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Date Posted: 10:07:22 03/20/05 Sun
Author: Sundarar - 19 Feb 2005
Subject: Ramdas stages


I have read Swami Ramdas of late and found out that he grouped his samadhis in 3 stages.

Ist off was what he called the saguna darshan samadhi. Here he saw Krishna in front of him. He told Krishna he wanted the universal darshan that Arjuna got in chapter 11 of gita. He said this experience was of Prakriti.

Then Ramdas went to Ramana Maharishi's place. He got darshan and asked for a blessing which was given. Then Ramdas went to a cave and meditated many days without food or sleep. He had 2nd stage of what he termed nirguna darshan of the expanding Light. This was of the Purusha. After it waned he came out of the cave and started hugging everything saying "this is Ram, that is Ram." Purusha is static spirit outside Prakriti. The 2 terms are well known in sankhya philosophy and are used in Gita alot. This was darshan of Purusha Ramdas got.

Finally came stage 3 or Universal Vision of Purushotama. It is not stated but I think Ramdas had it come to him while moving about--it was not stated as happening in meditation. In this Ramdas realized the Purushotama or universal vision of arjuna in chapter 11--15 of gita...which means he saw Purusha (stage 2) in Prakriti (stage 1) or the world. Yogananda calls this nirbikalpa samadhi.
The result was Ramdas had a double consciousness where he was aware of Purusha even as the gunas moved through him in daily action. All ego was gone as was mind. He said he was a divine child now of God and he acted spontaneously out of God's will and had full devotion and surrender. His joy knew no bounds. He said when this state is permanent you become a jivanmukta.

Ramdas also calls the 3 stages as bakti, jyana, and parabakti or vijyana.

I find Ramdas' 3 levels and the correlation with the gita's terminology very helpful. I think this is the pattern most saints samadhis take. I give an example...

Yogananda had 1st the darshan of Lahiri Mahasaya coming out of the picture. (Stage 1) Then he had the darshan of the Light after seeing the Himalayan yogis as a child. (Stage 2)Then he had at least 2 glimpses into the 3rd stage (what he calls cosmic consciousness). We read about his samadhi at Kalighat temple in Calcutta and then the one with Master Mahasaya. Both of these are glimpses into Universal Vision, stage 3 or Purushotama, or Cosmic consciousness.
However, it was not until he got the experience from Sri Yukteswar in his chapter in A.Y. "experience in cosmic consciousness" that he got it fully. He may have worked 10 more years to make it permanent. Guruji got this experience after 6 months with Yukteswar but stayed 10 more years. He came to the west. Then in 1948 it deepened, he said.

The thing about cosmic consciousness or Purushotama is that it involves Spirit in nature. That is, you can function in prakriri and still hold to Purusha. It is this state that the gita refers to so often with statements such as "he who never loses sight of me I never lose sight of him".

An aside: Ramdas method was to repeat Ram mantra 24/7 associating God's attributes and yearning for God with all his heart. He also took all things as God's will and had full surrender to him. He said he realized in a few years because of these factors. Add kriya to these things and you likely speed the process.

Also he says that Totapuri had stage 2 as a jyani. He was however disturbed by the world when things did not go right, such as when he got touched with a coal in the story of Ramakrishna. He supposedly yelped. Ramakrishna laughed and said "I thought you said it all was an illusion to you." Ramakrishna helped him get the devotion necessary to get the stage 3 in the world and be unbothered by prakriti. Ramdas telss this story.

On the other hand we have Prabhupad who seemed attached to stage 1. Hare Krishna theory is that you get brahman, than paramatman, then bagavan. But how many of them truly have the 1st 2 stages. I think their thinking is off.

H, I am eagre for counter respones. I think Aurobindo's pattern follows Ramdas and Yogananda.

Aplogies for not typing in quotes. I dislike doing so and H will likely post quotes.

Also, Yogananda and Ramdas are vasista dvaita. They see the ultimate state as impersonal and personal in stage 3. Though the advaita state may be the truly more eternal state and more immediate to attain as stage 2.

Sundarar

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