Talk:Dhyāna

By Swami Harshananda

Dhyāna literally means ‘continuous thinking’ or ‘meditation’. It is important to have stable and concentrated mind to attain progress in spiritual life.

The art and science of concentration has been systematically described in the works on yoga. The Yogasutras of Patañjali (200 B.C.) is the most standard treatise on this subject. It describes eight steps for the attainment of yoga, out of which dhyāna happens to be the seventh or the penultimate step.

In dhāraṇā^[1], the step prior to dhyāna, the concentration is not continuous and moments of concentration are interspersed due to distraction. But in dhyāna, the concentration is continuous and each succeeding wave of the mind is absolutely identical with the preceding wave. For instance, if a person is concentrating on the Lord Gaṇapati, each mental wave created in his mind carries the image of that deity. The mind flows continuously in the stream like that of the oil being poured from one vessel into another. Dhyāna practiced over a long period leads to samādhi.^[2]

References[edit]

↑ Dhāraṇā is called as fixing the mind on the object of meditation.
↑ Samādhi is the absolute concentration resulting in the mystical experience.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

[1] Dhāraṇā is called as fixing the mind on the object of meditation.

[2] Samādhi is the absolute concentration resulting in the mystical experience.

[1]

[2]