Editing Samadhi (section)

== Buddhism ==
{{Buddhist term
| fontsize=100%
| title=samādhi
| sa= समाधि
| sa-Latn= samādhi
| pi= samādhi
| en= concentration; meditative consciousness; 'bringing together'
| zh=三昧 or 三摩地 or 定
| zh-Latn= sānmèi or sānmóde or dìng
| ja= 三昧
| ja-Latn= sanmai
| vi= định
| vi-Hani= 定
| ko = 삼매
| ko-Latn= sammae
| th=สมาธิ
| th-Latn= samathi
| bo= ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་
| bo-Latn=[[Wylie transliteration|Wylie]]: ting nge 'dzin
| my= သမာဓိ
| my-Latn= samardhi
| km= សមាធិ
| km-Latn = sâméathĭ
}}
{{Buddhism|terse=1}}

=== ''Samma-samādhi'' and ''dhyāna'' (jhāna) ===
{{SamadhiBhavana}}
{{main|Dhyāna in Buddhism}}

''Samma-samadhi'', "right ''samadhi''," is the last of the eight elements of the [[Noble Eightfold Path]].<ref group=web name="access">[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/ accesstoinsight, '' Right Concentration, samma samadhi'']</ref> When ''samadhi'' is developed, things are understood as they really are.{{sfn|Shankman|2008|p=14, 15}}

''Samma-samadhi'' is explicated as ''dhyana'' (''jhāna'', {{Langx|pi|𑀛𑀸𑀦}}), which is traditionally interpreted as one-pointed concentration. Yet, in the stock formula of ''dhyāna'' ''samādhi'' is only mentioned in the second ''dhyana'', to give way to a state of [[Upekṣā|equanimity]] and [[Sati (Buddhism)|mindfulness]], in which one keeps access to the senses in a mindful way, avoiding primary responses to the sense-impressions.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=63}}{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}

The origins of the practice of ''dhyāna'' are a matter of dispute.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993}}{{sfn|Wynne|2007}} According to Crangle, the development of meditative practices in ancient India was a complex interplay between Vedic and non-Vedic traditions.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=267-274}} According to Bronkhorst, the four ''rūpa jhāna'' may be an original contribution of the Buddha to the religious landscape of India, which formed an alternative to the painful ascetic practices of the Jains, while the ''arūpa jhāna'' were incorporated from non-Buddhist ascetic traditions.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993}} Alexander Wynne argues that dhyāna was incorporated from Brahmanical practices, in the Nikayas ascribed to Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. These practices were paired to [[Sati (Buddhism)|mindfulness]] and [[Vipassanā|insight]], and given a new interpretation.{{sfn|Wynne|2007}} Kalupahana also argues that the Buddha "reverted to the meditational practices" he had learned from Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta.{{sfn|Kalupahana|1994|p=24}}

===The ''rupa jhānas''===
{{JhanaFactors}}
{{Dhyana}}<!-- See "Template:Dhyana" for full text -->

===The ''arupas''===
{{See also|Formless Realm}}

Appended to the ''jhana''-scheme are four meditative states, referred to in the early texts as ''arupas'' or as ''[[āyatana]]''. They are sometimes mentioned in sequence after the first four ''jhānas'' and thus came to be treated by later exegetes as jhānas. The immaterial are related to, or derived from, yogic meditation, and aim more specific at concentration, while the ''jhanas'' proper are related to the cultivation of the mind. The state of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth ''jhāna'' is transcended. The four ''arupas'' are:
* ''fifth jhāna:'' infinite space (Pali ''ākāsānañcāyatana'', Skt. ''ākāśānantyāyatana''),
* ''sixth jhāna:'' infinite consciousness (Pali ''viññāṇañcāyatana'', Skt. ''vijñānānantyāyatana''),
* ''seventh jhāna:'' infinite nothingness (Pali ''ākiñcaññāyatana'', Skt. ''ākiṃcanyāyatana''),
* ''eighth jhāna:'' neither perception nor non-perception (Pali ''nevasaññānāsaññāyatana'', Skt. ''naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana'').

Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine jhanas attributed to the Buddha, they are not included in the [[Noble Eightfold Path]]. Noble Path number eight is "Samma Samadhi" (Right Concentration), and only the first four Jhanas are considered "Right Concentration". When all the jhanas are mentioned, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".

