--- In [email protected], "Rick Archer" <rick@...> wrote:
>
> Scholarly article on Buddhist meditation, contemporary mindfulness
> practices, and the Transcendental Meditation technique by Dr. Evan
> Finkelstein.
>
> http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/07/the-buddhas-meditation--dr-evan-finke
> lstein/
>
"Since Buddha explained that only the right method would bring the fruit, it
would be valuable to explore whether Samatha meditation, as it's understood and
practiced today, is the right method to bring tranquility to the mind. The term
Samatha actually means calmness or tranquility: an integrated state where the
mind is not in any way excited or active. *It is directly related to the term
Samadhi*, the state in which the mind is completely settled and unwavering and
is effortlessly held in a fully concentrated state."
If he means those two words are linguistically related, I don't think I can
agree with him.
It seems to me especially people in Southern, Dravidian, parts of
India tend to ignore the difference between the dental sibilant
(s) and the palatal sibilant (sh; in HK transliteration 'z').
For instance, they tend to write, at least in Roman transliteration, 'siva' for
'shiva' and 'sankara' for 'shankara'.
According to Monier-Williams, the word above written as 'samatha'
is actually 'shamatha' (zamatha), so, at least from the purely
linguistic POV, it seems to have nothing to do with 'samaadhi'
(sam-aa-dhi).
Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon: Search Results
1 zamaTha m. (cf. Un2. i , 102 Sch.) N. of a Brahman MBh.
2 zamatha m. quiet , tranquillity , absence of passion Lalit. ; a
counsellor , minister L.
