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Page 1 of 11912 · PDF PAGE 98
82 in Samadhi they are very much more marked than in Dhyana. And while in the latter it seems like a simple union of two things, in the former it appears as if all things rushed together and united. One might say that in Dhyana there was still this quality latent, that the One existing was opposed to the Many non-existing; in Samadhi the Many and the One are united in a union of Existence with non-Existence. This definition is not made from reflection, but from memory. Further, it is easy to master the “trick ” or “knack” of Dhyana. After a while…
1912 · PDF PAGE 79
CHAPTER VI DHYANA HIS word has two quite distinct and mutually exclusive meanings. The first refers to the result itself. Dhyana is the same word as the Pali “Jhana.” The Buddha counted eight Jha'nas, which are evidently different degrees and kinds of 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 a…
1912 · PDF PAGE 99
83 natural result of Dhyana, but he cannot call Dhyana in the same way the precursor of Samadhi. Perhaps he does not really know the con- ditions which induce Samadhi. He can produce Dhyana at will in the course of a few minutes’ work?,־and it often happens with apparent spontaneity: with Samadhi this is unfortunately not the case. He probably can get it at will, but could not say exactly how, or tell how long it might take him?,־and he could not be sure of getting it at all. One feels sure that one can walk a mile along a level road. One knows…
1912 · PDF PAGE 90
…s them (rightly) to a disordered mind. The philosopher looks upon waking life with similar contempt ; and the person who has experienced Dhyana takes the same View, but not by mere pale intellectual conviction. Reasons, hoWever cogent, never convince utterly; but this man in Dhyana has the same commonplace certainty that a man has on waking from a nightmare. “ I wasn’t falling down a thousand flights of stairs, it was only a bad dream.” Similarly comes the reflection of the man who has had experience of Dhyana: “ I am not that wretched insect, th…
1912 · PDF PAGE 100
…ucceeded in concentrating the mind on it, and perceiving only the internal sensation, the meaning unexpressed in any form, that state of Dhyana is called Samadhi.” Other authors are inclined to suggest that Samadhi results from meditating on subjects that are in themselves worthy. For example, Vivekananda says: “Think of any» holy subject:” and explains this as follows: “This does not mean any wicked subject.” (!) Frater P. would not like to say definitely whether he ever got Dhyana from commonobjects. He gave up the practice after a few months,…
1912 · PDF PAGE 77
DHYANA
1912 · PDF PAGE 92
…ey and Kant have proved beyond all question. This matter, then, need not concern us. We may, however, provisionally accept the View that Dhyana is real; more real and thus of more importance to ourselves than all other experience. This state has been described not only by the Hindus and Buddhists, but by Mohammedans and Christians. In Christian writings, however, the deeply-seated dogmatic bias has rendered their documents worthless to the average man. They ignore the essential conditions of Dhyana, and insist on the inessential, to a much grea…
1912 · PDF PAGE 91
…calm it, not to produce any one thought but to exclude all thoughts; for there is no connection between the object of meditation and the Dhyana. Why must we suppose a breaking down of the whole process, especially as the mind bears no subsequent traces of any interference, such as pain or fatigue? Surely this once, if never again, the Hindu image expressesthe simplest theory! That image is that of a lake into which five glaciers move. These glaciers are the senses. While ice (the impressions) is breaking off constantly into the lake, the waters …
1912 · PDF PAGE 89
73 say in this place, that Dhyana has to be classed as the most vivid and catastrophic of all experiences. This will be con- firmed by any one who has been there. It is, then, difficult to overrate the value that such an experience has for the individual, especially as it is his entire conception of things, including his most deep—seated conception, the standard to which he has always referred everything, his own self, that is overthrown; and when we try to explain it away as hallucination, temporary suspension of the faculties or something simil…
1912 · PDF PAGE 82