=== Theravāda ===

====Samadhi as concentration====
According to [[Henepola Gunaratana|Gunaratana]], the term '<nowiki/>''samādhi''<nowiki/>' derives from the roots '''sam-ā-dhā''<nowiki/>', which means 'to collect' or 'bring together', and thus it is generally translated as "concentration." In the early Buddhist texts, ''samādhi'' is also associated with the term ''[[samatha]]'' (calm abiding). In the commentarial tradition, ''samādhi'' is defined as ''[[ekaggata]]'', one-pointedness of mind (''Cittass'ekaggatā'').<ref name=Gunaratana>Henepola Gunaratana, ''[https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation]''</ref>

[[Buddhagosa]] defines ''samādhi'' as "the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object [...] the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered".<ref>Vism.84–85; PP.85</ref> According to Buddhaghosa, the Theravada Pali texts mention four [[Samāpatti|attainments]] of ''samādhi'':
# Momentary concentration (''khanikasamādhi''): a mental stabilization which arises during ''samatha'' meditation.
# Preliminary concentration (''parikammasamādhi''): arises out of the meditator's initial attempts to focus on a meditation object.
# Access concentration (''upacārasamādhi''): arises when the [[five hindrances]] are dispelled, when ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|jhāna]]'' is present, and with the appearance the 'counterpart sign' (''patibhaganimitta'').
# Absorption concentration (''appanasamādhi''): the total immersion of the mind on its meditation of object and stabilization of all four ''jhāna''s.

According to Buddhaghosa, in his influential standard-work [[Visuddhimagga]], ''samādhi'' is the "proximate cause" to the obtainment of [[Wisdom in Buddhism|wisdom]].{{sfn|Buddhaghosa|1999|p=437}} The Visuddhimagga describes [[kammatthana|40 different objects]] for meditation, which are mentioned throughout the Pali canon, but explicitly enumerated in the Visuddhimagga, such as mindfulness of breathing (''[[ānāpānasati]]'') and loving kindness (''[[mettā]]'').<ref>Buddhaghosa & Nanamoli (1999), pp.&nbsp;90–91 (II, 27–28, "Development in Brief"), 110ff. (starting with III, 104, "enumeration").  It can also be found sprinkled earlier in this text, as on p. 18 (I, 39, v. 2) and p. 39 (I, 107).</ref>

====Criticism====
While the Theravada-tradition interprets ''dhyana'' as one-pointed concentration, this interpretation has become a matter of debate. According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four ''rupa-jhanas'' describes two different cognitive states: "I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the second."{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}{{refn|group=note|Original publication: {{Citation | last =Gombrich | first =Richard | year =2007 | title =Religious Experience in Early Buddhism | publisher =OCHS Library | url =http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | access-date =2014-11-27 | archive-date =2016-07-01 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160701190900/http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | url-status =dead }}}}

Alexander Wynne states that the ''dhyana''-scheme is poorly understood.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=106}} According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as ''sati'', ''sampajāno'', and ''upekkhā'', are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states,{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=106}} whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=106}}{{refn|group=note|Wynne: "Thus the expression ''sato sampajāno'' in the third ''jhāna'' must denote a state of awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second ''jhāna'' (''cetaso ekodibhāva''). It suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e. that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is true of the word ''upek(k)hā'': it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be aware of something and indifferent to it [...] The third and fourth ''jhāna-s'', as it seems to me, describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=106-107}}}}{{refn|group=note|name="theravadin"|theravadin.wordpress.com: "In this order, therefore, what we should understand as vipassanā is not at all a synonym for sati but rather something which grows out of the combination of all these factors especially of course the last two, samma sati and samma samādhi applied to the ruthless observation of what comes into being (yathābhūta). One could say, vipassanā is a name for the practice of sati+samādhi as applied to anicca/dukkha/anatta (i.e. generating wisdom) directed at the six-sense-process, including any mental activity." According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other - and indeed higher - element.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}}}

Several western teachers (Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Leigh Brazington, Richard Shankman) make a distinction between 'sutta-oriented' ''jhana''  and {{'}}''Visuddhimagga''-oriented' ''jhāna''.{{sfn|Quli|2008<!--doesn't point to anything-->}}{{full citation needed|date=April 2019}} Thanissaro Bhikkhu has repeatedly argued that the Pali Canon and the ''Visuddhimagga'' give different descriptions of the jhanas, regarding the ''Visuddhimagga''-description to be incorrect.{{sfn|Quli|2008<!--doesn't point to anything-->}}{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Keren Arbel has conducted extensive research on the ''jhānas'' and the contemporary criticisms of the commentarial interpretation. Based on this research, and her own experience as a senior meditation-teacher, she gives a reconstructed account of the original meaning of the ''dhyanas''. She argues that the four jhānas are the outcome of both calming the mind and developing insight into the nature of experience and cannot not be seen in the suttas as two distinct and separated meditation techniques, but as integral dimensions of a single process that
leads to awakening. She concludes that "the fourth jhāna is the optimal experiential event for the utter de-conditioning of unwholesome tendencies of mind and for the transformation of deep epistemological structures. This is because one embodies and actualizes an awakened awareness of experience."{{sfn|Arbel|2016}}

=== Mahāyāna ===
[[File:Gandhara, bodhisattva assiso, II sec..JPG|thumb|150px|[[Bodhisattva]] seated in [[jhana|meditation]]. [[Afghanistan]], 2nd century CE.]]

