Foundations · Reading
Samadhi
The eighth limb: absorption, when only the object remains.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
Philosophy
Samadhi is the last of the eight limbs. Patanjali describes it as dhyana in which only the object shines forth, as though the meditator's own form had dropped away.
The first chapter of the Sutras, the Samadhi Pada, distinguishes several kinds of samadhi, from absorption with an object to absorption without any. Together, dharana, dhyana and samadhi held on one object are called samyama.
Further reading
- Yoga Sutras 3.3
Ideas behind it
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, pp. 2–3
- Patanjali, Yoga Sutras, 3.3