Return to Samadhi

Samadhi commonly refers to the tomb of a holy man or a place where his relics are stored or a place where he was cremated example Gandhi samadhi Traditionally while most Hindus were cremated a saints dead body is buried and the burial site becomes a holy shrineMany Hindus believe that a holy man does not die but is able to voluntarily liberate through yogic practices his lifeforce jivaatma from the mortal flesh deha so that it unites with the cosmic infinite lifeforce paramatmaSo at a very young age in the 13th century we are told that the saint Dyaneshwara who wrote the first regional work on the Gita took samadhi The historian DD Kosami referred to this as ritual suicide annoying many devotees who refuse to see samadhi as suicideThe idea of voluntarily killing oneself or setting free ones jivaatma through starvation sallekhana in Jainism or by drowning jalsamadhi observed by Ram in Ramayana or by burning oneself the infamous and now illegal practice of sati is part of Indian lore long before suicide came to be seen as sin against God after the entrenchment of Christian mythology in modern thoughtIllustrationDevdutt PattanaikBut in the text Yoga Sutra the word Samadhi is used at the final step of the 8 part yoga process ashtaangayoga And when gurus speak of it they tend to be vague about what exactly it isA clue to what it is lies in the logic progression seen from step 1 of the yogasutra which deals with relationships to steps 3 4 5 and 6 which involves increased withdrawal using discipline body breath and sensory control to steps 6 and 7 which deal with mental exercises such as awareness and attentionWhat would be the logical 8th step Going further deeper into the mind and beyond to realise what The result we are told is kaivalya or complete knowledge of the whole universe Patanjali equates it with a godlike state where we attain siddhi with the power to walk on water and fly through the sky Buddhism equates it with nothingness or shunya Hindus associate it with infinity or anantaBut could it something simpler The word Samadhi is a fusion of two words sama and adhi Sama is the first beat of a musical cycle in Indian classical music the return to the first note Adhi is means primal or first Thus it is return to the origin What is our origin What is the tree whose seed gave birth to our existence Here the answer may be two foldIn Vedanta the tree is divinity God described variously as consciousness or superconsciousness something that is nonmaterial and hence outside the rules of space and time In Tantra the tree is the Goddess nature itself We discover our origins in nature in matter The former gave rise to monastic traditions which involves withdrawal of the sensesThe latter gave rise to sensual practices often called occult which basically involves amplification of the senses They are two branches of the Vedic treeAnother way of looking at Samadhi is to realise thats the path that enables the monk who renounces the world to return to the material world at peace with the idea of death and suffering Some call it immortality Some call it freedom from the fear of mortality His entry into the tomb is actually a return sama to the source adhi the wombThe author writes and lectures on relevance of mythology in modern times and can be reached at devduttdevduttcomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paper