Physical symptoms leading up to Nirvikalpa Samadhi

The following questions are answered in this article:

• What is nirvikalpa samadhi?

• How does it feel like to be in nirvikalpa samadhi?

• What are the physical symptoms leading up to nirvikalpa samadhi?

• Does the body start to pulsate before nirvikalpa samadhi?

• Does the body freeze up during nirvikalpa samadhi?

• Does breathing stop during nirvikalpa samadhi?

Note: The following article is based on Nirvikalpa samadhi fructified from objective meditation, NOT subjective meditation.

 

Nirvikalpa samadhi is undifferentiated consciousness. It is void of any distinctions. It is when all objects, thoughts, ideas, etc. cease to exist while you only exist AS the presence of pure awareness. The experience of nirvikalpa samadhi lasts so long as you’re not in the presence of objects and thoughts. The experience (while in it), is unknowable, and only becomes known when you come down from it. This means the actual experience is inferred only once the mind becomes active again to realize the pure presence you abided AS moments before. Because the mind is not alert/active, the experience itself is unknowable. 

 

The physical symptoms leading up to nirvikalpa samadhi can be very terrifying for one who has yet to plunge into the oblivion of pure awareness. It requires one to give up the ego completely which they’ve continuously held on to throughout innumerable lifetimes. While everyone gives up the ego whenever they fall into deep sleep (where the mind switches off and becomes inactive), giving up the ego for nirvikalpa samadhi is different because it is done consciously. Therefore, the fear that comes right before a person reaches the breakpoint of taking the great leap of faith into unknowable awareness, is more heightened than the fear one can experience right before the possibility of physically dying. You have to consciously make the subtle decision to make the plunge, thereby giving up full control of who you think you are.

 

Another reason why it is extremely terrifying is because there is no doer in such a state to bring your own self back. This is because the person has temporarily renounced any form of doer-ship which is only a function held by the ego. Therefore, before you make the plunge, you’re giving yourself up completely in the hands of God. Your false existence of the ego-mind is now in the hands of an autonomous function (i.e. God), and you have given up all control to this unlimited power. You cannot know when you will come back from such a state since you have lost the ability to control anything (including your own sense of “I am”). This means you completely surrender your will to God, and the act itself is comparable to death. The experience can last days, weeks, or even years, which is why many Sages of the past, when awakened from nirvikalpa samadhi, were in sheer awe of the changes around them when returning back to body-mind consciousness. 

 

Before nirvikalpa samadhi is experienced, the seeker firsts experiences savikalpa samadhi, or differentiated consciousness. In this case, the seeker receives intermittent glimpses of consciousness while the mind is completely awake, allowing them to know partial knowledge of the self. There is still a distinction between knower and known which allows the seeker to truly understand the nature of the self before plunging into pure presence that is unknowable on its own. In the experience of savikalpa samadhi, it will feel like everything around you is a dream and that all objects experienced are one and the same with an underlying unity behind everything. 

 

When savikalpa samadhi unfolds, prana is naturally built up in the third eye and puts pressure on the ears. It reveals the anahata sound which is the inner sound you hear within when all external activities begin to silence completely. You may also hear your heart beat loudly as all external stimuli shuts off from your perception. The more you get absorbed in the anahata sound, the more it is amplified as the prana begins to withdraw from the rest of your body to your head. You will begin to perceive less distinctions between things, whether your eyes are open or closed. 

 

As the sound and prana amplifies, you begin to lose body-consciousness. You no longer become aware of things around you but completely start to lose sense of duality within. The prana may cause pulsations in your third eye or your crown region on top of the head if you focus attention in those regions sharply. As each and every moment passes by, the more self-absorbed in samadhi you are, distinctions between things will disappear. This is the gradual dissolution of the ego. You will lose all sense of “I am” when this samadhi deepens. As you slowly approach the breaking point (i.e. the horizon), you will slowly freeze up. Breath will begin to come to a halt as all joints in your body begin to lock up. You will notice this if you have gone into deep samadhi many times, but for those who have experienced this type of samadhi for the first time, they may not be conscious of these signs at first, and in which case, the samadhi will be short, compared with those who have undergone it many times. 

 

As the breath begins to come to a complete stop and the body begins to freeze up, your position or posture while in samadhi will remain in that position if you choose to pass the breaking point or horizon. It is at this point, the ego is almost completely gone and what remains is the slightest ounce of doership left that is available to make the great leap of faith. The seeker will know intuitively that once they pass the breaking point, there will no longer be a seeker. There is intuitive knowledge that resides in that very horizon which will give the seeker a glimpse of what the unknowable is.  

 

Depending on the maturity of the seeker, they will either choose with the last bit of volition they have left in their being to take the plunge into the oblivion of pure awareness OR revert back to body-mind consciousness. If they choose to take the plunge, the internal activity of the body will stop as the body completely shuts down throughout the duration of nirvikalpa samadhi. The seeker will be completely locked/frozen and will be unconscious of anything around them as they are now completely self absorbed in pure awareness. It doesn’t matter if their body is exposed to harsh weather, creatures, or people trying to wake them up, they will not respond. Only God will bring them back as they are no longer conscious of anything including the sense that they are alive as a separate self. 

 

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