Samādhi and the Signless
Deep Stillness and the Disappearance of Marks
Etymology and Early Roots of Samādhi
The Sanskrit (and Pāli) word samādhi is composed of three elements:
sam-: a prefix meaning "together," "completely," or "thoroughly."
ā-: an intensifier or directional prefix, sometimes interpreted as “toward” or “near.”
-dhi: from the root √dhā, meaning “to place,” “to put,” or “to hold.”
Thus, samādhi literally means “bringing together,” “placing firmly,” or “holding the mind together.” In context, it refers to a deep state of mental unification, concentration, or collectedness.
The term appears in the Vedic literature, but it gains technical and systematic clarity in the early Buddhist texts (Nikāyas/Āgamas), where it becomes one of the central elements of the path to liberation.
Samādhi in the Buddhist Path
In Early Buddhism, samādhi is not simply concentration in a narrow sense but refers to a powerful stillness and absorption that arises as part of the Noble Eightfold Path. Specifically, it is the culmination of:
Right Concentration (sammā-samādhi), the eighth limb of the path.
Samādhi here is not separate from ethics (sīla) and wisdom (paññā)—it is deeply conditioned by ethical living and facilitates the arising of insight.
Jhāna and Samādhi
One of the most detailed ways samādhi is explained is through the jhānas (Pāli; dhyānas in Sanskrit), which are progressive stages of meditative absorption. The jhānas are described in terms of their factors:
First Jhāna: with vitakka (initial thought), vicāra (sustained thought), pīti (rapture), sukha (pleasure), and ekaggatā (one-pointedness).
Second Jhāna: thought processes drop away, leaving pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā.
Third Jhāna: pīti fades, leaving sukha and equanimity (upekkhā).
Fourth Jhāna: even sukha is transcended; only equanimity and one-pointedness remain.
The progression reveals how samādhi deepens as the mind becomes more still, more unified, and increasingly free from coarser mental activities.
The Signless Liberation and Samādhi
In several suttras, the Buddha speaks of three doors to liberation (vimokkhamukha), also called the three liberations:
Emptiness (suññatā)
Signless (animitta)
Desireless (appanihita)
Here, animitta is the one most directly associated with deep samādhi.
What Is a "Sign" (Nimitta)?
In Pāli and Sanskrit, nimitta (literally “mark,” “sign,” or “feature”) often refers to:
The identifying feature of an object.
The “image” that arises in meditation.
Any mental “handle” or conceptual designation the mind grasps onto.
Ordinary perception is full of signs—mental labels, appearances, assumptions. For example, seeing a person, we immediately interpret their clothes, facial expression, social role, etc. These are all signs.
The Animitta Samādhi
Animitta-samādhi, or concentration free of signs, is a profound state in which the mind ceases to engage with these signs. The mind becomes empty of perception tied to the constructed world, entering into direct awareness free from fabrication.
The Buddha says in SN 40.9 (Animitta Sutta):
“Bhikkhus, develop samādhi that is signless. When you develop the signless samādhi, your conceit ‘I am’ will be abandoned.”
(Pāli: Animittañca, bhikkhave, samādhiṃ bhāvetha. Animittasmiṃ, bhikkhave, samādhismiṃ bhāvite asmimāno pahīyati.)
In this state, the mind releases its habitual grasping onto mental constructions (saññā) and enters a domain of deep stillness and emptiness, where insight (vipassanā) can penetrate.
Samādhi and Liberation
Unlike some later interpretations that treat samādhi as a meditative end in itself, early Buddhist texts insist that samādhi serves wisdom. The purpose is not just tranquility but the direct seeing of impermanence, not-self, and suffering.
In the Cūḷa-Suññata Sutta (MN 121), the Buddha describes going from perception of the forest, to the perception of space, to the perception of “nothing,” and eventually to a state “empty of perception of signs.” It’s a journey of subtracting layers of constructed reality until only bare awareness remains.
Modern Misreadings and Relevance
In modern contexts, samādhi is often mistranslated as simply “concentration,” sometimes even equated with mere attention or mindfulness. But its deeper meaning in Buddhism goes beyond attention to include a radical transformation of how the mind perceives reality.
The signless aspect of samādhi points to the non-conceptual quality of deep meditation—a state where the mind no longer overlays reality with labels, categories, or distinctions.
In a world increasingly full of noise, images, and mental clutter, the cultivation of animitta-samādhi is not a retreat from life but a radical seeing of life as it is, freed from the illusion of signs.
Samādhi, especially in its signless form, is a profound doorway into wisdom. It dissolves the conventional signs through which we build a sense of self and world. The etymology of the word—placing together, establishing deeply—points to its core function: the steady, still unification of the mind. And in the stillness of animitta, we may find not only peace, but liberation.
Thanks!