension?

Student: And about the absolute one too. It is not really working out to find it. After all, the library could be inside us... This Buddha nature…

It should not be understood literally. I gave this example to hint at subtle spiritual processes. This does not mean that, if you have decided that the workshop already exists, you go looking and find a new workshop in a ravine. In general, parasattarka logic does imply even this, but for it to manifest, your presence must be extremely deep. From the point of view of siddhi, there is nothing unreal at all, but I meant this example as a metaphor.

Student: What I meant is that I cannot find the state within, precisely my own temple. I have been searching here for the second year now, but it is difficult.

The search itself is a mistake. Search means uncertainty, the fact of non-recognition. What is needed is to eliminate even the very fact of searching and begin to become rooted in recognition. You must be waiting for something, yes?

Student: Well, yes…

Flashes during meditation, some vivid experiences. Why not begin to acknowledge this from the present moment, from the moment in which you now find yourself? As soon as you eliminate seeking and begin acknowledgment, this temple will instantly begin to manifest, because it does not depend on experiences, on efforts, or on your faith in it. It exists. Whether you believe in the sun or not, it still rises according to its own schedule. Thus, the understanding and the very fact of acknowledging it will begin to become a new, colossal experience for you.

Seeking is a delusion. Seeking is a consequence of the idea of a path. As soon as there is a path, there is also seeking. And therefore there is also the one who walks the path, and therefore there is all his karma with sins and merits, and there will be no end to this. But the instant path consists precisely in our beginning to understand that there is no traveler. The path is the fruit; consequently, there is no seeking either. And then what remains for us is acknowledgment, rooting, and celebration.

In essence, divine pride as sankalpa is precisely such a practice (and all other sankalpas, if you understand them correctly). If, however, you practice divine pride from the point of view of the path, the fruit, and the traveler, this also works, but it is not the instant path; it is the ordinary path of purification. But the particular feature of the path of Laya Yoga lies precisely in the fact that the fruit, the path, and the ground are simultaneously present right now. And this is not a question of attainment, but of recognition, knowing, and acknowledgment.

On the Two Kinds of Wisdom and the Necessity of Practical Knowledge

“The cycle of birth and death does not cease until ignorance is brought to an end. This can happen only through perfect knowledge of one’s own essence, and in no other way.

Such wisdom, which can eliminate ignorance, is undoubtedly of two kinds: indirect and direct. At first, knowledge is obtained from the teacher and, through him, from the sacred scriptures. Such indirect knowledge cannot allow one to see the essence of the problem, since theoretical knowledge alone will not bear fruit. Practical knowledge is necessary, and it comes only through samadhi.”

There are several ways to receive the teaching. Traditionally this is described as shravana (listening), manana (reflection), and nididhyasana (remembrance).

In Vedantic intellectual schools, this has the usual interpretation. Listening means that you listen while understanding the logic. Reflection (manana) means that you analyze, ask questions, compare with sacred texts, and eliminate what is unclear. Nididhyasana means that you try to remain in remembrance of what you have reflected upon.

However, the tradition of the siddhas is called the path of direct comprehension, or the path of realizing the direct vision of shunyata, or the path of the single samaya, or the path of the heart essence. This means that for us, shravana, manana, and nididhyasana have a different character: even when you listen to oral instructions, to logical explanations, they do not give you new logical knowledge, but appeal to your awareness, to your state. In other words, through speech we try to go beyond speech — this is shravana from the point of view of Laya Yoga.

Manana does not mean reflection, analysis, and the like, but rather the elimination of doubts and uncertainties regarding contemplative presence and the understanding of the nature of the Mind. And finally, nididhyasana consists in the continuous one-pointed holding of the natural state (contemplative presence) until realization is fully completed.

On the Importance of Mindfulness in Practice

“Knowledge born through nirvikalpa samadhi gives rise to wisdom through the destruction of ignorance and objective (indirect) knowledge. Likewise, the experience of accidental, fleeting samadhi in the absence of theoretical knowledge will also not serve this ultimate goal. Just as a person who is unaware of the qualities of an emerald cannot recognize it in a treasure chest by appearance alone, and just as another person will not be able to recognize an emerald if he has not seen it before, even if he possesses complete theoretical knowledge on the matter, so theory must be supplemented by practice for a person to become an expert. Ignorance cannot be eliminated by mere theory or by the accidental, fleeting samadhi of an ignorant person.

Again, lack of attention is a serious obstacle, for a person who simply stares at the sky cannot recognize individual constellations. Even an educated scholar will be no better than a fool if he does not pay attention to the thing being explained to him. On the other hand, if, even without being a scholar, a person nevertheless listens attentively to everything about the planet Venus and confidently sets out to search for it, knowing how to find it in the sky, then he will eventually find it. And then he will already be able to recognize it every time he sees it again.

