What Is Samadhi?

A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA – Having acquired a good sitting place in a secluded environment, the yogi begins to purify the atma—body, mind and soul. The yogi should not think, “Now I will try to achieve some wonderful powers.” Sometimes yogis do attain certain siddhis, or powers, but these are not the purpose of yoga, and real yogis do not exhibit them. The real yogi thinks, “I am now contaminated by this material atmosphere, so now I must purify myself.”

We can quickly see that controlling the mind and body is not such an easy thing and that we cannot control them as easily as we can go to the store and purchase something. But Krishna indicates that these rules can be easily followed when we are in Krishna consciousness.

Of course everyone is motivated by sex life, but sex life is not actually discouraged. We have this material body, and as long as we have it, sex desire will be there. Similarly, as long as we have the body, we must eat to maintain it, and we must sleep in order to give it rest. We cannot expect to negate these activities, but the Vedic literatures do give us guidelines for regulation in eating, sleeping, mating, etc. If we at all expect success in the yoga system, we cannot allow our unbridled senses to take us down the paths of sense objects; therefore guidelines are set up. Lord Sri Krishna is advising that the mind can be controlled through regulation. If we do not regulate our activities, our mind will be more and more agitated. It is not that activities are to be stopped, but regulated by the mind always in Krishna consciousness. Being always engaged in some activity connected with Krishna is actual samadhi. It is not that when one is in samadhi he doesn’t eat, work, sleep or enjoy himself in any way. Rather, samadhi can be defined as executing regulated activities while absorbed in the thought of Krishna.