Ready, steady, steady…

The Sûtra this week is Ksheenavrutterbhijatasyeva manergrahetrugrahana grahyeshu tatsthatadanjanata samapathihi  meaning “On making the modulations of the mind powerless and on becoming like a transparent crystal, the mind, which holds the senses of the objects, in spite of being engaged in the world, all the three (mind, sense and object) are in a state of harmony or Samadhi”.


When the consciousness which grabs or holds, the object which it holds and the senses through which it holds, are in harmony, it is called Samadhi. Do you get this point? For example, the ears are the instruments through which you hold the sound. So your ears, sound and origin of sound, are connected. They all become keen and crystal clear.


When can this happen? This happens when your mind is not immersed in regret, anger, anticipation, proof, wrong knowledge, fantasy, sleep and memory. You know, when you look at a mountain, you don’t just look at a mountain; you say “Oh! This is beautiful”, and then it does not stop there, “Oh this is like the Alps, this is like the Himalayas”. Immediately, something is added to it. So you are not seeing as it is, but you are seeing it through comparison or memory. That is no Samadhi.


There is an old story that in a desert, a man had toiled to make a sunflower garden. The King had heard about it and since it was supposed to be beautiful, he thought that he would go and see it. When he went there he saw only one sunflower. The gardener had removed all the other flowers.


The king said, “What is this? I have heard a lot about your garden. And now I see only one flower!” The gardener said, “See, this flower is for you! When there are many flowers, you will compare. Just to make it easy for you to look at the flower, I removed everything else.

Your calculating mind will start, this is bigger, this is bigger, that is bigger. This one has blossomed, that one has blossomed.” Now, the king had no choice but to look at the one flower!


When there is no feverishness, even though you are engaged in the activities of the senses, there is steadiness. Do you see what I am saying? For example, if you are eating food and you taste every morsel as it moves gracefully through you throat, it is good. Otherwise you are stuffing your food and it is like a stampede. The more anxious you are, the more nervous you are, the shakier you are, the faster and more you eat. Have you noticed this? This is not Samadhi.


Steadiness in spite of being in a sensory activity is Samadhi.