Yoga: A Gem for Women - Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi
Withdrawing the senses inward (pratyahara) leads...with great restraint and practice to the last three limbs of Patanjali's astanga yoga.
That is:
Dharana - Concentration - where the senses are focused on the Individual Soul.
Dhyana - Meditation - is when, as Geeta writes, "the sadhaka sustains and maintains the focus of attention throughout concentration, unbounded by time and space." At this time, "the body, the breath, the mind, the intellect, and the ego, all lose their individual existence and merge into one single state of Being."
"The merging of the Individual Soul with the Universal Soul is meditation."
Geeta writes about Saguna and Nirguna meditation. The first is meditation done with support by concentration on a deity and Nirguna is without support.
Samadhi - Self-Realization - This final stage, like the others needs to be experienced to truly know its meaning. Geeta writes and explains this as when the identity of the sadhaka becomes both externally and internally immersed in meditation.
This Chapter on "The Path of Yoga" contains much wisdom and is worth reading and re-reading.
It brings more awareness to the limbs of yoga from the beginning with the outer pursuits, to move inward to the internal pursuits and ultimately the innermost pursuits.
Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.