The SAMADHI of Catholic St. Wilhelmina

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit (samadhi); EWTN News, May 25, 2023

What is samadhi? It is a Sanskrit term prominent in Buddhism and the philosophy behind Yoga (the ancient Vedas of the Indus Valley Civilization and modern Hinduism with its Brahmins and wandering shramans). It is key to personal spiritual purification and is present in many if not all spiritual traditions, including old-style monastic Catholicism and Eastern Christian Orthodox practices.

Definition and etymology

Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Samadhi is part of the Eightfold Path

There are various interpretations and etymologies for this Sanskrit term, either with the root sam ("to bring together") or sama (coherent, "the same, equalized, the convergence of two distinct things").

According to Dan Lusthaus, samadhi refers to either bringing to consciousness the samskaras (tendencies, mental formations, "buried latencies"), or meditative stillness/concentration on a meditation object [14]: sam, "to bring together" + adhi, "to place on, put, to impregnate, to give, to receive" -- the bringing together of cognitive conditions," "bringing the buried latencies into full view," so "the obscure and hidden become clear objects of cognition," "the womb through which insight is born" [14].

The sama, "the same, equalized, the convergence of two distinct things based on some commonality" + adhi, "higher, better, most skillfully achieved" -- "the skillful unification of mind [subject] and object," "the mental equanimity conducive to and derived from attention perfectly focused on its object."

One-pointedness

"[S]ometimes treated as synonymous with ekacitta, 'one-focused mind,' i.e., mind (citta) completely focused on and at one (eka) with its object" [14]. [In Theravada Buddhism this is the Pali languager term ekaggata, or "one-pointedness" of mind.

"Etymologies for sam-ā-dhā include: 'sam-ā-dhā’ = 'to collect' or 'to bring together,' thus suggesting the concentration or unification of the mind," generally mistranslated [in Buddhism] as "concentration" [15]. [A much better translation is proposed by British monk in the Thai Forest Tradition Ajahn Brahm, "stillness."]

Sam-ā-dhā: "to hold together, to concentrate upon" [16]. Sam, "completely," ā, "the return towards the subject," dha, "maintaining together" = "to assemble completely," "the tension borne between two poles of existence (object and thought) is reduced to zero" [17].

Sam, "together" or "integrated," ā, "towards," dhā, "to get, to hold" = to acquire integration [coherence, integrity] or wholeness, or truth (samāpatti); sam, "together," ā, "toward," stem of dadhati, "puts, places" = a putting [all together, coherently structuring or returning to an original structure] or joining.

Particular Hindu/yoga interpretations include: sam, "perfect" or "complete," dhi, "consciousness" = "all distinctions between the person [subject] who is the subjective meditator, the act of meditation [bare awareness], and the object of meditation merge into oneness" (Stephen Sturgess) [18].

Sam, "with," ādhi, "lord" = Union with the Lord (Stephen Sturgess) [16]. [In yoga it might be better to render it not "union with the lord or Brahma" but "Union with Brahman," the impersonal "ultimate reality" behind all illusion (maya).] 

Beginner's mind

Sama, "equanimous," dhi, "buddhi or the intellect" = equanimous intellect, non-discriminating intellect (Sadhguru) [19].

Sama, "balance," ādi, "original" = "a state that is equal to the original state, which is the state that prevailed before we came into existence," "original balance" (Kamlesh D. Patel [20]. More

Miracle? Body of Benedictine Sisters’ Foundress Wilhelmina thought to be incorrupt (except for hands)

(EWTN) May 25, 2023. When the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles, exhumed the body of their foundress earlier this month, they discovered the unexpected.

Four years after her death and burial in a simple wooden coffin, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster's body appeared remarkably well preserved. The news spread quickly on social media and now hundreds of pilgrims are flocking to the monastery in rural Missouri.

Executive Director of EWTN's ACI group Kelsey Wicks, who has been following the story from the beginning, joins to share more about who Sr. Wilhemina is. Wicks visited the monastery in rural Missouri soon after the body was exhumed. She tells us what the scene was like. Wicks discusses what has been the impact of this story on the community. This community may be well known to some viewers because of their recordings. Wicks explains more about that. She fills in on what other stories she is following.

ABOUT: EWTN News Nightly provides the latest news and analysis from a [biased] Catholic perspective. Join host Tracy Sabol, the Capitol Hill, White House, and Rome Correspondents, as well as many other diverse guests daily, to get the latest from the U.S. and the Vatican on topics regarding the Catholic faith and interests.