The term is also used in Buddhism, not as a goal but one of the eight factors leading toward the goal (which is cessation of suffering, awakening, nirvana).

The eight factors are called the eightfold path. Number eight is samma samadhi, generally translated as right concentration.

Also, the last three factors, namely right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, are sometimes grouped together as samadhi, or concentration.

Here is a quote from the Pali Canon (Majjhima-Nikaaya 44) on how the Buddha defined right concentration (samadhi):

What, now, is Right Concentration? Having the mind fixed to a single object (cittekeggata, lit. `One-pointedness of mind'): this is concentration. The four `Foundations of Mindfulness' (7th factor): these are the objects of concentration. The four `Great Efforts' (6th factor): these are the requisites for concentration. The practising, developing and cultivating of these things: this is the development (bhavana) of concentration.

Please note that while samma samadhi is listed as the eighth factor in the eightfold path, that does not mean it is the final "step" toward awakening. The path is called eightfold for a good reason: It does not consist of eight steps to be taken in sequence, but of eight interrelated factors which all need to be there simultaneously.

(Hinduism)

(Sanskrit) trance; complete absorption in God consciousness; also a burial mound.

(Sanskrit and Pali: samâdhi, "concentration, absorption in the self")

Concept in Indian Religion and philosophy. Samadhi is the stage in meditation where the meditating person abandons his own identity and sense of the outer world.

In yogic philosophy, samadhi is the ultimate goal of a yogi. In Buddhism, samadhi is the term used to describe the highest degree of meditative absorption in the self - not as a goal in itself, but as a means to perfect enlightenment.

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