Destruction of the mind to attain the state of ‘Nirvikalpa Samadhi’.

In the March 2012 issue of Tapovan Prasad, there is a chapter on Swami Tapovanam answering the questions on how vikshepa vritti (mental agitations) can be controlled and the mind eliminated in order to enter the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi and thereby attain the Supreme Brahman-hood.  Nirvikalpa Samadhi is the state of meditative living where the person has no traces of any EGO within him/her and the individualism has completely merged with the Infinite Consciousness.  To reach that state of samadhi, the Body-Mind-Intellect (BMI) layers have to be transcended and all vasanas eliminated.

As Swami Tapovanam explains, the mind is the product of the ‘satvik’ elements of the ‘pancha mahabhootas’ or the five basic elements (space, air, fire, water & earth) in their nascent form (apachikaranam). Mind is the flow of thoughts, so it is always in a state of change.  The mind has to be controlled and brought to a stillness by directing it to an higher inspiring IDEAL.  This is done through the various methods of Bhakthi Yoga.  Depending on the vasanas in the individual, the character of the person will be of different gunas – Tamasic, Rajasic and Satvik.    The person has to put in the effort to uplift themselves step by step from lower gunas to the higher ones. Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita has said the following in Chapter 6, verse 5.

“Let a man elevate himself by his own Self alone, and let him not lower himself; for this self alone is the friend of oneself, and this self is the enemy of oneself”.

 Once they reach the Satvik guna, the mind has to be oriented to higher levels by constant thought and understanding of the principle of ‘Aham Brahmosmi’ (I am Brahman).  Then through constant practice of meditation (Nidhidyasanam), the person has to stop this single thought of ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ to end all thoughts.  By that time, the person will have his/her personality layers totally tuned to the state of Supreme Consciousness all the time, and merges into ‘Nirvikalpa Samadhi’  - Objectless awareness.  In this state of objectless awareness, the  vasanas are weakened and mind gets annihilated. In that Samadhi state, the glory of Brahman with its attributes of ‘Sat Chit and Aananda’ is realized.

Hari Om.