Ramana maharshi is a well known and widely known Jivan muktha, who lived in Arunachalam.
In general, Jivan mukthas can spend time long time in samadhi state. Is there any such incident in the life of Ramana maharshi after he gained so much popularity?
What is the largest one among all samadhis of Ramana maharshi?
Ramana Maharishi was always in Sahaja Samadhi (the highest of the three types of Samadhis and the most natural of them all) after his death-like experience.
Here are some responses he gave elaborating on Sahaja Samadhi...
What is samadhi? wakeful state is samadhi. Samadhi is continuous inherence in the Self in a waking state. Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self but in an unconscious state. In sahaja samadhi the communion is continuous.
What are kevala nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi? The involution of the mind in the Self, but without its destruction, is kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. There are four obstacles in this namely: (i) vacillation of mind, (ii) life breath or prana, (iii) body, and (iv) drishti. In kevala nirvikalpa samadhi one is not free from vasanas and does not, therefore, attain mukti. Only after the samskaras have been destroyed can one attain salvation.
Then what is the samadhi you speak of? In yoga the term samadhi refers to some kind of trance and there are various kinds of it. But the samadhi I speak of is different. It is sahaja samadhi. For, here you have samadhana, you remain calm and comprehend even while you are active; you realise that you are moved by the deeper Real Self within. You have no worries, no anxieties, no cares. For here you come to realize that there is nothing belonging to you, the ego. And everything is done by something with which you get into conscious union. • When can one practice sahaja samadhi? Even from the beginning. Even though one practices kevala nirvikalpa samadhi for years together, if one has not rooted out the vasanas, he will not attain salvation.
If this is sahaja samadhi and the most desirable condition, is there no need for nirvikalpa samadhi? The nirvikalpa samadhi of Raja Yoga may have its use. But in jnana this sahaja sthiti or sahaja nishta itself is the nirvikalpa state. For in this state the mind is free from doubts. It is sure of the truth. It feels the presence of the Real. Even when it is active, it knows it is active in the reality, the self, the supreme being.
How can action which is subdued in samadhi emerge and continue to function? The all-pervading infinite self brings about the actions. They are performed through the senses and limbs. The man’s ego is doing nothing. It is also incapable of doing anything. When an author is writing he is so absorbed in his ideas that he forgets he is writing with a pen with his own hand. He is unaware of his body. Once the consciousness dawns that he is the person that is writing it, that it is his hand and his pen that writes it, the flow of his ideas is arrested. He comes down from the self-absorption and becomes aware of his pen, the hand and so is not able to write. The pen, the hand, etc. are inanimate objects and the power of the self-alone is capable of giving life to them and making them work.
The results of one’s actions do not affect the self. The lightning and thunder produced on account of the clash of clouds in the sky do not affect the sky.
Excerpts from Be As You Are by David Godman (published by Ramana Ashramam)
