Samadhi

The highest state of consciousness in yoga, where the ego or cognizer is no longer separate from the cognized. There are several stages of sam€dhi as explained in the Yoga S™tras of Patañjali. It is preceded by seven stages of preparation or practice, namely, yama (restraints), niyama (observances), pr€Š€y€ma (control of pr€Ša through breathing), praty€hara (sense withdrawal), dh€raŠa (concentration) and dhy€na (meditation). All together, they form the eight limbs of yoga.

Sam€dhi can be with seed (sabija sam€dhi) or without seed (nirb…ja sam€dhi). This is also referred to as savikalpa and nirvikalpa sam€dhi. In the process of attaining sabija sam€dhi, the meditator undergoes substages, such as savitarka sam€patti, or a state of equilibrium in meditating on gross objects, and savic€ra sam€patti, which is the equilibrium when focusing on subtle objects. In the latter process, the meditator experiences the dawning of inner spiritual light, or the emergence of prAjñš, which is intuitive wisdom. Prajñ€ is different from sam€dhi. Thus the essential nature of satori in Zen meditation is different from sam€dhi.

The triple process of concentration, meditation and sam€dhi constitute saˆyama. Patañjali states that when saˆyama is done on specific objects or themes, certain faculties or capacities are developed in the yogi. For example, saˆyama on sound enables the yogi to comprehend the sounds made by any living thing; saˆyama on karma enables the yogi to know one’s time of death, etc.

In the process of raising one’s consciousness from the lower mental to the €tmic level, the consciousness goes through another class of stages called samprajñ€ta and asamprajñ€ta stages. Samprajñ€ta means a state of consciousness with objects (viaya) as perceived in one particular level of consciousness, such as the lower mental. As one enters a laya or zero point between one level to another (such as from the lower mental to the higher mental), the meditator passes through a cloud where there is temporarily no content or pratyaya. This cloud is the asamprajñ€ta state.

The attainment of sam€dhi constitutes a major stage towards attaining ultimate liberation from the round of birth and death, called in Yoga kaivalya (lit. “isolation” or “detachment”).

See RšJA YOGA; SAMšPATTI

V.H.C.

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