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The 7th Limb of Yoga - Dhyana: Meditation

 

The 5th and 6th Limbs, sense withdrawal and concentration are to prepare you for the 7th limb, meditation. Some yogi scholars would define meditation as the point when the meditator becomes one with the object of meditation. For example, if you are meditating on the feeling state of joy produced by the Object of Beauty meditation technique, you first use concentration to zone into the feeling state but then eventually you become one with that joy, you are totally absorbed into joy, you are joy. There is another meaning of meditation that differentiates it from concentration and that is the degree of effort. Concentration takes effort. When you become one with the feeling state of joy and can maintain it a bit, then you start to relax into the feeling state and there becomes no effort. This is meditation. You are totally absorbed into being Joy!

 

In Santosha Recovery, we use several guided meditation techniques that begin with sense withdrawal and concentration to move you toward a meditative state. These are used in the weekly meetings and there are several meditation techniques described and with audio on the website under the Meditation drop down menu. There are also some cool apps and u-tube guided meditation techniques available any time of the day, at any place you can get the internet. But a very simple technique to get you to a meditative state is to meditate on your breath. Withdrawal from your senses, and then begin to concentrate on your breathing, feel it moving in, out and through your body. As you relax into this place begin to sense that you are the breath. You are the one moving in and out of the body. The body seizes to exit, there is only you, the breath, flowing, pausing, flowing. Ahhh…… You are not your body, you are spirit!

 

Our meditation practice is so much more than a sit down half hour of peacefulness and oneness. The calmness that is produced from your dhyana practice brings a state of vritti-nirodha which is that state of removing the fluctuations of the mind. According to Patanjali who codified the first written records of yoga in the Yoga Sutras 1.2, Yoga, it is stated:

 

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥२॥
yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ

 

which can be translated as “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.” The mind stuff is what causes us unhappiness, anxiety, fear, greed and addictions. The fluctuations of the mind include old stories, direct perception, delusion, attachment, memory, dreaming, grasping, imagination, preferences, emotions, worry, ect. You know what this is talking about right? Our everyday mind! With a regular meditation practice our mind starts to quiet with the calm and contentment (santosha) that is produced from our daily meditation practice. And then we can take that calm into our daily lives. Get your calm on!!

 

From Goswami Kriyananda’s Book The Spiritual Science of Kriya Yoga, He states: 'Meditation is not just a technique, but also a basic approach to life that becomes a foundation for living, loving and laughing. Meditation removes strife on all levels of your being. Meditation is the ultimate psychology, the ultimate therapy for mankind.'

 

When we can walk through life with a calm and disciplined mind, we begin to see life more clearly. One can liken their mind to a shallow pond. When the mind is moving through the kaleidoscope of mind stuff it is as if there is a big fish in the pond stirring up the sediment at the bottom of the pond. The water is murky and we cannot at all see through the water to the contents of the pond. When the contents of the pond have become quiet, the sediment settles to the bottom and the water becomes clear and we can see the contents of the pond, as with the mind; when it is tamed, calm and content, we can see clearly the contents of the mind. We can see clearly the stories and the samskaras that need to be healed. We can see clearly who we are as spirit rather than see ourselves as our mind stuff or our stories. Our stories and our experiences happen for a very good reason; so that we can heal from them and evolve spiritually. Each time we heal our past, heal our karma, we grow, we mature, we evolve spiritually.

 

May you grow in wisdom on your path in this very lifetime. There are no failures in life! We are here on Earth to find clarity on what needs to be done so that we might grow in wisdom and spiritual maturity.  Shantih fellow seekers!