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Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 9:53 am
by retrofuturist
Greetings,

Samadhi, particularly in the context of Samma Samadhi is often translated as "concentration".

Personally, I find that "clarity" is probably a more suitable translation.

Does anyone have any thoughts on either of those translations, or wish to offer up another?

:meditate:

Metta,
Retro. :)

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:10 am
by tiltbillings
retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,

Samadhi, particularly in the context of Samma Samadhi is often translated as "concentration".

Personally, I find that "clarity" is probably a more suitable translation.

Does anyone have any thoughts on either of those translations, or wish to offer up another?

:meditate:

Metta,
Retro. :)
Best to start by breaking the word down into components.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:12 am
by David2
This video could be of interest:


Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:21 pm
by DNS
I have seen it also translated as 'tranquility' and also 'one-pointedness of mind'.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:24 pm
by daverupa
tiltbillings wrote:Best to start by breaking the word down into components.
"the state of being firmly fixed" ?

My comprehension of Pali is very, very rudimentary...

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:36 pm
by Viscid
At what point can someone be considered to have Samma-Samadhi? Our personal translations of the word will likely reflect what we believe the state to be..

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:52 pm
by daverupa
Viscid wrote:At what point can someone be considered to have Samma-Samadhi? Our personal translations of the word will likely reflect what we believe the state to be..
I think Tilt's suggestion will get around the inherent subjectivity in that approach, to great benefit.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:18 pm
by tiltbillings
David2 wrote:This video could be of interest:

"The Buddha made up the word samadhi." I'd would like to see basis from he makes this statement. It is possible, I suppose; however, given this crappy handling of other historical issues, I would never take his word at face value. Some of the talk was actual very good and some it was, well, not so much.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:28 pm
by tiltbillings

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:43 pm
by Viscid
tiltbillings wrote: "The Buddha made up the word samadhi." I'd would like to see basis from he makes this statement. It is possible, I suppose; however, given this crappy handling of other historical issues, I would never take his word at face value.
Yeah. I guess he believes that The Buddha made up the word 'Samadhi' because it's a word which we first see appearing in the Pitakas. I see his assertion also being reflective of his faith in The Buddha as a brilliant, supernormal teacher who will go to such great lengths as to create new terminology in order to accurately express The Dhamma.
And the date for the Maitri Upanishad I've found is 200-300 BC..

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:51 pm
by DNS
From that link:

The term's etymology involves "sam" (together or integrated), "ā" (towards), and "dhā" (to get, to hold). Thus the result might be seen to be "to acquire integration or wholeness, or truth" (samāpatti). Another possible etymological analysis of "samādhi" is "samā" (even) and "dhi" (intellect), a state of total equilibrium ("samā") of a detached intellect ("dhi").

Rhys Davis holds that the first attested usage of the term samādhi in Sanskrit literature was in the Maitri Upanishad.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:52 pm
by DNS
Samatha is a synonym of samadhi and its definition is usually put as 'tranquility' or 'serenity'.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:15 pm
by tiltbillings
And here is the entry from Monier-Williams' dictionary:

http://lexica.indica-et-buddhica.org/dict/lexica

m. setting to rights , adjustment , settlement MBh [Mahabhatra]. 1159

samādhi in it most basic meaning: putting together, joining, combing with MW 1159

The fact that it had a non-meditative usage points to the likelihood that it is a far older word than the Buddha's time, but like a lot of words current at the time, Buddha used it to his own purposes.

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:27 pm
by cooran
Hello Paul,

Huge number of multiple meanings depending on context, as per:

Samādhi
'concentration'
http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philol ... li.1819593" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Samādhi
http://what-buddha-said.net/library/Bud ... _s.htm#sam" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;ādhi
(will need to scroll down - link not forming properly)

with metta
Chris

Re: Samadhi (best English translation?)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:55 pm
by Mr Man
Idealy I don't think that we should translate the word we should introduce "samadhi" in to English. I think "concentration" is okay.