Mystic Time: Part Four, Connections between Time, Concentration and Enlightenment

Correlating Time, Concentration and Deeper Possibilities of Human Experience.

The goal of yogic practices, if they are followed to their culmination, is to lead the yogi to experience God Consciousness. God consciousness can be defined in so many ways. It is not one experience but many possible experiences that yogis can have within themselves that bring about upwellings of bliss, great joy, universal compassion and so much more. The experience of God Consciousness is often summed collectively into words like God Realization, Enlightenment, Universal Consciousness, Divine Consciousness and such. In Sage Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, it is called samadhi. Samadhi is so unique a word to describe such an amazing dimension of human experience that it is now part of the English language. The word samadhi however, hides within it two very distinct (even opposite) forms of samadhi. One is called samadhi-with-seed (savikalpa samadhi) and the other is samadhi-without-seed (nirvikalpa samadhi). 'Seed' here refers to consciousness. Extrapolation of these words will bring the definitions as follows:

Savikalpa Samadhi: Oneness with the Divine in Consciousness

Nirvikalpa Samadhi: Oneness with the Divine beyond (or devoid of) Consciousness

Savikalpa samadhis are all the varied experiences that were mentioned earlier such as bliss, great joy, expanded consciousness and so forth. Nirvikalpa samadhi however, has nothing to do with experiences that can either be perceived or experienced emotionally. Many yogis will describe this experience by simply saying that it is nothing. More sophisticated yogis like my guru describe it as "transcending time, form and space". I like to use "It is as it is" and the yogic aphorism "not this, not that" (neti-neti).

[search on google for 'samadhi images', there are lots of very inspiring images; all relating to savikalpa samadhi, but none that even remotely hint at nirvikalpa samadhi]

Picture from esoterics.in

It is easy to understand why yogis may be drawn to the savikalpa samadhis since they are emotionally gratifying experiences. On the other hand one may wonder why nirvikalpa samadhi which seems so inert even 'scary' an experience (oblivion can also describe this samadhi) is such a prize for ardent yogis. Yes, adept yoga masters will insist that a yogi can only be fully enlightened after achieving nirvikalpa samadhi. Some yoga gurus are so strict that they will even disallow their disciples from experiencing savikalpa samadhi until they have experienced nirvikalpa samadhi. These gurus are concerned that their disciples may become too complacent by languishing in blissful states of God Consciousness that they give up the tougher goal of nirvikalpa samadhi. Can you imagine languishing in such blissful states? Who can blame anyone since they create heaven on earth for the experiencer. My guru fortunately was more encouraging by constantly reminding his disciples that enlightenment was not complete until nirvikalpa samadhi, which he called the Self (the capital S distinguishing Self as nirvikalpa samadhi whereas 'self' refers to ones personality, individuality or ego). He will always be asking his monks,"Did you find the Self yet? Did you look in the closet or under the carpet?" he would joke. It was his way of insisting that the goal of the Self be at the forefront of ones priorities.

So what is it that makes the experience of the Self so prized? It has to do, among other aspects, with overcoming fear. A yoga guru who has achieved the Self will know that the blissful states of Divine Consciousness are byproducts of enlightenment, not its goal. The real goal for those ardent yogis seeking enlightenment is overcoming suffering. From this perspective the 'blisses' of savikalpa samadhi, just do not cut it. Savikalpa samadhi can provide temporary respite from suffering, akin to an injured soldier given morphine on the battlefield. However the source of suffering still exists and one will still have to bear it after coming out of the heights of blissful Cosmic Consciousness. This brings us to the next obvious question, which is–what is the source of suffering?

The yogic answer to this is–the ability to perceive and experience. A simple answer can be–I feel therefore I suffer by feeling pain! Yes, it is very negative. Yet it is the exploration for a solution to this conundrum of living that ultimately revealed the prize of yoga, which is the ability to transcend consciousness / perception itself. This is what the realization of the Self confers, the ability to slip out of consciousness entirely and return to it as its master. After realizing the Self, the yogi will begin to develop a perception of the Self within his or her consciousness, a process possible only after Self-Realization. This perception will be like a lighthouse to the yogi allowing him or her to explore and enjoy consciousness without getting mired in it or attached to it. As yogis say, being in the world, but not of it; or to live in the world as detached as a drop of water on a lotus leaf.

