bija: with seed
nirbija: without seed
PART III
SAMADHI TRILOGY
NIRBIJA SAMADHI: the nondual state of consciousness which is unconditional because all projected conditions have been seen through.
Nirbija-samadhi has NO conditioning cause as they have all been transcended, and all conditional activity has been surrendered. The mind is now a radiant formlessness empty of both specific and generalised projection, seen and seer.
The nondual state of Nirbija-samadhi is often upheld as the ultimate state. However, nonduality is the polar opposite of duality. it is therefore also a function of duality. Liberation is going beyond duality to transcendental awareness. Here the nonduality of duality, the duality of nonduality are experienced and transcended. This requires the cleansing process of dharma-megha-samadhi , where this conundrum is dramatically manifest. Nirbija-samadhi is NOT the result of accomplished practice. It only occurs within practice when there is spontaneous surrender of the practice and practiser, which depends on the orientation underlying practice. This results more and more frequently from exhaustion of the misplaced faith in the activities available to the will, which in turn strengthens the orientation to surrender. Nirbija-samadhi is a natural progression from sabija-samadhi once the sense of self has begun to lose its power. It often occurs spontaneously in life as a result of the direct and open spaciousness cultivated in the mind by practice.
When all karmic imprints have been surrendered, Nirbija-samadhi alone remains. Until then Nirbija-samadhi is a temporary possibility in the space between the resolution of one perceptor and the firing of the next. When all karmic imprints have been resolved, dharma-megha-samadhi reveals irrevocably the dualistic nature of infinte space, infinite consciousness, time and the self: this establishes the nondual embodiment of kaivalya or otherlessness. (1)
DHARMAMEGA: "Cloud of Dharma." In the very last section of the Yogasutra: within the Kaivalya Pada it describes a condition immediately preceding kaivalya itself called dharma-mega-samadhi. Accordingly, the text infers dharma-mega-samadhi contains and encompasses all that can be known, just as a cloud fills the sky. And just as rain quenches the thirsting earth, so this "cloud" pours down the rain of the Dharma and exstinguishes the raging fire of all kinds of instability.
The only reference to dharma-megha-samadhi in classical Hindu literature, outside the commentaries on the Yogasutra, is a reference in Vidyaara.nya's Pa~ncada`sii. In I, 60 he mentions dharma-megha-samadhi as the highest stage to be reached in Yoga. Samadhi (not further qualified as dharma-megha-samadhi in the text) is described as "that condition in which the mind gradually abandons the notion of meditator and meditation and is merged in the object of meditation." In that condition the mind is likened to a steady flame of a lamp in a well-sheltered place. By way of confirmation, a reference to Bhagavad Gita VI, 19 is inserted. The effect of this Samadhi is the destruction of all Karma accumulated over innumerable lives and the "growth of pure Dharma." The experts in yoga call this Samadhi dharma-megha because it pours forth countless showers of the nectar of Dharma. Through this Samadhi the net of vasana is destroyed and meritorious as well as nonmeritorious Karma is rooted out.
The borderline between the dharma-megha-samadhi and the kaivalya of Yoga, hen-chu-to and ken-chu-to in Japanese Zen, or between Bodhisattvahood and Buddahood at the stage of dharma-megha of Buddhism, is virtually imperceptible: it is only a question of fulfillment of a process, which from then on has only one direction. And here we may, possibly, discern a significant difference between the Yogic (Hindu) and the Buddhist dynamics: the Buddhist texts emphasize the altruistic aspects of this condition -- the possibility for the Bodhisattva to assist the world in reaching the highest goal, the beneficial effects which "the rain of dharma" has with regard to the quenching of the firebrand of the Klesa of those still under their sway. The Yogasutra seems to be interested in the benefit of the dharma-megha-samadhi for the sake of the yogin only: his Klesa and Karma are eradicted, his knowledge is infinitely enlarged, his kaivalya is secured, which means the attainment of his "being his true self." The Bodhisattva forgoes, for the time being, the complete bliss and the ultimate perfection of Buddhahood and accedes to the pleas of the devas to incarnate and make himself present in a bodily form among humans for their benefit alone. (2)
KEN-CHU-TO, Fifth Degree: Depending on context Ken means "both," and/or "perceive" -- meaning perceiving the indepth realization of how both sho and hen are NOT separate but actually fully integrated-interdefused aspects of the same single, non-dual phenomenon -- refering to for example, albeit simply put, the interdefused non-dualism of say hot and cold --- seemingly different, but in actuality, both related aspects of a single non-dual temperature spectrum. Thus then, it can be seen the replacement in use of the word ken in lieu of the word hen, as say in ken-chu-shi rather than hen-chu-shi in the Fourth Degree carries within it's scope a much deeper meaning than a simple syntax variance or first letter change, the attributes again of hen not encompassing the full scope, being: relative, form-and-color, difference, manyness, and relative self.
