What is samādhi and how is it relevant to the goal of yoga?

In Patanjali’s ashtanga system, samādhi is the last stage of the eight limbs. Dharana (concentration) moves into dhyana (meditation) leading to the eighth step, samādhi, absorption into the infinite. If one’s goal is to attain freedom from the cycle of rebirth, samādhi is definitely relevant. But for the householder yogi, is it applicable? And what exactly is the experience of samādhi, anyway? How do you describe something that is beyond words, beyond sound, beyond this gross world?

The words that crop up regularly when samādhi is described are “absorption,” “wholeness” or “oneness” and in Patanjali’s system, even, “aloneness.” Conceptually, we can grasp the general meaning of all these definitions when we liken samādhi to everyday achievable states of being. Have you ever been completely absorbed in a story or in a piece of music, so much so that you forget where you are or you fail to hear any external noises? Or, have you ever been so intent upon finishing a presentation or project that you don’t realize lunchtime has long past, and all your colleagues have left the office? These immersions or absorptions into one pointed focus to the exclusion of any other stimulus, is similar to dharana and dhyana. These examples include a point of focus in the equation: the music, the book, the presentation; an “other” into which we get absorbed. However, samadhi is characterized as total absorption or wholeness, which means that both sides of the equation fall away. Therefore, could another way of defining samādhi be that the yogi becomes the equation itself? There is less of a transactional meaning to the experience when considered this way. You are not crossing over to be with something else or giving up one thing for another, or even being absorbed into something greater. You become the equation.

I am that.

I = That.

=

The yogi becomes equal or same. Sameness implies an “other” without there being separation. Thus, in practice, the meditation becomes a focus on letting go of or falling away of citta, samskaras etc., so all that is left is that which is inside, atman, and that which is inside is the same as that on the outside. With no object to be aware of, the yogi reaches sameness, samādhi.

Ultimately, these are all attempts to define something that has to be experienced to be understood. The beauty and brilliance of yoga is that it is a systematic spiritual practice that engages the practitioner step by step. So, if samadhi is the next step beyond meditation, it certainly may be relevant for any practitioner, and especially so if the yogi’s hope is to still the mind. Even if this is not the practitioner’s overt goal, there may be a latent curiosity, seeded in the earlier practices, to experience this, the mystical part of the yogic system. This mystical part, this eighth limb also consists of steps, each providing a glimpse or taste of what the fullness of the practice could possibly yield. In Sri Swami Satchidananda’s commentary on Verse 17 of Book One of the Sutras, he explains these steps:

“Samadhi is practiced first on the gross objects (savitarka samadhi), then on the subtle elements (savichara samadhi), then on the mind devoid of any objects except its own joy – in other words on the sattvic mind (sa-ananda samadhi) – and finally on the “I” feeling alone (sa-asmita) samadhi. There is a gradation because you can’t immediately contemplate the very subtle.” (pg.32, The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali, Translation and Commentary by Sr Swami Satchidananda, Integral Yoga Publications, 1978)

As the yogi discerns these stages and gains mastery over their mind, there may be a pull to move deeper into these subtle practices to yet another level of samadhi, where according to Satchinanda “even the ego feeling is not there and the seeds of past impressions are rendered harmless.” (ibid., pg. 35). While a yogi may not be able to sustain this level, or any of these levels consistently, there is benefit in the experience. Who does not want a peaceful mind, even for a moment? Who does not want to feel blissful, but for a few seconds?

But this brings us to the question: what is the goal of yoga? What is the yogi moving towards? In fact, is not the practice about revealing what already exists? If the goal already exists within us, then there is no goal per se, but rather an uncovering of peacefulness and bliss, an opening to the “wholeness” or “sameness”. The revelation becomes: what is within us is equal to, or the same as the truth all around us. Whether this revelation is relevant is up to each individual practitioner to discern.