1912 · PDF PAGE 69
Book 4 (Part I)
DHARANA
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Page 1 of 11912 · PDF PAGE 79
Book 4 (Part I)
…trance. The Hindu also speaks of Dhyana as a lesser form of Samadhi. Others, however, treat it as if it were merely an intensification of Dharana. Patanjali says: “Dharana is holding the mind on to some particular object. An unbroken flow of knowledge in that subject is Dhyana. When that, giving up all forms, reflects only the meaning, it is Samadhi.” He combines these three into Samyama. We shall treat of Dhyana as a result rather than as a method. Up to this point ancient authorities have been fairly reliable guides, except with regard to their …
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1912 · PDF PAGE 81
Book 4 (Part I)
65 existing theory; that is common enough. But no single fact is sufficient to construct one. It will have been understood that Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi form a continuous process, and exactly when the climax comes does not matter. It is of this climax that we must speak, for this is a matter of experience, and a very striking one. In the course of our concentration we noticed that the contents of the mind at any moment consisted of two things, and no more: the Object, variable, and the Subject, invariable, or apparently so. By success in Dh…
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1912 · PDF PAGE 99
Book 4 (Part I)
…mstances are required. One is science, the other empiricism. One author says (unless memory deceives) that twelve seconds’ steadiness is Dharana, a hundred and forty-four Dhyana, and seven- teen hundred and twenty-eight Samadhi. And Vivekananda, comment- ing on Patanjali, makes Dhyana a mere prolongation of Dharana?,־but says further: “Suppose I were meditating on a book, and I gradually
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1912 · PDF PAGE 108
Book 4 (Part I)
…her thoughts by a direct concentration upon a single thought. This process, which leads to the highest results, consists of three parts, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, grouped under the single term Samyama. . How can I obtain further knowledge and experience of this? . The A3. A:. is an organization whose heads have obtained by personal experience to the summit of this science. They have
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1912 · PDF PAGE 95
Book 4 (Part I)
…e statement, of any acknowledged authority, is that of Yajna Valkya, who says: “ By Pranayama impurities of the body are thrown out?,־by Dharana the impurities of the mind; by Pratyahara the impurities of attachment ; and by Samadhi is taken off everything that hides the lordship of the soul.” There is a modest statement in good literary form. If we can only do as well as that! In the first place, what is the meaning of the term? Etymologically, Sam is the Greek συν-, the English prefix “syn-” meaning “together 79
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1912 · PDF PAGE 71
Book 4 (Part I)
CHAPTER V DHARANA OW that we have learnt to observe the mind, so that we know how it works to some extent, and have begun to understand the elements of control, we may try the resultof gathering together all the powers of the mind, and attempting to focus them on a single point. We know that it is fairly easy for the ordinary educated mind to think without much distraction on a subject in which it is much interested. We have the popular phrase, “ revolving a thing in the mind ”; and as long as the subject is sufficiently complex, as long as thou…
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1912 · PDF PAGE 66
Book 4 (Part I)
…owever, one continues day after day investigating thoughts and trying to check them; and sooner or later one proceeds to the next stage, Dharana, the attempt to restrain the mind to a single object. Before we go on to this, however, we must consider what is meant by success in Pratyahara. This is a very extensive subject, and different authors take widely divergent views. One writer means an analysis so acute that every thought is resolved into a number of elements (see “The Psychology of Hashish,” Section V, in Equinox II). Others take the Vie…
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1912 · PDF PAGE 86
Book 4 (Part I)
…d a mental cata- strophe. Just as a blow on the head will make a man “see stars,” so one might suppose that the terrific mental strain of Dharana has some— how over-excited the brain, and caused a spasm, or possibly even the breaking of a small vessel. There seems no reason to reject this ex- planation altogether, though it would be quite absurd to suppose that to accept it would be to condemn the practice. Spasm is a normal func- tion of at least one of the organs of the body. That the brain is not damaged by the practice is proved by the fact …
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1912 · PDF PAGE 72
Book 4 (Part I)
…e would probably give up. As it is, the mere physical agony which he underwent is the veriest trifle compared with the horrible tedium of Dharana.
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