Q. Do all samskaras have to disappear before we can get enlightened?
A. Understand, having samskaras is not a problem by itself.
Samskaras become a problem when you get attached to them and allow them to take over your life.
As long as you are in the body, you cannot live without samskaras – even after enlightenment. The basic samskaras needed to maintain the body, like eating and breathing, will still remain.
But they will not cause any disturbance in your inner space.
Not only these samskaras, any samskaras which can stay in your inner space without causing any conflict, are not a problem.
Patanjali, the father of Yoga, says beautifully, 'Virama pratyayaabhyasa purvaan samskarasheso'nyaha' (May you experience the samadhi where the cessation of all the thoughts happens.)
What he means is, when you experience Samadhi, all your unnecessary mental functions, all your clutching at thoughts, simply ceases. Only the samskaras that do not cause any disturbance in the inner space remain.
Understand, you don't have to exhaust all your samskaras before experiencing samadhi. If you can live without being disturbed by samskaras, you are already in samadhi.
People are afraid even to enter into Samadhi, because they think that it will put an end to all their samskaras. They are afraid that everything will be taken away from them!
A question that I'm asked again and again is, 'If I reach samadhi, will I become a Swami (renunciate), leave everything and go away? What will happen to my business, what will happen to my family? What will happen to my kids?' It's a big fear!
Samadhi is supposed to bring you out of fear, but we are afraid of samadhi!
In some parts of Bharat, there is a tradition of using mustard seeds to drive ghosts away. If somebody is believed to be possessed by ghosts, mustard seeds are thrown on him to drive the ghosts away.
The enlightened Master Sri Ramakrishna , who is the architect of modern-day Hindusim, says beautifully about this tradition, 'If the ghost enters you, mustard seeds can be used to drive it away. But if ghosts enter the mustard seed also, with what can you be saved?'
In the same way, samadhi is the way to drive away all fears, but if the fear about samadhi enters you, what can be done?
FROM UNDERSTANDING TO EXPERIENCING Preparing your Inner space
Please understand, if you experience samadhi, you will not become a Swami, you will not lose your business, you will not lose all your material comforts. No!
Only one thing will be taken away from you. The samskaras, the engrams, which create disturbance in your inner space will be destroyed. That's all. Whatever engrams do not disturb you your inner space can remain. It's not as if you will become completely dead or empty.
No.
But people have such weird ideas!
They come and tell me, 'Swamiji, after enlightenment everything is forgotten. Will I forget everything if I experience samadhi?' Understand, samadhi doesn't make you lose your memory!
It's not that you will forget everything.
Only your emotional attachment to your memories, the fear or greed which you feel when particular engrams are awakened, that will disappear. That will disappear.
That is the essence of samadhi.
But we are Masters in creating imaginary problems for ourselves! We know how to make a worry out of anything.
Here is a story:
An elderly patient went to the doctor.
'I need your help, Doctor. Do you remember those voices in my head about which I have been complaining for years?'
Doctor: 'Yes, yes.'
Patient: 'Well, they suddenly stopped.'
Doctor: 'That is good! So what is the problem?'
- Patient: 'No, I think I am going deaf.'
You can make a problem out of anything!
When you live with a conflict-free inner space, nothing will be a problem. If you have wealth, wonderful, you will live happily with it. If it goes away the next day, you won't even think about it. You will simply move on. Whether the experience is positive or negative, you will just go through it and move on. There will be no hangover.
Living without hangovers about people, place, objects - that's the ultimate freedom.
Living without hangover is what I call living enlightenment.
When you are completely open in the present moment, you will enjoy completely.
When you live something totally, you can leave it also totally.
For example, when you are with someone, you never open up completely. You never open up totally to the other, because you are afraid of rejection. So you have your shield. You are half/half! Half of you is with them, half you are protecting for yourself.
When you are physically with someone, you are not completely present. So naturally, when you are physically away from them, you cannot be completely away. There will be a hangover in the form of attachment or aversion.
When you experience enlightenment, you can enjoy more, without hangover! In fact, only when you don't have the fear of attachment can you really enjoy something.
When you are with that person you are total, you will respond, you will not be afraid to open up. You will be completely with that person. And when the person is not there, you will remain blissfully by yourself!
People ask me, 'Unless the samsakras of fear and guilt are there in us, how can society run? Will we not fall into immorality?
FROM UNDERSTANDING TO EXPERIENCING Preparing your Inner space
Understand, when you live without samskaras, your moral standard will be naturally high. Nobody needs to teach you morality.
Your morality will be there just because of your overflowing fulfillment. You will be living based on consciousness, not on conscience.
One experience of samadhi in childhood or youth is enough to turn around your whole life.
Be very clear: enlightenment is not something you can postpone to the end of your life!
Enlightenment is the wonderful key to live your life in a joyful, creative, conflict-free way.
As of now, we live our entire life by trial and error.
We don't have the clarity to meet life directly.
Like a bird on the tree, we just keep hopping from branch to branch, tasting the same sweet and bitter fruits again and again. The grass always looks greener on the other side!
We are never satisfied, never relaxed.
We live in continuous inner conflict.
When you live without samskaras, even your disturbance cannot disturb you! Even your anger or your lust cannot disturb you.
You will either experience and relax, or you will witness and relax.
Working with your body
Your body has an independent intelligence
which can run your life beautifully
without your interference.
Whether you accept it or not, whether you believe it or not,
that tremendous intelligence is operating every single moment.
Trust that intelligence and relax.
Living in harmony with your natural intelligence
is living a spiritual life.
Whenever I speak about 'Meditation and the body', some people start becoming uneasy.
Whenever people are entering into meditation, they feel that the first step is to quickly get rid of their bodies!
Especially if they have read a few spiritual books, they start feeling ashamed because they have a body!
On the spiritual path, the body is projected as the greatest obstacle to achievement. So you develop an unnatural hatred towards your body. This gets rooted deeply in your unconscious mind. You begin to think that your body is working against you.
But the truth is, your body is the boat which will carry you across the river of samsara (worldliness)!
Can you move about in this world without your body?
Can you meditate without your body?
Can you even understand these truths without the help of your eyes, your brain?