WHAT IS MEDITATION ?

Defining Meditation

Like so many ancient, spiritual terms that once had clarity and context, the word “meditation” has been given a life of its own in modern parlance.  And, while all attempts to seek this state called “meditation” are to be revered and celebrated, there is merit in returning to the ancient sources which first defined dhyāna.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali define meditation as:

tatra pratyayaika-tānatā dhyānam. तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम् ।।

“In that [concentration or its locus], the single [unbroken] continuity [flow] of cognition [is called] meditation (dhyāna). “

In other words, meditation is the uninterrupted flow of one-pointed cognition on a particular object, such as the breath or a mantra, without being drawn to or interrupted by any other cognition.  What is first apparent from this definition is that meditation is a quality or a state of mind, it is not a technique or set of techniques. 

Mediation is the effect; the technique or method, which is varies according to lineage and culture, is its cause.  What is also quickly apparent is that for most of us, if we sit quietly with an intention to meditate and truly observe our minds, we will experience interruption upon interruption as the various fluctuations arise from our unique mental habit patterns. If we hold true to Patanjali’s definition, this is not yet meditation.

The beauty and challenge of Patanjali’s definition is that it cannot be taken out of its context.  This is beautiful in that the context of Patanjali’s eight limbed royal path includes all of the preparatory practices that make the seventh limb, dhyāna, possible.  It is challenging in that the preparations are comprehensive, as they must be, addressing body, breath, and the entirety of the mind.

This notion of context and of cause-effect is inherent in Patanjali’s definition itself. “In that concentration …” establishes the essential relationship with the preceding sutra, the preceding limb which is dhāraṇā, or concentration. 

The practices of dhāraṇā are vast, beautiful and challenging by themselves, but they serve as a means of establishing the one-pointed cognition which then becomes dhyāna.  Dhāraṇā is the cause and dhyāna the effect.  Similarly, when dhyāna is established, it becomes the cause of the eighth and final limb: samādhi, the highest state of individual consciousness.

Dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi, the interior limbs, cannot be separated.   But these sublime interior limbs are also not possible unless one has mastered the senses, energy, the body, and one’s actions.

To begin to understand what meditation is, one must not only have absolute clarity of the definition  - the single, unbroken flow of cognition - but one must also have understanding of the spiritual system within which meditation exists, for the system itself is the cause of the state of mind known as meditation.  Extracting any component from the system is to diminish the whole.

To truly understand meditation, one must experience that state of mind which is meditation, and this requires skillful preparation.

Are the yamas, the first limb, meditation?  No, but without these five disciplines, an aspiring meditator will not have purged the unhelpful impulses in the mind, speech, and actions.  Are the niyamas meditation?  No again, but without these five observances, a meditator will not have cleansed and purified the temple known as mind. 

Is āsana meditation?  No, but without this practice, the aspiring meditator’s body will be unsettled, inefficient, and the free flow of mind will be severely inhibited. 

Is prāṇāyāma meditation?  No, but without this practice, the very life force will be blocked, limited, agitated, and these same qualities will reflect in the mind. 

Is pratyāhāra meditation?  No, but without this practice, the senses will pull the chariot that is your life like wild horses who will not be controlled. 

Is dhāraṇā meditation?  No, but without this practice, a one-pointed mind will just be a poetic phrase in Yoga/spiritual books.

While this may feel overwhelming to the modern day aspirant whose life is too busy for such comprehensive preparations, there is indeed hope.  The transformative practices of the yamas and niyamas take no time, just an internal shift of awareness and intention. 

And progress can be made through the remaining preparatory limbs in minutes, not hours, a day!  The key to success is to transform your existing life, as it is, into a spiritual existence.

Meditation is not something that can be or should be defined in isolation.  It is also not something that can or should be separated from the rest of you life.  Live the entirety of your life as a preparation for meditation and that state of bliss which indeed exists beyond it!