Question: For how long can a realised soul remain in _savikalpa_ samadhi?

Sri Chinmoy: One need not be a realised soul in order to enter into savikalpa samadhi. If someone is a great aspirant and if he has been meditating for many years, he can have savikalpa samadhi. It is not that difficult. Savikalpa samadhi can last for several hours. When Sri Ramakrishna used to touch seekers and give them a kind of trance and samadhi, it was for a few hours. In savikalpa samadhi one does not stay more than a day or two, because it is not necessary and not advisable. Only nirvikalpa samadhi goes on for seven, eight, nine, ten days, because nirvikalpa samadhi is more important in terms of our inner life. For a spiritually realised person there is no definite boundary to his savikalpa samadhi. At his will he can come and go. At any moment he can enter, and he can stay a few hours or days. Certainly it is not an easy thing for an aspirant to do, but it is not the most difficult thing for a Yogi. If someone is a realised soul, if he is a real Yogi or spiritual Master or Avatar, for him savikalpa samadhi is just like playing with toys. In his case it is very simple, but for an ordinary aspirant, certainly it is difficult.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The summits of God-Life: Samadhi and Siddhi, Agni Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sgl