The Inner Path

The Last 3 Limbs of Classical (Patanjali’s) Yoga

In Yoga there is often much misunderstanding about the role and place of meditation and the more “internal” practices. Some see meditation as merely an eastern form of relaxation or perhaps even a form of psychotherapy – yet the inner quest of Yoga is quiet different to this popular perception!!

These last three limbs of the Yoga Sutras - dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (bliss) are often studied together and are called antaratma sadhana or in the West as the innermost quest.  If they are practiced simaltaneously the sadhaka (practitioner) is said to be making samyama and the truth of any object is said to unfold.  In addition the practice of samyama leads to the various siddhas (supernatural powers).

In PYS (Ch 3 V1) Patanjali (the "father of Yoga") explains dharana (concentration) as the "binding of consciousness to a [single] spot." Of course, yoga practitioners actively seek out this depth of concentration in the practices of asana (posture) and pranayama (breathing exercises), as well as in meditation itself. Dharana can be found whenever a person is fully present and focused on an activity or object.

By definition, this focus cures the inner conflicts we so commonly experience. When you're completely focused, you can't be of two minds about something.

This ability to focus all the mind's attention toward one thing is the foundation of the next limb—dhyana or meditation—and is absolutely necessary if the practitioner is to reach the liberation of samadhi. One way to understand the distinction between concentration and meditation is by using rain as an analogy. When rain starts, the moisture of clouds and fog (everyday awareness) coalesces into concentrated moisture and becomes distinct raindrops. These raindrops represent dharana—intermittent moments of focused attention. When the rain falls to earth and creates a river, the merging of the individual raindrops into one stream is like dhyana or meditation. The separate raindrops merge into one continuous flow, just as individual moments of dharana merge into the uninterrupted focus of meditation. In English, we often use the word "meditate" to mean "to think," but in yoga, meditation is not thinking; instead, it is a deep sense of unity with an object or activity.

Yoga students are often taught to meditate by focusing on a mantra, on the breath, or perhaps on the image of a guru or great teacher. These practices are extremely difficult because it is the nature of the mind to jump around from idea to idea, from sensation to sensation.

Once you've taken the first step of learning to still the body for meditation, you can't help but notice how "un-still" the mind is. So instead of thinking of meditation as some dreamy state in which thoughts do not happen at all—instead of trying to quiet something that by nature is never quiet - pay total attention to the agitations which are the thoughts. The thoughts may continue, but paying uninterrupted attention to the thoughts is itself the meditation.

Presence Without Ego - Samadhi

People think samadhi (the last limb of classical Yoga) is a trancelike state which takes the practitioner away from everyday consciousness to a better state of being.  In fact samadhi is exactly the opposite of a trance.  Samadhi is a state of being intensely present without a point of view. In other words, in samadhi you perceive all points of view of reality at once, without focusing on any particular one.

To understand this better, imagine that each of us has a "grid" or filter in front of us. The mesh of this filter is constructed of all of our experiences and ideas; it is created by our sex, our particular personal history, our family and cultural values, and our education, to name only a few factors. This grid filters all our experience. For example, while we all have the need for food, our grid tells us whether fast food, raw fish, or organic tofu is food. The grid is the sum total of our beliefs - conscious and unconscious - about reality. In fact a giant and complex web of knowledge, beliefs and associations.

Samadhi is the state in which we no longer experience reality through a grid; instead, we experience reality directly. Virtually all of us have had a taste of this state. Some people have this experience during worship, others during lovemaking, still others while alone in the woods. Samadhi is the state in which you are aware on a cellular level of the underlying oneness of the universe.

How does samadhi relate to daily life, a life filled with paying taxes, cleaning up the kitchen, practicing yoga poses, washing the car? Samadhi may seem to have nothing to do with our everyday activities. But on another level samadhi is the most important thing in our lives. The concept of samadhi brings with it the possibility of a deep hope about our growth as human beings.

Patanjali teaches us that we are always capable of experiencing samadhi—that at any moment we can become whole and fully present. If we understand this, that understanding becomes a fundamental acknowledgment of our true nature. Paradoxically, it seems that we need the journey—the journey of yoga—to discover what was present inside us all along.