What is Meditation? Dhāranā vs. Dhyāna

As I continue to work with more people engaging in the ongoing process of internal and external evolution, I am always investigating what draws each of us to the practice of meditation and what prevents us from maintaining a steady practice.

The mind does innately get out of control. That is the nature of the human mind. When we create a little time in stillness regularly with ourselves, we begin to see more clearly the specific tendencies of our own mind. This is important, because in knowing this, we can become more aware when we see repetitive situations arising in our lives, and when we are making the same choices which produce the same results.

We live in a culture that often finds itself in constant mental movement. Intentionally being physically still, can exacerbate awareness of the mind’s chaotic nature, however, this can present an opportunity for inquiry.

What happens when you stop?

There are secrets in stillness. Secrets of the mind’s subconscious tendencies that go unnoticed when you are in motion. If you want to know yourself, there is real value in being still even if it frustrates the hell out of you.

One thing that comes up again and again is expectation. If we go into anything expecting a specific result, if that result doesn’t happen, we might feel frustrated or feel like we’ve somehow failed.

In yoga, there are two different stages of working with the mind that we tend to lump together.

Dhāranā and dhyāna. Dhāranā is the practice of concentration. We work with different dhāranā techniques to get the mind to behave. Dhāranā practices essentially boil down to holding the awareness on one thing. It doesn’t matter what that thing is, the idea is that, with practice, this concentration will lead you to the core of your being. This is the training ground for dhyāna which is that experience of unity that I think many of us expect meditation practice to yield.

This might be why so many of us get frustrated, because we are expecting with just a little practice to slip into a deep mediative state, when that really isn’t the goal. Any amount of focused concentration is a huge accomplishment for our minds, especially with all of the distractions we face each day.

There is enormous benefit in training the mind to behave and hold itself in one place for even 2 seconds.

The truth is you can’t practice meditation. Meditation just happens after you master sustained concentration. And sustaining concentration is hard work. So if you have a hard time meditating…… YES!!!!! That means you are doing the hard work that training the mind to concentrate entails.

If you have a challenging time just sitting down and trying to focus, try another way! There are an abundance of movement, breathwork and chanting practices that help train the mind. If you are interested in starting a daily practice and need some help I offer sadhana support. Please reach out if you are interested in learning more.

Much love,

Sri