emptybill: > ...we have experienced death many times. If death > is a samadhi, then where has the "samadhi" gone? > In fact, the word Samadhi seems to have been deliberately avoided, except in the case of the later Vedanta work, Vedantasara.
There is no reference in the Upanishads to a meditation practice leading to the suspension of the faculties such as we find in the literature dealing with yoga. In the Hindu scriptures the word Samadhi first appears in the Maitrayni (6.18, 34), a late Upanishad. This text apparently recognizes five of the eight limbs of Patanjali's classical Ashtanga Yoga. It should be noted that there are over 200 Upanishads in the Vedic literature and all were composed after the Gautama Buddha's passing. It would seem that yogic practice entered into Upanishadic and Vedantic literature osmosis-like, a blending of Buddhist yogic and Upanishadic milieus. Samadhi: 1. Sanskrit (Saúmaúdhi) n. Jap., sanmai or zanmai 2. Nirvana, Parinirvana 3. from the root word 'Sam', to establish, make firm. 4. A conscious experience that lies beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. 5. A non-meditative meditative mental equipoise.
