Sustained Samadhi: Life in a Flow State

Daaji explores the flow state through Yoga, showing how meditation and spiritual practices can deepen absorption and carry it into the continuous flow of daily life.

BY DAAJI

तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम्
tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam

The smooth, unbroken flow of the mind toward the chosen object of focus is called meditation.
—Yoga Sutra 3.2

There is a kind of experience that most people have known at least once in their lives. It is a moment when time seems to dissolve, when the self becomes transparent, when action flows from some source deeper and wiser than the thinking mind. Athletes call it “being in the zone.” Artists describe it as a creative trance. Scientists refer to a state of pure concentration from which sudden insight emerges. And, in recent decades, theorists have given it a name: the flow state.

What is remarkable about this phenomenon, which contemporary psychology treats as something extraordinary, is that our great yogic tradition has known about it for thousands of years. Not only has it been described in precise detail, but a method has also been developed to cultivate it as a permanent way of life rather than a fleeting visitation. Heartfulness has refined this method over the generations and made it accessible to all.

In our tradition, this living flow state is called turiyatit. And the path that leads to it passes through what Patanjali called dhyana, through what Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur [Babuji] called Sahaj Samadhi, and through the practice of Constant Remembrance. Together, these open into something that the Bhagavad Gita distills into just three words:

योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्
yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam 

Through Yoga, excellence in all action.
—Bhagavad Gita 2.50

Turiya: Continuous Flow in Daily Life

Turiyatit from Turiya

Turiya, spoken of in the Mandukya Upanishad as the fourth state of consciousness beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, is a condition of absorbed, restful consciousness, settled and inwardly continuous with the Source. In meditation, one may touch this state when the mind is no longer pulled by memory, imagination, or anticipation.

Turiyatit means “beyond turiya.” It is the natural extension of that inner condition into daily life. The meditative state steps out into the open: eyes open, hands busy, fully present in the world, yet inwardly continuous with the Source. The mind remains restful, not chasing things, not anticipating future problems, not carrying the weight of the past. One is simply, completely, in the moment.

Turiyatit means “beyond turiya.” 
It is the natural extension of that inner condition into daily life. 
The meditative state steps out into the open: 
eyes open, hands busy, fully present in the world, 
yet inwardly continuous with the Source. 

In Heartfulness, this happens very naturally. The love for the Master becomes so all-pervading that every task is naturally held within it. You continue doing your work as if offering it to him as prasad. Every act in the day becomes an offering; each action becomes an act of reverence, not because we label it so, but because it arises from that place of devotion. And when we live this way, the mind finds no reason to be disturbed. It simply cooperates, quietly and peacefully, with whatever the moment asks.

The turiya condition is available even to someone meditating for the first time. If we are careful to maintain that inner condition after meditation by prolonging it and nurturing it, it gradually becomes turiyatit: moving through life with a cool, steady, eyes-open flow.

Akarma: Egoless Action

Lord Krishna classifies actions in the Gita into three categories: karma, vikarma, and akarma. Karma is action. Vikarma is action performed with love, a love that thereby transforms it. Akarma is what emerges when both are transcended: not the absence of action, nor the absence of love, but a state that contains both and yet is identified with neither. It is the algebraic sum, so to speak, of action and love-filled action—arriving somewhere beyond both.

A mother wakes in the middle of the night because her baby is crying. She feeds the baby and goes back to bed. A few days later, she falls ill. She wakes her husband. “The baby is crying, please warm up the milk and feed the baby.” He gets up and does it. But he keeps it in his memory: “I did this for you when you were not well.” He will remind everyone without fail. The mother acts purely out of love, so much so that she is not even aware of what she has done. The husband remembers it all his life. Without this unique kind of love, his action remains karma. Hers, absorbed entirely in love, has become vikarma. But notice—a person who keeps saying “I did this out of love” is not truly acting from love. People with real love will never do this.

There comes a time when even the idea of love disappears from the equation, though it is very much present behind the scenes. At that point, you neither remember the action nor the love behind it. That is akarma: action performed with pure love but completely without attachment. It is the ideal condition for a spiritual aspirant.

In Sahaj Marg, akarma is not a peak experience that comes to us only occasionally. It is a state of being that can be developed, stabilized, and ultimately lived continuously—not through a change in external circumstance, but through interior transformation. Through the mechanics of meditation, cleaning, and Constant Remembrance, the ego structure is progressively refined until akarma is no longer exceptional. It becomes the ordinary texture of daily life.

Karma is action. Vikarma is action performed with love, 
a love that thereby transforms it. 
Akarma is what emerges when both are transcended: 
not the absence of action, nor the absence of love, 
but a state that contains both and 
yet is identified with neither.

Dharana: Effortless Effort

Constant Remembrance

Every morning in meditation, we create a meditative state to carry out into the day. Each evening, through cleaning, we create a state of purity to carry within us. And each time we pray, we create a prayerful state in the heart, staying connected to the Source, vacuumized and receptive. When we retain and nurture these three states throughout the day, we keep the top of our inner condition spinning, creating a beautiful balance. This practice is known as Constant Remembrance, and when we hold it throughout the day, we not only stop the formation of samskaras but also naturally develop the capacity for Sahaj Samadhi.

