Samadhi in Yoga

Samādhi is a foundational concept in Yoga and defines the fundamental way the interactions of a yogi differs from the interactions of an average person. Patanjali defines many different categories of samādhi but the general idea is given in this sutra

tad evārtha-mātra-nirbhāsaṃ svarūpa-śūnyam iva samādhiḥ

In an interaction of an individual, when only the essential nature of the object with which the interaction happens shines through and it appears as if the individual's self is absent, then the individual is said to be in a state of samādhi.

Usual commentaries about this talk about a state of intense concentration where the individual is so totally focussed at the job at hand where it appears as if the psychological person (which is the sum total of past experiences and ones response to them) doing the task is absent. Sports persons and artists report this state often and it is referred to as the state of flow in western psychology. In a flow state, the activity takes prime importance and not the doer of the activity. This interpretation is certainly not incorrect, but this is only one interpretation of samādhi and probably not the most important one.

I feel there is a more important interpretation of samādhi. Its important to note these words: svarūpa-śūnyam iva. It means, 'as if the self is absent'. The easiest place to witness the self is in relationships. The moment there is anything else but pure love in a relationship, it automatically implies the presence of the self in that interaction. Hence, it becomes very easy to spot the self. When an individual can interact with another person without his / her self influencing the interaction, then that automatically becomes a state of samādhi. Being able to achieve this kind of samādhi is far more important than that of flow as this directly leads to more loving relationships and more peace and harmony in society. This is not to denigrate the flow type samādhi, but to emphasize the importance of samādhi in relationships. Similarly absence of self in ones occupation is also very important. Most often, the occupation is done for the sake of pride and status and instead of the importance and social relevance of the occupation one pursues in life.

Samādhi is an experience and an individual who is consistently able to maintain the state of samadhi in all of his/her interactions (relationships, occupations etc), can be said to have transformed their consciousness from one of the smaller self, the ego, to that of the higher, universally inclusive self. This transformation, I believe, is referred to as Yoga.