108 Ways to Samadhi.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
You mentioned, “two sensory paths of meditation” in a recent post, as you were addressing sight and sound as forms to reach the silent self. So this made me wonder and question, what about the other senses, such as touch, smell, and taste? Can we also meditate upon them for the same results, as it would appear so if sight and sound are two ways to meditate? And if so, where do the other three sensory paths fit in as far as effectiveness? And finally, can we meditate beyond the 5 senses? If so, how and what tool is used, i.e., the brain or something else more spiritual and not of our physical world, such as soul or spirit?
Response:
Meditation provides a means through which awareness can experience its own pure nature. As such, meditation on a sound or an image is only the vehicle for the mind to follow to subtler and subtler levels of experience, until it lets go of the most refined level of that experience and is left with its own Self, pure consciousness. As you suggest, there are many possible vehicles for the mind to transcend with, including all of the five senses.
In the Vedic literature a more thorough analysis lists 108 possible avenues to Samadhi through some combination of the 3 different states of relative consciousness, the 5 organs of action, the 5 elements, and the 5 senses of perception along with the mind and intellect.
Love,
Deepak
