--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <sparaig@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > Yoga-suutra mentions several stages of samaadhi. > > > The main distinction seems to be sabiija- vs. > > > nirbiija-samaadhi. The highest stage is, I guess, > > > dharma-megha-samaadhi. > > > I wonder what stage "typically"(?) is the one mentioned > > > in Vibhuuti-paada (third book). It's hardly nirbiija, > > > because of "artha-maatra-nirbhaasam". Or, then again, > > > I don't understand anything about the stages of > > > samaadhi, LOL. > > > > http://web.mac.com/lawsonenglish/iWeb/Site/Meditation%20EEG.html > > > > The highest stage might corresdpond to the periods of > > universal EEG coherence where the vertical lines are drawn... > > > > Compare samadhi with turiya in Mandukya Upanishad. > > Interesting, the postcontrol breathing seems like more > rapid than the precontrol. Huccome?
Just as fodder for discussion, if anyone's on that wavelength, it seems to me that the Vedic/Hindu approach to these different types of samadhi interprets them as "stages" because they're stuck in a hierarchical mindset. Because they bring a hierarchical set of assumptions to the table, they see these different types of samadhi experience as existing within a linear structure of experiences that has a "top" and a "bottom," a structure in which the experiences at the "top" are "better" than those further "down," which are perceived to be "less better." This is not the only way to view samadhi exper- iences. I've heard talks from several different teachers who share my more relational view of the structure of creation, and they don't see it that way at all. For them there is NO "highest state of consciousness." Such a concept simply doesn't exist for them. There is only the state of consciousness that is going on at the time. If that is "stage one samadhi," cool; if it is "stage ten samadhi," that's cool, too. If it's normal, vanilla waking state, that's OK, too. They assume (and I do, too, because it jibes with my personal experiences) that there IS no linear sequence of evolution from "lowest" to "highest." No state of consciousness -- even the states of consciousness one associates with "ignorance" -- is either "better" or "worse" than another. They are just what's going on at the time, the level of self-realization you are comfortable with at the time, that's all. They also assume that states of consciousness will continue to change and fluctuate, even after enlightenment is stable. One day you'll be experiencing "stage one samadhi," and next something else. Your state of consciousness will continue to fluctuate as long as you have a body, because that is the nature of having a body. And that's OK. They view the idea that one could "achieve" a certain state of consciousness and consider it the "end point" and then *stay* there with a great deal of amusement. They laugh until their sides ache, as if someone has just told them the funniest joke they've ever heard.
