Samadhi (Eighth Limb of Yoga)

Over the last eight weeks we have taken you on a journey through Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga.  Today, we focus on the eighth and final limb of yoga, Samadhi.  The last three limbs of yoga are normally studied together and are referred to as antaratma sadhana, or the innermost quest.  These last three limbs consist of Dharana (concentration), Dyhana (mediation), and Samadhi (enlightenment). 

Today, I am sharing two articles on Samadhi.  Both of these articles assisted me in my yoga practice, and helped to guide me to Samadhi. I hope you find these excerpts help guide you as well.   The first article is from Judith Lasater with Yoga Journal.  I found this article explained Samadhi very well, and shows that Samadhi is not out of reach.

“When I first began to study yoga, I thought that samadhi was a trancelike state which would take the practitioner away from everyday consciousness to a better state of being. Over the years, my understanding has changed. Now I think of samadhi as exactly the opposite of a trance. Samadhi is a state of being intensely present without a point of view. In other words, in samadhi you perceive all points of view of reality at once, without focusing on any particular one.

To understand this better, imagine that each of us has a “grid” or filter in front of us. The mesh of this filter is constructed of all of our experiences and ideas; it is created by our gender, our particular personal history, our family and cultural values, and our education, to name only a few factors. This grid filters all our experience. For example, while we all have the need for food, our grid tells us whether hamburgers, raw fish, or organic tofu is food. The grid is the sum total of our beliefs—conscious and unconscious—about reality. Samadhi is the state in which we no longer experience reality through a grid; instead, we experience reality directly. Virtually all of us have had a taste of this state. Some people have this experience during worship, others during lovemaking, still others while alone in the woods. Samadhi is the state in which you are aware on a cellular level of the underlying oneness of the universe.

How does samadhi relate to daily life, a life filled with paying taxes, cleaning up the kitchen, practicing yoga poses, washing the car? Samadhi may seem to have nothing to do with our everyday activities. But on another level samadhi is the most important thing in our lives. The concept of samadhi brings with it the possibility of a deep hope about our growth as human beings. Patanjali teaches us that we are always capable of experiencing samadhi—that at any moment we can become whole and fully present. If we understand this, that understanding becomes a fundamental acknowledgment of our true nature. Paradoxically, it seems that we need the journey—the journey of yoga—to discover what was present inside us all along.”                           

                  

http://www.yogajournal.com/article/yoga-101/seeking-samadhi/

The second article I found, explained with great detail a journey to Samadhi.  This article is from Pandit Rajmani Tigunait with Yoga International.  He explains the last three limbs of yoga through a journey to Mount Kailash. 

“For several weeks before you set out, your entire focus is on preparing for your journey—gathering the necessary clothes and equipment, packing, and then taking the long flight to Nepal. Once in Nepal, you shift into survival mode for the six-day jeep ride along bumpy dirt roads to Mount Kailash. You can hardly breathe because of the high altitude and the thick dust; the sun is blinding and the shocks on the jeep are so bad you feel like your spinal cord is being shattered. You feel hot all day, cold all night, and weak and tired most of the time. Then comes the slow, arduous climb up around Mount Kailash and back down again. During this three-day hike, you can take only one step, one breath at a time.

At first it takes all your effort, then you find your inner rhythm, and once you do, it’s as if the mountain itself lifts you up and carries you. Upon reaching the summit, you find yourself filled with great delight and a sense of fulfillment. When you return home, it takes almost a month to recuperate. But you remember the exquisite joy you felt when you reached the peak. That sublime feeling stays with you like a sweet whisper calling you to return to your inner Self. That’s what this progressive threefold practice entails: first comes concentrated effort or dharana; second, the effortless flow of being there with full awareness of yourself and your entire surroundings or dhyana; and third, becoming one with that state of experience brought about by this effortless flow. This is known as samadhi.”

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/a-seekers-guide-to-samadhi

So for today, feel the sun upon you face, breathe in the scent of freshly falling rain or newly blooming flowers.  Close your eyes and listen to the laughter of someone you love.  Feel one with the Universe and all its beauty.  This is Samadhi.  It is all around you. Don’t miss it…. 

Namaste,

Betsy and Jesse