A yoga is a method--any one of many--by which an individual may become
united with the Godhead, the Reality which underlies this apparent,
ephemeral universe.
(p. 11)
Nirvikalpa samadhi has been described by Shandara as follows:
There is a continuous consciousness of the unity of Atman and Brahman ...All sense of duality is obliterated. There is pure, unified consciousness. The man who is well established in this consciousness is said to be illumined.Once nirvikalpa samadhi has been achieved, it is possible for the saint to pass into and out of it repeatedly. This was the case with Sri Ramakrishna. While in nirvikalpa he experienced union with the impersonal Brahman. But, on returning to normal consciousness, he would speak of God in the aspect of the Divine Mother, his Chosen Ideal. Mother did not lose her reality for him because he had known Brahman...When we say Brahman alone is real, we do not mean that everything else is an illusion, but rather that Brahman alone is fundamental and omnipresent. The aspects of God, the divine incarnations, have thier own relative order of reality...A man is said to be free even in this life when he is established in illumination. His bliss is unending. He almost forgets this world of appearances.
Even though his mind is dissolved in Brahman, he is fully awake, free from the ignorance of waking life. He is fully conscious, but free from any craving...
For him, the sorrows of this world are over. Though he possesses a finite body, he remains united with the Infinite. His heart knows no anxiety...
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