Swami Vivekananda's Experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhi - Vedanta

Swami Vivekananda's experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhifound that everything,—the food, the plate, the person whoserved, and even myself—was nothing but THAT. I ate amorsel or two and sat still. I was startled by my mother’swords, ‘Why do you sit still? Finish your meal!’—and beganto eat again. But all the while, whether eating or lying down,or going to college, I had the same experience and feltmyself always in a sort of comatose state. While in thestreets, I noticed cabs plying, but I did not feel inclined tomove out of the way. I felt that the cabs and myself were ofone stuff. There was no sensation in my limbs, which Ithought were getting paralysed. I did not relish eating andfelt as if somebody else were eating. Sometimes I lay downduring the meal and after a few minutes got up and againbegan to eat. The result would be that on some days Iwould take too much, but it did no harm. My motherbecame alarmed and said that there must be somethingwrong with me. She was afraid that I might not livelong. When the above state altered a little, the worldbegan to appear to me as a dream. While walking inCornwallis Square, I would strike my head againstthe iron railings to see if they were real or only adream. This state of things continued for some days.When I became normal again, I realized that I musthave had a glimpse of the Advaita state. Then it struckme that the words of the scriptures were not false.Thenceforth I could not deny the conclusions of theAdvaita philosophy.”(pp.144-145)Now we come to the greatest moment of Naren’ssadhana, the very crest and glory of his spiritualrealizations. Ever since the Master had initiated him intothe intellectual and spiritual awareness of the Advaita2