Definition: From ‘sama’ meaning together, and + ‘ā’ which is a prefix, and ‘dhā’ which means to place. ‘Samadhi’ connotes joining, or placing ourselves in Oneness.

Card Symbology:
The japanese Enso represents the mind of enlightenment – open like the sky, natural and uncontrived. The circle is performed in a single stroke, expressing a state of total presence without distraction. The birds represent the freedom of choiceless awareness…traveling freely on the wings of duality united in the body of Oneness.

“Self-realization is the knowing in all parts of body, mind, and soul that you are now in possession of the kingdom of God; that you do not have to pray that it come to you; that God’s omnipresence is your omnipresence; and that all that you need to do is improve your knowing.”

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Sanskrit

Samadhi

English

Oneness

Pronunciation

suh-maa-dhee

3.3 tad eva artha matra nirbhasam svarupa shunyam iva samadhih

When only the essence of that object, place, or point shines forth in the mind, as if devoid even of its own form, that state of deep absorption is called samadhi. — Patanjali

Exploration:

The 8 limbs of yoga are designed as a holistic support to access and become established in the state of samadhi. On this Inner Path, one continues to access deeper levels of knowledge and oneness through practice and experience.

Samadhi essentially begins when the concerted effort to concentrate disappears and the effortless meditative state is what remains. Knowledge arising from the essence of your contemplation then comes from within. In essence, while there are many stages of samadhi, each one offers two layers; directly experienced knowledge, and a degree of non-attachment. The progressive dive from the surface of consciousness into its depths is the journey of samadhi.

When the distinction between the observer and observed disappears, the deepest samadhi appears. It was there all along – the very nature of consciousness itself – only hidden by the activities of our mind. Just as a wave rises and dissolves back into the ocean, so the mind must release its tendency to identify with its projections to dissolve into the ocean of awareness in order to experience Oneness. If you disturb it by identifying with thoughts of achievement, or fear of losing the experience, you’ll fall back into the dualistic mind.

It is written in the Bhagavad Gita that “yoga is a journey of the Self, to the Self, through the Self.” Samadhi is the state where yoga becomes more than a word, but a lived experience – where your own true nature is revealed to you. Even by glimpsing this you’ll have a deep respect for the Masters and the truths that they point to.

Don’t settle for any yoga that aims for less than samadhi: You are worthy of the goal.

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