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Difference Between Deep Sleep And Samadhi In Hinduism

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In Hinduism, the concepts of deep sleep (sushupti) and samadhi represent distinct states of consciousness with profound implications for spiritual understanding and realization. This is exclusively mentioned in the Mandala Brahmana Upanishad.

Sushupti (Deep Sleep):

  • Sushupti refers to the state of deep sleep where the mind is completely dissolved into tamas, which is the quality associated with inertia or darkness, considered the basis of ignorance.
  • During sushupti, the individual experiences a state of unconsciousness where the ordinary functions of the mind, such as thoughts, perceptions, and emotions, are suspended.
  • Despite the dissolution of the mind, the individual retains all their inherent defects and tendencies, as the state of tamas is not conducive to spiritual transformation or enlightenment.
  • Upon waking from deep sleep, the individual resumes their ordinary perception of the world, with all its illusions and limitations intact.

Samadhi:

  • Samadhi refers to a state of perfect concentration resulting in the superconscious experience of the Atman, the ultimate reality or Self.
  • Unlike sushupti, where the mind is dissolved into tamas, in samadhi, the mind transcends its ordinary limitations and experiences a state of profound clarity and union with the divine.
  • In samadhi, tamas is completely destroyed, leading to the cessation of the perception of the world as a real object. The individual transcends the duality of subject and object and experiences the underlying unity of all existence.
  • Even upon emerging from samadhi, the realized soul retains the perception of the world not as a separate or real object but as an expression of Brahman, the ultimate reality, and identifies with the underlying oneness of existence.

In summary, while both sushupti and samadhi involve the dissolution of the mind, they lead to vastly different outcomes. Sushupti is characterized by ignorance and the retention of individual defects, whereas samadhi leads to spiritual enlightenment and the perception of the world as an expression of divine unity.