Patanjali Yoga Sutra -तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम् ॥3.2॥
tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam॥
Undisturbed, the unbroken stream-like flow of concentration towards an object or a thought or a point is called dhyānam.
At the first glance of this sūtra it appears dhāraṇā and dhyānam are one and the same. But closer observation reveals the difference: dhāraṇā is an initial effort of sādhaka to stop the wavering thoughts in the mind so that the mind dwells upon an object or point. Once the mind stops on the desired object or point, the mind of sādhaka assumes the shape of an unbroken stream and flows uninterruptedly towards the object or point selected effortlessly. This second phase is termed as dhyānam by Patañjali Maharṣi. Thus, in dhyānam, there is ease and effortlessness on the part of sādhaka, as there is free flow rather than an effortful gathering of scattered mind to dwell upon the desired object or point. That is the reason many commentators have given a pretty nice analogy and comparison to pouring of thick oil from one container to another vessel to describe dhyānam.
Thus, Bhagavān Śrīkr̥ṣṇa is of the opinion that, such dhyānam on Him (Paramātma), practiced in serene solitude would enable the sādhaka to attain the unparalleled pinnacle of bliss. He emphasizes that ‘dhyāna-vastu’ should be always ‘Paramātma’. His inner world grows larger and larger over a period of practice:
युञ्जन्नेवं सदात्मानं योगी नियतमानसः।
शान्तिं निर्वाणपरमा मत्संस्थामधिगच्छति॥गीता ६.१५॥
yuñjannevaṁ sadātmānaṁ yogī niyatamānasaḥ।
śāntiṁ nirvāṇaparamā matsaṁsthāmadhigacchati ॥Gītā 6.15॥
Having gathered the scattered mind from its outward tendency, when the sādhaka yogi practices supreme spiritual absorption with Paramātma, he arrives at the summit of profound, insightful quietude and this state is nothing but unblemished spiritual union (of the individual soul with universal soul — Brahman).
The etymology of the Sanskr̥t word ‘ध्यानम्’ is very interesting:
धी (Intellect or mind) + यानम् (vehicle in which one travels). Thus, it is the journey of the mind towards Paramātma — The In-Dweller.
There is an interesting way of understanding ‘dhyānam’, that is understandable even by an ordinary man. There are two worlds — external and internal. The external world is the world of transactions, where we deal with different kinds of people; we interact with them, etc. The internal world is the world within oneself. Only I have got an entry into this world and no one else can enter. It is my private property and trespassing by anyone else is next to impossible. To get an entry into this world, I have to drop off everything in the external world itself — name, fame, my possessions, my belongings, my ego, and my everything; empty-handed, empty-minded, I should enter. Further, having done this, I should close the door of the external world so that my connections with the outer world would snap and the door to the internal world opens up. There is only One waiting for me in this internal world, that is my ‘ārādhya Daiva’. This journey from the external world to the internal world is ‘dhyānam’.
‘If you are not able to concentrate, never mind, your honest effort to concentrate would be dhyānam’, says Divine Mātā Amṛtānandamayi, the Hugging Saint of India. If the mountain cannot be humbled, your humbleness can free you from turbulence; if the ocean cannot be humbled, humbly prostrate before the ocean, you are devoid of turmoil.
dhyānam is ātma saṃyama, paramātma cintana. It is an experience wherein sādhaka’s mind defocuses, blooms, opens up and expands, (seashell has to open up for the revelation of precious globule-pearl within) and feels that he is the undying ātman and not the mortal body or the senses. Nothing would be more attractive to him than having such an experience. He is least bothered about the greatest of the worldly treasures, valuables and mundane pleasures. Such a realized Soul does not attain anything new but experiences his own true nature, his oneness with the Supreme Soul, and supreme bliss says Brahmasūtras (4.4.1).
A monk was living on the top of a hill. Once in a while he would descend from his hill, go round the down-town, and get his food by begging. He was always happy; there was not even a speck of melancholy on his face. People in the town used to say that the monk is in possession of a coin of happiness and that keeps him always happy.
A rich man in the town decided to approach the monk and get the coin of happiness from him so that he could be always happy. Having climbed the hill, our rich man disclosed the reason for his arrival. Monk said, ‘why not, stay with me for some days and I will give you the coin of happiness’. Several days passed but the coin was not given to our rich man. The rich man decided to steal the coin from the monk.
Every morning, the monk would go to a nearby river for his bath. One day, when the monk went out, the rich man searched the entire hermitage including the bed that was being used by the monk. But he could not get the ‘happiness coin’. After a while, the monk returned from his bath. A distressed rich man asked the monk where the coin was. The monk smiled and took out a coin from beneath the bed that was being used by the rich man and said, ‘you searched everywhere except the bed that was being used by you. Your search for happiness everywhere, particularly in the worldly possessions. But true happiness is within you. Seek it through the withdrawal of senses and the mind from the mundane world’.
