Gita 2.53

Sadhak: "Guru, I feel exactly what this verse describes. I've read so many teachings, and they seem to contradict each other. How do I find clarity?"

Guru: "Your honesty is the beginning of clarity. Most people pretend they're not confused—they pick one teaching and dismiss the rest. You are acknowledging the confusion, which means you're ready to move beyond intellectual resolution toward experiential resolution. The confusion cannot be solved at the level of the mind because the mind is the confusion. You need to find a ground beneath the mind—this is what samadhi offers."

Sadhak: "What exactly is samadhi? Is it a trance state, unconsciousness, or something else?"

Guru: "Samadhi is not unconsciousness but super-consciousness—awareness without the usual fragmentation into subject, object, and the process of knowing. In ordinary consciousness, there is you (the knower), what you're aware of (the known), and the act of knowing. In samadhi, this division dissolves. There is knowing without a separate knower. This is not trance or absence; it is presence so complete that the usual boundaries disappear. From this state, the 'conflicting' teachings are seen as different views of the same mountain."

Sadhak: "But how can I reach samadhi? It sounds very advanced."

Guru: "Begin where you are. Samadhi is the flowering; you plant the seed through regular meditation, through moments of presence in daily life, through gradually increasing periods where the mind rests rather than grasps. Every moment of peace, every glimpse of stillness, is a taste of samadhi. You are not as far from it as you think. The very awareness that is confused right now is the same awareness that will rest in samadhi. Only the movement of thought differs."

Sadhak: "Why does Krishna say the intellect should be unmoving? Isn't thinking a valuable tool?"

Guru: "Thinking is an excellent servant and a terrible master. The problem is not thinking but compulsive thinking—the mind that cannot stop, that churns endlessly, that turns every answer into a new question. When the intellect becomes 'niścalā'—still—it doesn't lose the capacity to think; it gains the capacity to not think, to rest. From this rest, thinking can be employed when useful and set aside when not. The unmoving intellect is not stupid but steady—clear water in which truth is reflected accurately."

Sadhak: "The verse uses two words—'niścalā' and 'acalā.' Is there a difference?"

Guru: "A subtle and important one. 'Niścalā' means 'not moving'—the mind has become still. 'Acalā' means 'immovable'—even if disturbed, it cannot be moved. The first is an achievement; the second is an establishment. A person might achieve moments of stillness (niścalā) but be easily disturbed back into confusion. When stability deepens to acalā, external circumstances—including encountering conflicting teachings—no longer destabilize. This is maturity: not just finding peace but being unable to lose it."

Sadhak: "Should I stop reading scriptures if they confuse me?"

Guru: "Not necessarily. The solution is not to eliminate the trigger but to transform the one who is triggered. Continue reading, but add practice—meditation, self-inquiry, time in stillness. Let the reading inform your practice rather than replace it. Over time, you'll notice the confusion decreasing. The same apparently conflicting teachings will reveal their underlying unity. You'll see that the confusion was in you, not in them."

Sadhak: "What about teachers who claim their path is the only right one? Should I trust them?"

Guru: "Be cautious. A genuinely realized teacher understands that truth can be approached through many paths and will honor your intelligence even while offering their path as valuable. Those who claim exclusivity are usually limited by their own experience. At the same time, don't use 'many paths' as an excuse to avoid committing to any one. Choose a path that resonates, practice it deeply, and let the depth reveal what the breadth could never show. From samadhi, all paths are seen as converging."