Samadhi: Typology and theology

Dr Satish  K Kapoor

Samadhi is the eighth and the last stage of Ashtanga (eight-limbed) Yoga of sage Patanjali. There are two types of samadhi - samprajnata or conscious meditation, and asamprajnata or superconscious meditation. In the first, the thinker stands apart from thought; in the second, both become unified. These are subdivided into various forms, each reflecting a different plane of self-awareness.  

Samprajnata samadhi 

It is characterised by ratiocination, deliberation, joy and an unqualified ego (Yoga sutra I.17). In this state, one acquires control over the inner nature but cannot break oneself free from self consciousness, so as to obliterate the difference between the knower, knowledge and the objects of knowledge. It is a state of partial self awareness, the penultimate step to unitary consciousness. 

Samprajnata samadhi is also called savikalpa samadhi because the mind remains identified with the object of meditation and, sabija (with seed)  samadhi  because it contains the seed of consequent  births (Yoga sutra, I.44-46). Samprajnata samadhi is of four types: vitarkanugata, vicharanugata, anandanugata and asmitanugata. 

In vitarkanugata samadhi, the meditator uses the prop of gross objects. It is of two types: savitarka, with reflection, and nirvitarka, incogitant.  In the former, one has the perception of the word, meaning and the idea of object concentrated upon; in the latter, the word and meaning are eclipsed, and the mind itself radiates as the object. 

In vicharanugata samadhi, consciousness, even when it is attuned to the higher self, remains enveloped by thoughts. It is of two types: savichara, ‘with thought’, and nirvichara, ‘without thought’. (Yoga sutra, I.44, 47). In the former, the thinking principle is not inhibited, and, as a result, the mind  remains engrossed in  nama, rupa and jnana – name, form and knowledge, of  phenomena; in the latter, one is free from mental exercitation and can experience dhyeya padartha, the object of  meditation itself.

Anandanugata samadhi is attended by a sense of  joy and contentment as one can discern the substratum of phenomena. There is absence of consciousness of body. Satttva guna, element of purity and goodness, pervades one’s being but the prop of aham, self sense, remains. As the yogi advances from this state, he attains asmitanugata Samadhi. Asmita, also called grihita limits one’s identity.  But when it matures, aham, vanishes; only asmi, the identity of aham and brahman, remains. One comes to realise that the energy of seeing that is the self, and the energy by which one sees that is the thinking principle –  are both rooted in the supreme Self. (Yoga sutra II.6).  

Asamprajnata samadhi 

It is the highest form of samadhi as the soul is absorbed in the Self. It marks the cessation of mental activity. Chitta, the mind, retains only unmanifested impressions. (Yoga sutra I.18), and is filled with sattva guna, quality of goodness. As one transcends duality, one reaches the state of pure being, and shines in one’s own glory. It is an exalted state of consciousness, born of supreme knowledge that is self luminous. The knowledge derived from testimony and inference is about common objects; that from samadhi is of much higher order, ‘being able to penetrate where inference and testimony cannot go.’ (Yoga sutra,1.49). Asamprajnata Samadhi, also called nirvikalpa samadhi, bestows final liberation (Yoga sutra, 1. 51).       It has no alambana, prop, for contemplation. It is nirbija, ‘without seed’, because the seeds of karma cannot sprout any more after  having been  roasted in the  divine fire of knowledge.  

Asamprajnata samadhi is of two types: bhava pratyaya and upaya pratyaya. Bhava pratyaya is natural samadhi  due to righteous actions of past life. It is possible in the case of videha ( lit. bodiless or incorporeal) or prakriti-laya  (lit. absorbed in nature)  yogis – those who got stuck in the joy of anandanugata samadhi  or the pride of asmitanugata  samadhi respectively, and  were unable to  achieve the super conscious state in their previous  birth. Such souls ascend the summit of spirituality, effortlessly, but sometime fall due to worldly allurements. 

Upaya  pratyaya samadhi  is attained by establishing the mind in divine knowledge through intense spiritual practice. By overcoming four obstacles, namely, laya, torpidity, vikshepa, distraction, kashaya, attachment, and rasasvada, enjoyment, the veil of avidya or nescience that conceals the supreme reality is lifted.

Samadhi is not deep sleep but complete self awareness. It is not emptiness of the mind but the fullness of being. To quote Eknath Easwaran: ‘The whole of reality is there, inner as well as outer: not only matter and energy but all time, space, causality, and states of consciousness.’

(Dr Satish K Kapoor, a former British Council, is a noted educationist, historian  and spiritualist based in Jalandhar city)