Session Excerpt: On Meditation, Samadhi, the Nervous System, Drug Use, Shaktipat and Awakening

Hi Brent. In meditation, I have been focusing on the breathing and letting thoughts come and go but was curious about Samadhi. How do I do that?

Samadhi is the natural consequence of being aware of the breathing and letting thoughts come and go in meditation. For most meditators, their practice begins to touch upon states of Samadhi after practicing for some time. It’s highly unlikely for someone to experience Samadhi early on in their practice.

You don’t have to do anything different in your meditation to go into Samadhi. Just continue to be aware of the breath and letting thoughts, emotions and sensory perceptions come and go. As your practice deepens, your nervous system will begin to adjust to higher states of consciousness in meditation and naturally, you will begin to get tastes of Samadhi.

With further practice, you will be able to go right into Samadhi with very little effort. But this happens at a much more advanced stage.

Samadhi is, as I use the term, the absorption of the relative body-mind (thoughts, emotions, sensory perceptions) within the field of absolute consciousness/awareness/being. 

There are many stages of Samadhi, but generally speaking, it describes the absorption of the relative within the absolute.

Absorption can be felt, known and experienced directly. You will feel it across your whole body. Your thoughts will appear to arise in and out of a vast field of awareness. It is likened to an altered state of consciousness, if you will.

Is it possible to go into Samadhi by accident if only momentarily, or while on drugs?

It is possible, yes. But when it happens by accident or as an unintended by-product of drug use, one has very little context for the experience and thus does not benefit much from it at all.

One might argue that someone that is an experienced meditator who is able to access Samadhi can enter that state while on certain drugs and experience an even deeper meditative experience than they typically can while sober. 

Ideally, it’s still not recommended as during these types of experiences, with Samadhi in combination with drugs, the nervous system is being supercharged or overclocked. One can burn themselves out as the energy can become too strong for the system to handle.

If one does wish to experiment with certain drugs and meditation, it’s recommended that they don’t do so very frequently and that they take extra care to ground and stabilize themselves before, during and after any usage. That’s my advice. And I am speaking from personal experience.

With meditation however, there is no likelihood of overdoing it. You can only go as deeply into Samadhi as your system is capable of handling, not more.

Okay, cool. I think I experienced something similar to Samadhi while high on pot.

Yes, pot can bring about those types of experiences.

I’m not a big advocate of drug use for spiritual development. However, I still feel obligated to offer some advice about it. I feel that if you wish to use something like pot in combination with meditation, being outside in nature is ideal for staying grounded while doing so.

Okay, so if Samadhi is spirit/consciousness why does the nervous system have to be strengthened?

The nervous system has to be developed in order to hold these higher states of consciousness. These higher states of consciousness are experienced through the body-mind organism. Though consciousness may appear to be something completely separate from the body-mind, for example, in witnessing states, it really is not.

Consciousness is expressed through the relative body-mind organism. This means one’s physiology is directly involved with meditation. You can observe this very easily by taking note that when you meditate, your metabolic rate automatically begins to shift. Your heart rate and breath begin to slow down. These are biological functions all related to the nervous system. This directly shows that meditation, Samadhi, and spirit/consciousness are all involved with the biology of the body-mind organism.

Oh okay, cool. In the short amount of time I have been meditating, I seem to be progressing more quickly on my path. It’s easier to let go, so to speak.

Definitely. Meditation is essentially all spiritual practice boiled down to its most concentrated form.

Eckhart Tolle says in his book, The Power of Now, that another way to speed up the progress is to be in the presence of an enlightened being. I paraphrased that. Does this conversation count?

Right. It certainly does count. Even over instant messaging, my state of being is being radiated outwards. By being in contact with me, you begin to harmonize with the state of consciousness that I am in, and this speeds up your own development. It’s similar to being led by example. However, my example is not about what I’m doing or saying. My example is what I am. 

I serve as a mirror for you. Your mind may not see or understand the reflection, but your consciousness will recognize it. This recognition may even be experienced directly in this moment as a feeling of peace, bliss, joy or love. Those feelings are not guaranteed, but they are common.

Yeah! I really like to listen to your voice. It fills me with peace and bliss, a wonderful state of being.

It’s an energetic phenomenon. My nervous system is so saturated with consciousness that now it begins to radiate outward. Some masters are able to directly transmit divine energy and awaken it within another at will. I do not do this.

You wouldn’t awaken someone at will? Because they may not be able to handle it?

The direct transmission that I mentioned is called Shaktipat. One should only give Shaktipat to another at will if they’re willing to take responsibility for that person’s subsequent unfolding.

Call you tell how far along I am? I don’t think I’m very far at all. I hope to awaken soon.

Near or far, these words are irrelevant. You are where you need to be and you are progressing at the right pace. Awakening occurs in many stages and phases. It’s not black and white, though at times it may be expressed as if it is.

To first recognize yourself as non-physical consciousness that is transcendent of the body-mind, is an awakening. You have experienced this. Many people have. So you can say that you are awakened to a certain degree, but there is still further to go. There always is.

Even in the highest states, you will still be progressing further. So you might as well embrace that aspect of your journey and life rather than hope that it goes away. It will never go away. We exist to expand.

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