三昧
(三昧地) Samdhi, "putting together, composing the mind, intent contemplation, perfect absorption, union of the meditator with the object of meditation." (M. W.) Also 三摩地 (三摩提, 三摩帝, 三摩底). Interpreted by 定 or 正定, the mind fixed and undisturbed; by 正受 correct sensation of the object contemplated; by 调直定 ordering and fixing the mind; by 正心行处 the condition when the motions of the mind are steadied and harmonized with the object; by 息虑凝心 the cessation of distraction and the fixation of the mind; by 等持 the mind held in equilibrium; by 奢摩他, i.e. 止息 to stay the breathing. It is described as concentration of the mind (upon an object). The aim is 解脱, mukti, deliverance from all the trammels of life, the bondage of the passions and reincarnations. It may pass from abstraction to ecstasy, or rapture, or trance. Dhyna 定 represents a simpler form of contemplation; sampatti 三摩底 a stage further advanced; and samdhi the highest stage of the Buddhist equivalent for Yoga, though Yoga is considered by some as a Buddhist development differing from samdhi. The 翻译名义 says: 思专 when the mind has been concentrated, then 志一不分 the will is undivided; when 想寂 active thought has been put to rest, then 气虚神 the material becomes etherealized and the spirit liberated, on which 智 knowledge, or the power to know, has free course, and there is no mystery into which it cannot probe. Cf. 智度论 5, 20, 23, 28; 止观 2; 大乘义章 2, 9, 1 3, 20, etc. There are numerous kinds and degrees of samdhi.