This practice sustains the flow state through every hour of daily life. When we are truly absorbed in the presence of the Divine, we think and act without creating new imprints on our consciousness, sustaining our flow state all day.

When we are truly absorbed in the presence of the Divine, 
we think and act without creating new imprints 
on our consciousness, sustaining our flow state all day.
 

Effortless Effort

Dharana results in concentration because there is an unbroken flow toward one thing that is contained and nurtured in the heart. Some effort is involved in directing the flow of thought, but the ideal is to cultivate a capacity for effortless effort. This guides our consciousness into the current flowing inward to the Source, moving us toward complete oneness with the Divine Principle.

And effortlessness is not the only ideal. It is, essentially, the natural state. In meditation, it must become effortless. In cleaning, eventually, even before we make a sankalpa, the cleaning begins on its own. In Constant Remembrance, there is effort at first, but afterward it becomes natural. Effortlessness is the key that opens the door to miracles and Grace.

When we sincerely take up the goal of becoming one with the Ultimate, the centripetal flow creates a stir in the Infinite. Divinity itself becomes convinced of our one-pointedness of purpose, our earnest intent. At this point, it is no longer simply “me” moving toward the goal. The dynamic changes to that of a lover and the Beloved, where attraction flows from both sides, and the distance between them grows less and less.

The Transmission we receive in each meditation session facilitates this effortless inward focus because it comes from the Source itself. It turns our attention naturally deep within, placing us in osmosis with the most sublime samadhi from the very beginning. The traditional texts describe true dhyana as a steady, uninterrupted flow, like oil poured in a continuous stream, or a smooth river moving into the ocean. Patanjali’s sutra shows it as the natural progression from dharana, where concentration requires effort and can be broken. Dhyana is what happens when that focus becomes seamless and self-sustaining.

Samadhi: The Ultimate Absorption

Sahaj Samadhi

Samadhi, the ultimate state of spiritual relaxation and effortless concentration, is considered the pinnacle of the human experience in Yoga. It is the reason we turn all our faculties inward and meditate. In the Heartfulness tradition, this destination is called Sahaj Samadhi: a state in which the individual exists at a stage of consciousness that may be described as superhuman, yet the lower mind remains aware of everything going on around it without being affected by the environment. One may remain busy with work, the conscious mind absorbed in external activity, while in the innermost core of the heart, there is an unbroken settledness in the Real. The subconscious mind remains occupied with divine thoughts. Samadhi is all-pervasive, even as one appears to be fully engaged in worldly life. This is the highest form of samadhi, and little remains to be done after a person has entered this state permanently.

Samadhi, the ultimate state of spiritual relaxation
and effortless concentration, is considered the
pinnacle of the human experience in Yoga. It is the
reason we turn all our faculties inward and meditate.

When we learn to carry this condition into our day, we can focus simultaneously on work, our surroundings, and whatever is happening around us, and yet remain in communion with our inner spiritual state. We are peaceful, witnessing all things at once, a 360-degree consciousness with eyes open. There is no need to focus on any particular thing, because the moment we do, it is no longer meditation but concentration.

Transmission, Pranahuti, is what makes this journey available from the very beginning. Because it comes from the Source itself, it naturally turns our attention deep within and places us in osmosis with the most sublime samadhi long before we could arrive there through effort alone. And as consciousness expands through this practice, inspiration follows naturally, much as most great scientific discoveries have occurred and most artistic masterpieces have been created.

When we create a state of inner
vacancy through prayer, the flow of
Grace becomes imminent. Love fills
our being the moment we create that quality
of supplication within ourselves. 

The Flow of Grace

Pranahuti carries us effortlessly to the depths of samadhi we would not otherwise reach so easily or so quickly. Babuji understood that Grace flows the way everything in nature flows—from a higher level to a lower one, drawn by a difference in polarity. When we create a state of inner vacancy through prayer, the flow of Grace becomes imminent. Love fills our being the moment we create that quality of supplication within ourselves. In its real sense, which most of us have overlooked, this is what prayer is at its deepest: not so much a petition as a connection, the opening of a channel through which Transmission flows and gradually establishes a state of osmosis between soul and Source, the way a cell draws nourishment through its walls simply by maintaining the right inner conditions.

Thus, the practices hold together as one living system. Morning meditation, evening cleaning, the state of Constant Remembrance, the receptive stillness of Pranahuti—each one prepares the heart to receive, and each one deepens the capacity of the next. Through them, what begins as effort becomes ease, what begins as a practice becomes a presence, and what begins as a glimpse of samadhi gradually opens into something without limit or end.

May we all experience subtler and subtler states of samadhi through the practice of meditation, until one day we find ourselves swimming in the infinite ocean while living a full and joyful human life. That swimming, it should be said, is endless in nature.  There is no final shore to reach, no moment at which the journey concludes. There is only going deeper, opening wider, becoming more naturally and completely what we have always, in our truest nature, already been.

तस्य प्रशान्तवाहिता संस्कारात्
tasya praśāntavāhitā saṃskārāt

The potent flow of this state is maintained by creating the habit of practicing day after day.
—Yoga Sutra 3.10

FROM DAAJI
Daaji is the Heartfulness Guide and president of Shri Ram Chandra Mission.

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