Thus the pursuit of the Self is the pursuit of mastery over consciousness (and perception) and by extension of such mastery the yogi can overcome suffering. How then is concentration and time related to this ultimate form of spiritual enlightenment? Concentration is the vehicle that moves awareness from consciousness to the Self. However this concentration is not a simple matter of maintaining focus in the mind, rather it involves very intense levels of rarified concentration and has more to do with resisting temptation; but not the kind of material temptations that you might be thinking of. At these levels of concentration the temptation is not to allow the concentrative effort to get dissipated by enjoying the expanded consciousness of blissful savikalpa samadhi. If this happens the yogi will have to start from scratch to rebuild the momentum of his concentration to attempt to realize the Self again.

It takes a lot of willpower to traverse the blissful states of higher consciousness until the Self is reached. Often in training under a yoga guru, it is when a disciple is getting close to realizing the Self that the guru will be the most uncompromising and stern. "When you see the Divine Light do not linger in it but go to it's center and then go-in-and-in. When you see a form of God or feel something, keep going-in-and-in until the Self is reached. You will have all the time in the world to enjoy Satchitananda after you've realized the Self". 'Going-in-and-in' was my guru's words for urging his yogis to maintain concentration. Thus the pinnacle of concentrative effort leads to the Self and ultimate spiritual enlightenment.

The connection between time (or rather the lack of it!) and enlightenment is more incidental but no less important. Going beyond consciousness in direct relation also means going beyond time since time is an attribute of consciousness. In the mystical traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, the pursuit of the Self, nirvikalpa samadhi is poetically symbolized as the conquest over time. In both these traditions time is deified in the form of Mahakala. You will notice that the portrayal of Mahakala is as a fierce, even scary being.

These portrayals of Mahakala or 'Great Time' mean to depict the transitoriness of the world. Because all of Creation is subject to time which is subject to the cycle of creation, preservation and destruction; impermanence is always lingering in the background of life. Thus Mahakala represents impermanence. The usually scary thought of impermanence is an impetus that Hindu and Buddhist traditions use to urge their followers to pursue enlightenment as a sanctuary from Mahakala. This sanctuary, which can be found in nirvikalpa samadhi, is a place that is beyond time, therefore a place where Mahakala cannot follow. From this place dawns on one who has achieved it the ultimate form of peace, which is contentment born of the freedom from fear. Gurus of these mystical traditions will insist that the best use of time is the pursuit of Self-Realization; the achievement of which frees the soul from the shackles of time, leading to freedom from the fear of loss and, by extension leads to freedom from suffering.

It takes sometime for a yogi to recognize that he or she has realized the Self. It is not an immediate 'eureka' type of experience. It can be likened to waking from sleep. We are usually not aware that we are sleeping as we sleep. It is only when we awaken that we become aware that we had slept from the feeling of restfulness or if we find ourselves laying on a bed. It is uncommon that we wake from sleep and become immediately aware that we had just slept. Like this the yogi will only know that he or she has achieved the Self after observing certain tell-tale changes in the way he or she perceives the world. One of these tell-tale changes is the losing of the fear-of-loss. As the feelings of fear and insecurity begin to erode from the yogis consciousness the passing of time will become less and less relevant, along with the age of the body, fear of death, fear of losing things and people; and the fear of pain and suffering. As the yogi continues his effort to maintain nirvikalpa samadhi as a consistent experience, the consciousness of timelessness begins to infiltrate his subconscious. Timelessness will eventually beam as part of the yogi's personality, at which point the yogi will have completed his conquest over time and suffering; and is able to feel the sense of immortality, not of the body, but of his innate identification of unity with the Self  that lies beyond consciousness.