Editing Samadhi (section)

== Definitions ==
''Samadhi'' may refer to a broad range of states.{{sfn|Arbel|2016|p=94}}{{sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=XXV-XXVI, note 9}}{{sfn|Taimni|1961|p="42. Savitarka Samadhi is that in which knowledge"}} A common understanding regards ''samadhi'' as meditative absorption:{{sfn|Arbel|2016|p=94}}
* Sarbacker: ''samādhi'' is [[meditation|meditative]] absorption or contemplation.{{sfn|Sarbacker|2012|p=13}}
* Diener, Erhard & Fischer-Schreiber: ''samādhi'' is a non-dualistic state of [[consciousness]] in which the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the observing object.{{sfn|Diener|Erhard|Fischer-Schreiber|1991}}
* Shivananda: "When the mind is completely absorbed in one object of meditation, it is termed Samadhi."{{refn|group=note|Shivananda: "In Samadhi, There is neither physical nor mental consciousness. There is only spiritual consciousness. There is only Existence (Sat). That is your real Svarupa. When the water dries up in a pool, the reflection of the sun in the water also vanishes. When the mind melts in Brahman, when the mind-lake dries up, the reflected Chaitanya (Chidabhasa) also vanishes. The Jivatman (personality) goes away. There remains Existence alone."{{source?|date=December 2023}}}}

In a Buddhist context, a more nuanced understanding sees ''samadhi'' as a state of intensified awareness and investigation of bodily and mental objects or experiences:
* [[Dogen]]: "The Buddha says: 'When you monks unify your minds, the mind is in samadhi. Since the mind is in samadhi, you know the characteristics of the creation and destruction of the various phenomena in the world [...] When you gain samadhi, the mind is not scattered, just as those who protect themselves from floods guard the levee.{{'"}}{{sfnp|Maezumi|Cook|2007|p=43}}
* Richard Shankman: "The term ''samadhi'' basically means 'undistractedness.{{'"}}{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=3}} It may be viewed as "an exclusive focus on a single object,"{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=4}} but also as "a broader state of awareness in which the mind remains steady and unmoving, yet aware of a wide range of phenomena around the meditation object."{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=4}} According to Shankman, the related term ''[[citta]]s'[[ekaggata]]'' may be rendered as "one-pointedness," fixated on a single object, but also as "unification of mind," in which mind becomes very still but does not merge with the object of attention, and is thus able to observe and gain insight into the changing flow of experience.{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=4}}
* [[Dan Lusthaus]]: "''Samadhi'' provides the methodology and context within which experience is to be examined [...] ''Samadhi'', by training, focusing/collecting, cleansing and calming the mind [...] facilitates things being finally known (''janatti'') and seen (''passati'') just as they are (''[[tathata]]'').{{sfn|Lusthaus|2002|p=114}}
* Keren Arbel: "''Samadhi'' is depicted [in the Buddhist sutras] as a broad field of awareness, knowing but non-discursive [...] a stable, discerning and focused mind."{{sfn|Arbel|2016|p=94}}
* Tilmann Vetter argues that the second, third and fourth ''dhyana'' in Buddhism, ''samma-samadhi'', "right samadhi," build on a "spontaneous awareness" (sati) and equanimity which is perfected in the fourth ''dhyana''.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=XXVI, note 9}}

In Hinduism, ''samadhi'' is also interpreted as the identification with the Absolute:
* [[Paramahansa Yogananda]]: A soundless state of breathlessness. A blissful [[super consciousness]] state in which a [[yogi]] perceives the identity of the individualized [[Soul]] and Cosmic Spirit.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yogananda |first1=Paramahansa |author-link=Paramahansa Yogananda |title=[[Autobiography of a Yogi]] |date=2014 |publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship |isbn=978-0-87612-079-8 |page=123 |edition=13th}}</ref>