==== Indian Mahāyāna ====
The earliest extant Indian Mahāyāna texts emphasize ascetic practices, forest-dwelling, and states of meditative oneness, i.e. ''samādhi''. These practices seem to have occupied a central place in early Mahāyāna, also because they "may have given access to fresh revelations and inspiration".{{sfn|Williams|2009|p=30}}

Indian Mahāyāna traditions refer to numerous forms of ''samādhi'', for example, Section 21 of the ''Mahavyutpatti'' records 118 distinct forms of ''samādhi''{{sfn|Skilton|2002|p=56}} and the [[Samadhiraja Sutra]] has as its main theme a ''samādhi'' called 'the ''samādhi'' that is manifested as the sameness of the essential nature of all ''dharma''s' (''sarva-dharma-svabhavā-samatā-vipañcita-samādhi'').{{sfn|Gomez|Silk|1989|p=15-16}}{{refn|group=note|Gomez & Silk: "This samādhi is at the same time the cognitive experience of emptiness, the attainment of the attributes of buddhahood, and the performance of a variety of practices or daily activities of a bodhisattva—including service and adoration at the feet of all buddhas. The word samādhi is also used to mean the sūtra itself. Consequently, we can speak of an equation, sūtra <nowiki>=</nowiki> samādhi <nowiki>=</nowiki> śūnyatā, underlying the text. In this sense, the title ''Samadhiraja'' expresses accurately the content of the sūtra".{{sfn|Gomez|Silk|1989|p=15-16}}}}

==== ''Vimokṣamukha'' ====
{{further|Śūnyatā#Meditative state|l1=Sunyata as meditative state}}

Buddhist Pali texts describe three kinds of ''samādhi'' which the commentarial tradition identify as the 'gates of [[Moksha#Buddhism|liberation]]' (''vimokṣamukha''):{{refn|group=note|Thich Nhat Hanh, Sherab Chodzin Kohn, Melvin McLeod (2012), ''You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment'', p.104: "Aimlessness is a form of concentration, one of three practices of deep looking recommended by the Buddha. The other two are concentration on the absence of distinguishing signs (''alakshana'') and concentration on emptiness (''sunyata'')."}}
# Signlessness-samadhi (<small>[[Sanskrit|Sa]]:</small> ''[[nimitta|ānimitta]]-samādhi'') (<small>[[Pali|Pi]]:</small> ''animitto samādhi'') or marklessness-concentration (<small>[[Sanskrit|Sa]]:</small> ''alakṣaṇa-samādhi'')
# Aimlessness-samadhi (<small>[[Sanskrit|Sa]]:</small> ''apraṇihita-samādhi'') (<small>[[Pali|Pi]]:</small> ''appaṇihito samādhi'')
# Emptiness-samadhi (<small>[[Sanskrit|Sa]]:</small> ''[[śūnyatā]]-samādhi'') (<small>[[Pali|Pi]]:</small> ''suññato samādhi'')

According to Polak, these are alternative descriptions of the four dhyanas, describing the cognitive aspects instead of the bodily aspects.{{sfn|Polak|2011|p=201}} According to Polak, in the final stages of dhyana no ideation of experience takes place, and no signs are grasped (''animitta samādhi''), which means that the concentrated attention cannot be directed (''appaṇihita samādhi'') towards those signs, and only the perception of the six senses remains, without a notion of "self" (''suññata samādhi'').{{sfn|Polak|2011|p=201}}

In the Chinese Buddhist tradition these are called the 'three doors of liberation' ({{lang|zh-Latn|sān jiětuō mén}}, {{lang|zh|三解脫門}}):{{sfnp|Nagarjuna|2001}} These three are not always cited in the same order. [[Nagarjuna]], a [[Madhyamaka]] Buddhist scholar, in his ''Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra'', listed ''apraṇihita'' before ''ānimitta'' in his first explanation on these "three ''samādhi''", but in later listings and explanations in the same work reverted to the more common order. Others, such as [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]], a [[Thien Buddhism|Thien]] Buddhist teacher, list ''apraṇihita'' as the third after ''śūnyatā'' and ''ānimitta''.{{sfnp|Nagarjuna|2001}}<ref>{{cite book |first1=Thich |last1=Nhat Hanh |first2=Rachel |last2=Neumann |title=Buddha Mind, Buddha Body |isbn=978-1427092922 |year=2008 |page=140 |publisher=ReadHowYouWant.com |quote="AIMLESSNESS The third concentration is aimlessness, apraṇihita. Without worry, without anxiety we are free to enjoy each moment of our lives. Not trying, not making great efforts, just being. What a joy! This seems to contradict our normal ..."}}</ref> Nagarjuna lists these three kinds of ''samādhi'' among the qualities of the ''[[bodhisattva]]''.{{sfnp|Nagarjuna|2001}}

