Meditation is known as dhyana yoga. It is the seventh stage in the raja yoga system. The definition of meditation in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is worth studying. The first definition is that in meditation the mind is freed from objective awareness, and as one goes further in meditation, the awareness is continuous. These are the actual definitions of dhyana yoga in the Raja Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Before dhyana yoga, there are two important practices. The first practice is known as pratyahara, which means withdrawal of sensory awareness. The second practice is dharana, which means concentration on a point. Pratyahara, dharana and dhyana are continuous processes. When you practise pratyahara, you automatically come to dharana, and when you practise dharana, you automatically come to dhyana.
In the practice of pratyahara, we try to isolate the consciousness and the brain from the senses. The senses carry impressions to the brain, which are sent to the mind. If you can block the sensory channels, then the brain and the mind are isolated. There are many techniques for achieving this. In fact, the yoga techniques you read about in the books are all practices of pratyahara. Many times, there is a confusion in our minds. We are not able to decide which of the practices are genuine and good.
We read various books by different authorities and every authority has one or more of his techniques in his book. Every authority has a technique different from the others, which creates confusion in our minds. You do not know and cannot decide which of the techniques are true and which are not suitable. When these authorities write and suggest ‘practices of meditation’, they should clarify and write that these are ‘practices of pratyahara’. In my opinion, all the different techniques are good, and no practice is superior to another. One should not get confused at all. Simply choose one or more practices, from one or more authorities on the subject, and that will do.
Nada yoga, for example, is a technique of pratyahara. These techniques prescribed by different authorities help us to isolate the brain and the mind. When you isolate them, then you can concentrate on one point without much distraction. Whatever you concentrate on, any one point, is known as dharana. Dharana literally means to place or fix the mind on one point. If you practise concentration or dharana without practising pratyahara, you will encounter a lot of difficulties, because the senses will be stimulating the mind and the brain from time to time. You see, if you open all the windows of this hall, the sound of the train will be disturbing us a lot. You close all the windows and if this hall is soundproof, then the sounds will not matter. In the same way, the mind has to become immune to impressions.
Now meditation cannot be practised, there is no specific way to practise it. The different techniques taught by all of us are intended either for pratyahara or dharana. Meditation is not a practice; it is the automatic culmination of your practices. In meditation, there should only be awareness of one object, that is all. In dharana, there is awareness of more than one point. In pratyahara, there is a lot of fighting with the senses. So, pratyahara leads one to dharana, and dharana automatically culminates in dhyana. When dhyana becomes deep, it is called samadhi.
August 1981, Chamarande, France