Samādhi - a simple definition

Here's a very simple way to understand samādhi.

Think of a sentence as subject, verb/activity, and object.

I - meditate upon - something.

Initially, there is awareness or consciousness of all three parts. Then, one loses consciousness of the subject. Work/activity/thought gets done unselfconsciously. Then, if one is sitting with closed eyes, one loses consciousness of the activity also. What is left is awareness only of the object. This is a simple idea of samādhi.

 

Since one's mind is not used to systematically or regularly doing this, it keeps jumping around the three parts. Much like falling asleep though, even meditation, let alone samādhi, does not occur by doing something, but by relaxing and letting go of activities.

 

dhāraṅa - dhyāna - samādhi form a progression of states. [1] One might say all three (I, meditate, object) are present in dhāraṅa, only two (meditate, object) in dhyāna, and only one (object) in samādhi. [2]

 

NOTES

[1] In the Kūrma Purāṅa, as quoted by Sw. Vivekananda in Raja Yoga, dhāraṅa is a thought that lasts 12 seconds, dhyāna 12x12 or 144 seconds, and samādhi 12x12x12 or 1728 seconds or 28 minutes.

 

[2] samādhi, according to PYS, is not just one state or epiphany. Depending on the type of object and the type of mental activity, it is of multiple types. This is probably why it is widely misunderstood.