===== Signlessness samadhi=====
According to Nagarjuna, signlessness-samadhi is the ''samādhi'' in which one recognises all dharmas are free of signs (''ānimitta'').{{sfnp|Nagarjuna|2001}} According to Thích Nhất Hạnh, "signs" refer to appearances or form, likening signlessness samadhi to not being fooled by appearances, such as the dichotomy of being and non-being.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nhat Hanh |first1=Thich |title=Dharma Talk: The Fourth Establishment of Mindfulness and the Three Doors of Liberation |url=https://www.mindfulnessbell.org/archive/2014/11/dharma-talk-the-fourth-establishment-of-mindfulness-and-the-three-doors-of-liberation-2 |website=The Mindfulness Bell |access-date=3 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184624/https://www.mindfulnessbell.org/archive/2014/11/dharma-talk-the-fourth-establishment-of-mindfulness-and-the-three-doors-of-liberation-2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===== Aimlessness-samadhi=====
'Aimlessness', also translated as 'uncommittedness' or 'wishlessness' ([[Chinese language|Chinese]] {{lang|zh-Latn|wúyuàn}} {{lang|zh|無願}}, {{lit|non-wishing}}, or {{lang|zh-Latn|wúzuò}} {{lang|zh|無作}}, {{lit|non-arising}}), literally means 'placing nothing in front'. According to Dan Lusthaus, aimlessness-samadhi is characterised by a lack of aims or plans for the future and no desire for the objects of perception.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Lusthaus|2014|p=266}}: "Sangharakshita translates ''apraṇihita'' as 'Aimlessness,' while Conze uses 'Wishless', and writes in ''Buddhist Thought in India'' (Ann Arbor: [[University of Michigan Press]], 1967) p. 67: "The word a-pra-ni—hita means literally that one 'places nothing in front' and it designates someone who makes no plans for the future, has no hopes for it, who is aimless, not bent on anything, without predilection or desire for the objects of perception rejected by the concentration on the Signless [''animitta'']."}} According to Nagarjuna, aimlessness-samadhi is the ''samādhi'' in which one does not search for any kind of existence (''bhāva''), letting go of aims or wishes (''praṇidhāna'') regarding [[Saṅkhāra|conditioned phenomena]] and not producing the [[three poisons]] (namely, passion, aggression, and ignorance) towards them in the future.{{sfnp|Nagarjuna|2001}}

===== Emptiness-samadhi =====
According to Nagarjuna, emptiness-samadhi is the ''samādhi'' in which one recognises that the true natures of all [[Dharma#Buddhism|dharma]]s are absolutely empty (''atyantaśūnya''), and that the [[Skandha|five aggregates]] are not the self (''[[Anatta|anātman]]''), do not belong to the self (''anātmya''), and are empty (''śūnya'') without [[Svabhava|self-nature]].{{sfnp|Nagarjuna|2001}}

==== Zen ====
[[File:Grandmaster.png|thumb|right|150px|A traditional Chinese Chán Buddhist master in [[Taiwan]], sitting in meditation]]
{{Main|Zen Buddhism|Chán Buddhism}}

Indian ''dhyāna'' was translated as ''chán'' in Chinese, and ''zen'' in Japanese. Ideologically the [[Zen|Zen-tradition]] emphasizes [[Prajñā (Buddhism)|prajñā]] and [[Subitism|sudden insight]], but in the actual practice prajñā and samādhi, or sudden insight and gradual cultivation, are paired to each other.{{sfn|McRae|2003}}{{sfn|Hui-Neng|1998}} Especially some lineages in the [[Rinzai school|Rinzai school of Zen]] stress sudden insight, while the [[Sōtō]] school of Zen lays more emphasis on [[shikantaza]], training awareness of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise and pass away without interference. Historically, many traditional Japanese arts were developed or refined to attain ''samādhi'', including [[Kōdō|incense appreciation]] (香道, ''kodō''), [[Ikebana|flower arranging]] (華道, ''kadō''), the [[Japanese tea ceremony|tea ceremony]] (茶道, ''sadō''), [[Japanese calligraphy|calligraphy]] (書道, ''shodō''), and martial arts such as [[Kyudo|archery]] (弓道, ''kyūdō''). The Japanese character 道 means ''the way'' or ''the path'' and indicates that disciplined practice in the art is a path to ''samādhi''.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}