GS: Savikalpa samadhi is unbroken Self-knowledge. Nirvikalpa samadhi is an experienceless experience without vritti. What is Nirvikapa vastu or substance? I came across this from some source and I forgot it. Kindly respond…your incorrigible, ignorant, incessant seeker and disciple…
Sundari: There are some important distinctions to be aware of:
Savikalpa samadhi: If Self-knowledge is firm savikalpa samadhi is unbroken Self-knowledge with thoughts, vrittis. I.e., thoughts are there but they are single-pointed and Self-referenced, the distinction between the knower and the known is crystal clear. If you know you are the Self, savikalpa samadhi translates to nondual vision, where you see all objects (thoughts/experiences) as appearing in you as you, but you are free of them. You are the Self with or without thoughts and do not condition to them. The subject/object split has permanently dissolved, and discrimination remains constant, it does not come and go because Self-knowledge is permanent and not an experience or a state. It is your ground of being.
Most people experience savikalpa samadhi (nondual vision) at some time without realizing what it means because we all are the Self whether we know it or not. But if Self-knowledge is not firm or not obtained at all, the Self, your true identity, is not known to be the non-experiencing witness, the knower of the experiencing entity (jiva/mind) to whom the thoughts are appearing. In this case, the subject/object split has not permanently dissolved, only temporarily so. For those who don’t know they are the Self, savikalpa samadhi just feels really good, a feeling of bliss, oneness, and wholeness, that everything is right with you and the world.
In this case, savikalpa samadhi is the experience of the Self in a sattvic mind, but it does not last because all experiences happen in time, and end. When the savikalpa samadhi experience ends, the mind is back in the grip of duality. However, the advantage of savikalpa samadhi has over nirvikalpa samadhi is that the intellect is functional, it is present, therefore, it is possible for Self-realization to occur and the dissolution of the subject/object split to take place, assuming the mind is qualified and the teachings assimilate.
Nirvikalpa samadhi means without thought/experience, as you say above. It is experiencing the Self with no interference from the Subtle body. The disadvantage of nirvikalpa samadhi over savikalpa samadhi as mentioned above is that the intellect is not present, as in deep sleep, so there is no knowledge possible. The intellect is subsumed into Isvara, the Causal body so you are experiencing the Self but unaware of it. Nirvikalpa samadhi, as well as deep sleep, is an experience of the reflected self, and all experiences end. Only Self-knowledge is permanent. When you emerge from nirvikalpa samadhi or wake up from deep sleep, the ego is still there, and so are the vasanas, duality is back. You are still bound by Maya and not free unless of course, you know you are the Self and moksa has obtained.
Therefore, nirvikalpa samadhi is not the same as firm, direct Self-knowledge, moksa, that which is unaffected by the presence or absence of thought because it is unmodified by either as in the case of savikalpa samadhi when the Self is known to be who you are.
Vastu means that which is real, the essence. What else can it be but it but firm Self-knowledge, Atman, if it is beyond experience and thought? There is only one factor that qualifies as real, which is that which is always present and never changes, meaning, of course, the Self/Consciousness. As stated above, if Self-knowledge is firm, it is not an experience of the reflected self, it is the knowledge that YOU are the Self. This knowledge never ends because It is known to be you, the non-experiencing witness of the mind and all the states it transitions through.
GS: Thanks a lot. I fall at your feet. I feel blessed to get Guru in you. Very few in the world are accessible and guide unconditionally like you. I will die peacefully ..my subtle body need not travel anymore…pranamas.
Sundari:Â Glad to be of service in the name of Isvara, the only true teacher. May the infallible teachings of Vedanta protect and guide you always
Om
Sundari