A fairly good example of that subtle letter change can be found in ZEN ENLIGHTENMENT: The Path Unfolds, wherein the Wanderling writes of his Mentor: "...ken-chu-shi was graciously accorded me by the person from which I sought guidence; he himself, having experienced full realization under the grace and light of Sri Ramana Maharshi some thirty-nine years earlier..." Notice his Mentor specifically selected ken-chu-shi over hen-chu-shi, meaning he felt in the nunances of it all a deeper level of understanding was attained than what hen-chu-shi offered. However, notice as well his Mentor DID NOT grace him with hen-chu-to, and most significantly NOT ken-chu-to, apparently indicating in both cases that although the Wanderling's attainment was deep, it was, at least at that time, not total.
SEE ALSO: DARK LUMINOSITY
DHARMA-MEGHA-SAMADHI
KAIVALYA:
KAIVALYA: (Sanskrit) "Absolute oneness, aloneness; perfect detachment, freedom." Liberation. Kaivalya is the term used by Patanjali and others in the yoga tradition to name the goal and fulfillment of yoga, the state of complete detachment from transmigration. It is virtually synonymous with moksha. Kaivalya is the perfectly transcendent state, the highest condition resulting from the ultimate realization. It is defined uniquely according to each philosophical school, depending on its beliefs regarding the nature of the soul. (3)
Philosophers in their special way of analytical logic and reductionism have attempted to define kaivalya as an isolation rather than as union. Taken to its logical end (as is true with all fragmented thought), they wind up with absolute withdrawal or catatonia. Indeed, this is often how Western philosophers have "understood" Samadhi. In one sense only can this absurdity be said to have any merit. They are correct only in the sense that Nirbija-samadhi (as the ultimate integration) is dependent upon first separating the cit-prana from separation itself -- from false identification with a separate self (asmita) which is called egoism but rather it includes embracing the transpersonal non-dual all encompassing Integrity. So then an isolation from isolation (separation) in reality brings on an integration (which is Nirbija-samadhi) when the yogic context is not corrupted, but rather acknowledged and honored.
Thus, within the scope of authentic yoga, kaivalya, or ultimate liberation, is not an escape from any "thing"; it is not an aversion, hatred, a fear, a dislike, or even a desire in the common usage of the word (as all Klesas and Karma are eventually burned up through yogic practice). It is not a relative isolation, avoidance, control over, repression, transcendence from, an overcoming of, nor denial of anything in any form. Kaivalya is not achieved through strife, from control over anything, aloofness, nor transcendence. Indeed transcendence has to be given up as well. Simply one abides in the Uncolored Universal without striving. (4)
JISHU ZAMMI: Samadhi of Self Mastery
NOTE: There are a number of recognized named varieties and types of Samadhi. The three primary types are actually levels, states, or stages and are: Samprajana Samadhi [Access Concentration (upacara samadhi)], Asamprajata Samadhi [Absorption Concentration (appana samadhi)] (also known as Nirvikalpa Samadhi) and Khanika Samadhi [Sequential Momentary Deep Concentration]. Some of the other Samadhis that show up, and sometimes just different names for some of the above and/or varying degrees or cultural or religious designations of each other or the above, are Savitarka Samadhi, Savichara Samadhi and Asmita Samadhi. For example, the of two stages of Samadhi found in the yoga philosophy of Patanjali, Samprajnata Samadhi and Asamprajnata Samadhi, are virtually the same if not indistinguishable from Savikalpa Samadhi and Nirvikalpa Samadhi as found in Vedanta. As well, most pundits pretty much agree that the like-level Samadhis Asamprajnata and Nirvikalpa are the same as Nirbija Samadhi.(source)
Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where
we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience
and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.
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(4) Pada Four: Kaivalyam: Ultimate Liberation – Freedom without Negation or Qualification
END
PART III
SAMADHI TRILOGY
