Sam = to keep balance, aadhi = adverse circumstance. Thus to keep balance in any circumstance is called as samadhi. Vyaadi means any obstruction, upaadhi means any bad incident. Any individual who remains in samadhi is ‘God – like’ as this state is not possible for any ordinary individual. There are various stages of samadhi.
Savikalpa samadhi: When you can maintain connection with God (balance in God) but you need help of something (sav means with, kalpa means something). You cannot maintain samadhi otherwise. That savikalpa may be meditation, bhajan, worship etc.
Nirvikalpa samadhi: When you can maintain connection with God without any aid. It occurs on its own. However it does not mean that you are in constant samadhi state. It may come and go. When the samadhi state is constant it is called as Sahaj Nirvikalpa samadhi. Here you are balanced and tuned with God all the time. You are immersed in God but still there is lot to achieve. This is the state where God tells you, “I am in you, you are in me, we are one (હું તારામાં છું, તું મારામાં છે, આપણે એક છીએ)”.
Atma sthir Samadhi (આત્મસ્થિર સમાધિ): This is the state where your soul becomes stable in God. There is no difference between you and God. Your connection is there but now there is no need for communication as there is only one. There is no difference. Here you feel definitely there is one. There is no duality with God. But still your identification is only with one form of God or the formless. You still do not see God in everything.
Atma shuddhi Samadhi (આત્મશુદ્ધિ સમાધિ): This is the state where you start seeing God everywhere. In all things and beings you see divinity. However, you are still not seeing yourself in them. You see God in you, you see God in them but you do not see yourself in them.
Paramatma (પરમાત્મા): This is a state where there is only God. There is nothing else. There is not even samadhi. Its only God, God and God.
Till the state of atma shuddhi, jagat kalyan (world welfare) is possible. As paramatma, there is no one else, thus there is no one whose kalyan (welfare) has to be done. Still that love, that energy, automatically work towards jagat kalyan. In reality there is no one to help, yet help now flows constantly even without asking.
- These are topics of various aspects of spirituality as told by Para.