Downward Facing Blog

Whatever holds your attention leaves it’s own mark upon your mind

I used to think samadhi was this thing that happened to you after lifetimes upon lifetimes of hard-core yogic practice. And I’d probably have be born again as an Indian. Samadhi is the eighth limb of classical yoga, and some commentators make it sound like it’s the same as becoming enlightened, ie; almost impossible.

Samadhi actually happens all the time. We’re samadhi-junkies in fact. It’s simply a state where we lose ourselves in the thing we are attracted to. Sometimes I have video game samadhi. I’ve had scuba diving samadhi, sex samadhi, and a million of other circumstances where, for if but a moment I got lost in whatever it is I was doing.

That’s why you desire to do anything. It brings ultimate pleasure to get out of your ego and CONNECT, merge. Yoga teaches that separation is pain and connection is bliss. You and I want more.

There are different levels of samadhi of course, and different things you can merge with. Each thing you solidly merge with leaves an impression on your psyche, so might as well choose positive influences. Yogic samadhi is merging your ego with the highest level of pure light within your consciousness. No-big deal samadhi can occur when you get high, watch a movie or even go to the bathroom. Any action temporarily causes a rajasic samadhi, but may only last for a brief moment.

As prana is the lord of the senses and mind, whatever you merge with is really pulling you in through it’s higher level of prana in that thing. But to “hold” your mind in yogic samadhi, you will need larger amounts of internal prana, for which pranayama comes into use.  Higher prana amounts of prana also have a cool side effect on your subconscious. It floods your subconscious and gives no room for stuck memories and traumas to hide. They come up to the surface and your brain becomes lighter and clearer, which allows for longer immersion in that absorbed state of samadhi. My friend Paul likes to joke that yoga enlightenment looks an awful lot like a mindless goldfish- totally absorbed with no sense-of-self. I love that. Actually though, we’re the only creatures on this planet that have the nervous system to consciously connect with the universal intelligence through samadhi and then be able to utilize what we find. A goldfish probably cannot.

The yoga sutras teach that the length of time you can stay in samadhi is dependent upon how many stuck memories are lodged in your subconscious. Each one (called a samskara) weighs you down a bit and forces you to come out of absorption with “the other” and back to your disconnected ego. That’s called “SA-BIJA” (with seed) samadhi. When you dose your mind enough in absorption in the higher samadhi it burns up those little seeds and you get longer time on the pleasure ride.

When you meditate, make a point to get lost in your meditation or mantra. Go beyond your ego-mind and dissolve yourself in the yogic samadhi on your own still level of prana.  OM Namah Shivaya! Adrian Cox www.yogaelements.com