Inattentive people are simply fools who cannot comprehend samadhi, which recurs again and again in their lives. They are like a person who knows nothing of the treasure lying beneath the floor of his house and goes out every day to collect alms. So you see that samadhi is useless for such people. The mind, the intellect of an infant always abides in an unchanging form, and yet they do not comprehend their own essence.

Undoubtedly, nirvikalpa samadhi will never remove ignorance; therefore, it is necessary to seek savikalpa samadhi in order to remove it. Only through this can the removal of ignorance be achieved.

God, inherently present as the supreme Self, is pleased by praiseworthy actions that continue to be performed over several births, after which the desire for liberation arises, and not otherwise, even if millions of births are experienced.

From Nirvikalpa to Savikalpa Samadhi

Here, savikalpa samadhi means samadhi with attributes, that is, sahaja samadhi, integrated with objects, feelings, behavior, action, and presence. And here King Janaka says: “Attributeless samadhi will not remove your delusion. From attributeless samadhi you must proceed to samadhi with attributes.”

In theory, at first everyone says that nirvikalpa samadhi is preferable to savikalpa, because savikalpa samadhi is the initial samadhi, in which there are still attributes connected with name and form. From it one must proceed to nirvikalpa samadhi—the attributeless emptiness that is true nonduality. But then Janaka says that it is wrong to remain only in this attributeless state. One must again bring the experience of the attributeless into the with-attributes, unite unmanifest emptiness with manifested attributes. It is precisely these attributes that sahaja samadhi possesses.

The Path of Sahaja Samadhi

All talk about contemplative presence is, in essence, the path to sahaja samadhi. From the very beginning, as it were, we try to practice it and make it our path. We do not make nirvikalpa samadhi the path, although it may occur along the way. For us, the path is precisely sahaja. This is a path in which the ground, the path, and the fruit are one and the same. If at this moment you are in a state of absolute wholeness (pratibha), then this is sahaja. In the state of wholeness, dualistic contradictions between “I” (the subject) and “not-I” (external objects), between the ground (innate awareness), the path (the way of developing it), and the fruit (the final point of attainment) are removed. From the point of view of sahaja, all this is not divided in time but exists right now, simultaneously.

Practical Experience of Working with Sankalpa

Having once received such explanations, a monk practiced contemplation, working with the sankalpa “Aham Brahmasmi” and others. At first his practice was formal in nature. He worked honestly, making efforts and trying not to become distracted. In the first years, he gained only clarity from this. That is, his clarity increased greatly; he developed attentiveness very well, being able to track the subtlest nuances of consciousness and the movement of thoughts. He honed his clarity to an incredible degree, but this, of course, was not the realization he sought. He was tormented, wondering how he could get beyond this very clarity. But when he received instructions that his practice had been a formal application of ordinary efforts and that the matter was entirely different, he began to practice the path of the natural state in earnest. And then, within a short time, he began to have tremendous experiences.

For if you truly practice the sankalpa “Aham Brahmasmi,” it means that you must immediately begin to include in your consciousness billions of kalpas of the past, billions of kalpas of the future; you must come face to face with this. It means that every second you must include in your consciousness the infinite space of universes and unite with it. This fact in itself instantly begins to dissolve the illusions on which the ego feeds. Through a simple understanding of the sankalpa “Aham Brahmasmi,” this monk achieved great success in the practice of contemplation. His success lay in the fact that his illusion of identification with the body was dissolved.

The True Nature of Sankalpa Practice

Many believe that the practice of sankalpa is the maintenance of clarity. In reality, clarity is only the first stage, showing your success on the path of mindfulness. The true effect of working with sankalpa lies in the fact that your “I” begins to encounter energies that surpass it, integrating them one after another. This integration can happen very quickly indeed. Saraha describes it as being like a fire that engulfs a forest in a strong wind. As soon as you begin to work with sankalpa correctly, it suddenly seems to reveal a colossal dimension of time and space that you will have to integrate into your consciousness. This is no longer merely ordinary clarity that you maintain while remaining in a shriveled state; it is an incomprehensible openness that will not allow you to remain unawakened—it simply will not let you do so. That is why all saints abide in reverent awe.

Reverent awe means that their mind can never become accustomed to the reality with which it comes into contact. Their mind is always utterly clear and awakened. What gives rise to such reverent awe? Contact with the abyss of inner reality. Only one who does not come into contact with the abyss of inner reality can be petty, selfish, envious, and attach importance to small movements of consciousness; but one who comes into contact with the abyss of inner reality has not a single second for that. It is like a person who has jumped with a parachute and is flying at great speed forgetting that the parachute boots are pinching a little; he has no time for that.