INDIA: Japanese woman buries herself underground without food or water in "Samadhi" meditation at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh for 72-hours to pray for world peace

Record ID: 1382781

  • Title: INDIA: Japanese woman buries herself underground without food or water in "Samadhi" meditation at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh for 72-hours to pray for world peace
  • Date: 22nd October 2005
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PILOT BABA, A HINDU HOLY MAN, SAYING: "Samadhi is a part of Indian tradition. People here have come to see if a Japanese woman can meditate like this and go for a samadhi, then anyone here can." (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) HENRY GIRI, A RUSSIAN HOLYMAN, SAYING: "To know what a samadhi is, one has to come to India, because in the outside world they don't underst
  • Embargoed: 18th November 2005 02:22
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA5Q2W5V9K4G57QJYUH5V9T2YE1
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A Japanese woman was sealed underground in a bid to complete a 72-hour meditation marathon to pray for peace and order in the world.
    Yogmata Japaki was left in "Samadhi", a state of complete meditation in Hinduism, as she prayed on Thursday (October 20) for the restoration natural order to earth. Yogmata Japaki, a Buddhist by birth, was on a strict fast for two days, a pre-requisition for attaining "Samadhi", as she climbed into the 15-feet-deep earthen pit in front of a massive crowd of devotees who prayed and sang in her honour in central India.
    Japaki would stay underground for 72 hours, without food or water at Gwalior, the main city of India's Madhya Pradesh state.
    "Samadhi is a part of Indian tradition. People here have come to see if a Japanese woman can meditate like this and go for a Samadhi, then anyone here can," aid Pilot Baba, a Hindu man who supporter her feat. Japaki was surrounded by devotees, from Japan, Russia and England who not only supported her feat but also prayed along, chanting "Om Namah Shivay" in honour of Hindu god of destruction Shiva.
    "To know what a Samadhi is, one has to come to India, because in the outside world they don't understand these things. People outside are oblivious to meditation. And it is also important to follow the instructions of the holy man," said Henry Giri, a man from Russia. wake of the devastating earthquake in India and Pakistan which has left thousands dead and homeless. It is not the first time that a Japanese spiritual woman is undertaking such an ordeal. During the holy Hindu festival of Maha-Kumbh in Allahabad in 2001 when the largest gathering of mankind at a single place took place, a similar ritual was successfully performed by another Japanese yogi Keiko Aikawa.
    Finding its origins in Hindu scriptures, "Samadhi" is deciphered as complete control over the functions of consciousness and it is seen as the passage to Nirvana or the state of pure awareness, of wholeness and perfection. By taking a Samadhi, scriptures say, all attachment to the material world and all karma is dissolved and the awareness is withdrawn step by step from the physical, astral and causal bodies until self-realization or oneness with the soul is achieved.
    The term has also been widely used in Buddhism, which has considerable influence in Japan.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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