Samadhi State

[Joel3102]

Hi all. I was just doing some meditation (SDS) and I began to enter in the highest state of concentration I've had. I then began to have what I believe was an enlightenment experience, it was fucking intense. Everything became extremely still, and my visual field started tripping out and it began to become like a flat surface, kinda how Leo describes it in his enlightenment experience video.  It was kinda cool but I started to freak out and my hands started sweating, heart started beating fast and I had to stop.

my question is, has anybody else freaked out from a samadhi state. I've been gunning for higher consciousness states like this but it's dissapointing that it seems my ego can't handle it. Is it possible to gradually adjust your comfort zone to accomodate these experiences? 

Edited December 13, 2016 by Joel3102

[cetus]

@Joel3102 Yes I've had that experience of flat field from time to time. Sometimes it just happens out of the blue. The first time it happened to me I was doing a no-self exercise and something very similar to what you describe here happened to me. I also freaked out a little and backed off because everything was getting so strange. I was definitely out of my comfort zone. At that point I gathered up all the nerve I could muster and thought to myself "something is presenting itself to you, just go with it". So I did by surrendering to it and I entered into a state of Samadhi.

 As far as I remember I had my eyes open but what I was seeing was not the surrounding room any longer but removed to what felt like a field of absolute calm. It gave me the impression that it was the source of all things. It was absolute emptiness but yet it had an overall quality to it that is really hard to explain from a mental/physical point of view. It felt as if I had entered another dimension or something.

Just to mention also, as it was starting to happen I noticed a dramatic shift in awareness. It felt as if awareness became super concentrated. It came to a heightened point of focus that I never experienced before and was no longer only located at my body location but was filling the surrounding area. That feeling was really freaky because I felt ghostly.  That was just before I surrendered and the Samadhi state happened.

The next time it happens to you it won't feel so strange and different. For me it was more like "Oh, there it is again".  It was still strange but not so freaky as the first time. If you can, when it happens again, just surrender to it and see what happens. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by cetus56

[Deep]

@Joel3102 There are different kinds of samadhi states: 

Samadhi- experience of the Self

Savikalpa- with mind/thoughts

Nirvikalpa- without mind/thoughts 

Sahaja- permanent nirvikalpa or savikalpa samadhi 

Less than 1% of people experience Savikalpa samadhi and even less experience Nirvikalpa. Savikalpa samadhi is the 1st stage of enlightenment. After Nirvikalpa samadhi we become 100% enlightened because we realize we aren't the body/mind complex. You shouldn't feel any fear because fear is just a projection of the mind. When the mind is destroyed there is no fear and your awareness is expanded to the infinite.

Most of these so called "enlightened" people aren't really enlightened. They're just self deluded and out to delude others. They make up their own fairy tales and teach it to other people. It's best to rely on yourself and go by what you feel is right. 

[ajasatya]

@Joel3102 nice! you've gone into it!

here are some precise meditation instructions given by sidhartha gautama himself. pay attention to the seven factors for awakening and try to map your practice with what he says so you know how to go deeper and deeper.

[Joel3102]

@cetus56 helpful response, thank you! I am anticipating more of these states as I've only been doing serious meditation pretty recently. Hopefully next time I surrender a bit easier.

@Deep that's interesting, I wasn't aware of the different types of samahdis and their terms.

@ajasatya Thanks! I'll be sure to check it out. 

[Leo Gura]

@Joel3102 Altered states of consciousness can definitely be scary, especially if it's your first time.

To overcome the fear, you just gotta keep hammering at the meditation/contemplation over and over again until you slowly realize there's nothing to fear but fear itself.

Wait till you experience all of reality disappear (including you) and reboot. Now that might make you crap your pants a little

[cetus]

22 hours ago, Deep said:

Nirvikalpa- without mind/thoughts 

@Deep That's interesting because one time I purposely surrendered within a state of Samadhi just to see what would happen and I vanished for a while. Of course I didn't realize I had vanished until I returned to the Samadhi state (sorry, I don't know all the exact lingo but you get the message). 2 days ago I left a reply on another topic that stated "At the heart of Samadhi lies nothingness". That experience, or should I say non-experience, is what I was referring to when I said nothingness. There was no awareness of anything because I didn't exist (no mind/thoughts). There was no experience, no bliss, no infinity, no God, no awareness, no emptiness, no nothing. After that happened I wondered if there was a level of awareness that enlightened people have achieved that could experience that state of absolute nothingness. So I'm asking, what do you see here that I may not. What are your thoughts or better yet, direct experiences on this? You seem to have knowledge in this area. Thanks

Edited December 14, 2016 by cetus56

[Deep]

@cetus56 The various people who I researched say they can't describe it. It's entirely subjective so we don't know what an actual Samadhi feels like. When we pursue enlightenment we are going against what we "want" to do. Right now we "want" to pretend not to be God. I say that lightly because it's just a speculation on my part. 

According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, there are certain things we have to practice before we can experience samadhi. Things like speaking the truth, which is mostly our subjective truth. This allows us to develop the discipline to experience samadhi because it's very intense. Every time we lie we strengthen our ego. When we lie it also creates thoughts in our mind that appear during meditation. That's why most people don't succeed in meditation. The Yoga Sutras can be practiced all the time, even while doing a scientific experiment. 

Swami Vivekananda was a student of Ramakrishna and he experienced Nirvikalpa Samadhi after a few years. 

Nowadays most people would never practice this stuff because sex, drugs, and alcohol are more important. lol