66 danger. But even when one has become accustomed to Dhyana by constant repetition, no words seem adequate. One of the simplest forms of Dhyana may be called “the Sun.” The sun is seen (as it were) by itself, not by an observer; and although the physical eye cannot behold the sun, one is compelled to make the statement that this “ Sun” is far more brilliant than the sun of nature. The whole thing takes place on a higher level. Also the conditions of thought, time, and space are abolished. It is impossible to explain what this really means :i o…
1912 · PDF PAGE 96
…dhi ” on that cat. They use the word Jhana to describe mystic states. This is excessively misleading, for as we saw in the last section, Dhyana is a preliminary to Samadhi, and of course Jhana is merely the wretched plebeian Pali corruption of it.1 There are many kinds of Samadhi.2 Some auf/2073 consider Alma- dars/zana, z'lze Universe as a single plzenomenon wir/zeu! conditions, to öe z‘lzefirsz‘real Samao’nz'. If we accept this, we must relegate many less exalted states to the class of Dhyana. Patanjali enumerates a number of these states: to …
1912 · PDF PAGE 108
…hts 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
1912 · PDF PAGE 105
…n place as to whether this is the ultimate attainment, or what it confers. It is enough if we say that even the first and most transitory Dhyana repays a thousandfold the pains we may have taken to attain it. And there is this anchor for the beginner,that his work is cumulative: every act directed towards attainment builds up a destiny which must some day come to fruition. May all attain! 1 Yet all this has come of our desire to be as modest as Yajna Valkya!
1912 · PDF PAGE 80
…st earnestly warned against attributing objective reality or philo- sophical validity to any of them.” Those golden words! In discussing Dhyana, then, let it be clearly understood that some- thing unexpected is about to be described. We shall consider its nature and estimate its value in a perfectly unbiassed way, without allowing ourselves the usual rhapsodies, or deducing any theory of the universe. One extra fact may destroy some
1912 · PDF PAGE 104
… normal mind is a candle in a darkened room. Throw open the shutters, and the sunlight makes the flame invisible. That is a fair image of Dhyana.1 But the mind refuses to find a simile for Atmadarshana. It seems merely ineffective to say that the rushing together of all the host of heaven would similarly blot out the sunlight. But if we do say so, and wish to form a further image of Shivadarshana, we must imagine our- selves as suddenly recognizing that this universal blazeis darkness; not 1 Here the dictation was interrupted by very prolonged th…
1912 · PDF PAGE 81
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…
1912 · PDF PAGE 85
…tired of life, he could manage somehow or other to kill someone first. “ Νονν the man whohas experienced any of the more intense forms of Dhyana is thus liberated. The Universe is thus destroyed for him, and he for it. His will can therefore go on its way unhampered. One may imagine that in the case of Mohammed he had cherished for years a tremendous ambition, and never done anything because those qualities which were subsequently manifested as statesmanship warned him that he was impotent. His vision in the cave gave him that confidence which wa…
1912 · PDF PAGE 76
… happens,and there is constantly a feeling of being “ on the brink of something pretty big,” one may expect to proceed to the next state—Dhyana.
1912 · PDF PAGE 97
…ctory.” We shall now only be interested in what Samadhi is in itself, and in the conditions which cause it. Let us try a final definition. Dhyana resembles Samadhi in many respects. There is a union of the ego and the non-ego, and a loss of the senses of time and space and causality. Duality in any form is abolished. The idea of time involves that of two consecutive things, that of space two non-coincident things, that of causality two connected things; These Dhyanic conditions contradict those of normal thought; but G
1912 · PDF PAGE 84
…successful men, will understand these words, having experience of their own with which they can compare it. The most important factor in Dhyana is, however, the annihilation of the Ego. Our conception of the universe must be completely overturned if we are to admit this as valid; and it is time that we considered what is really happening. It will be conceded that we have given a very rational explanation of the greatness of great men. They had an experience so overwhelming, so out of proportion to the rest of things, that they were freed from a…