Samadhi is deep sleep with the full knowledge of the Self. You get this sleepless sleep when you have burnt the five Jnana Indriyas in the fire of Wisdom, when you have extricated yourself from the clutches of Avidya, Maya or ignorance and when you have controlled all desires. Tadevartha matranirbhasam Svarupa Soonyameva Samadhi —Patanjali Yoga Sutra. Samadhi Samathovastha Jeevatma Paramatmano —Dattatreya Samhita. This is not a state of nothingness but a state of “everythingness.” You enter into a state of Absolute Awareness, in which time and place disappear; every place is here; every period of time is ‘now’; and everything is “I”. In this state you have obtained Bliss and Eternal Life. During cosmic consciousness, you are in touch with universal knowledge and life. The Divine principle flows through you. Your little, individual personality is lost. Your individual will has become merged in the cosmic will or Ishvara’s will. You are aware of the oneness of life. You have the one consciousness—CHINMAYA—that the universe is filled with one life, that the universe is full of life. You have Tattva Jnana and you see the real universe, which is the essence or background of the universe of Matter, Energy and Mind. You are in a state of Bliss and Ecstasy beyond understanding and description. This is a cognitive trace or Turiya Avastha where Triputi (knowledge, knowable and knower) exists.
There are eight limbs(Ashta-Anga) of Yoga for preparing the body and mind for meditation, and this meditation is designed to realise the Paramatma, the Lord within the Heart. Samadhi: the eighth limb, sometimes translated as trance. Samadhi is a state of deep loving absorption in trance meditating on the Supreme Person. It is no longer an artificial power of concentration that keeps one meditating but a spontaneous affection whereby it is impossible not to be thinking of the Supreme. There are 2 kinds of samadhi or states of absorption in the Supreme. One is in a trance-like state where one is relishing his loving relationship with the Supreme and there is no awareness of the surrounding world. This is the type commonly achieved by the Ashtanga Yogi who is aiming their concentration and meditation on the Supreme Person. There is a more active Samadhi, still being a state of deep absorption in loving relationship with the Supreme, but able to be experienced while acting in the world, with every action performed for the pleasure of the Supreme.
