--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, wgm4u wrote:
>
> Maharishi doesn't teach concentration (dharana), Kriya Yoga does! In
Kriya, it's the concentration that LEADS to a state called meditation
(dhyana).
I would say instead that concentration is ONE method that leads to the
meditative state. There are many.
TMers are taught to regard "concentration" as almost a dirty word, and a
dirtier concept. Their loss, which one tends to see the effects of in
their spaced-out-ed-ness. IMO both concentration and letting-go
("effortlessness") have a role in the practice of meditation.
Interestingly, I have found the best results through the alternation of
them, often in the same session. Focus, then letting go. Rinse and
repeat. Strong, deep, clear meditations as the result, with FAR less
just sitting there lost in thoughts and thinking one is "meditating."
> ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, emptybill@ wrote:
>
> Here is proof that MMY adhered to Patanjaliâs definition of
sanyama.
>
> YS 3.1 deša-bandhaš-cittasya-dhâranâ
> : deša = locus, place, spot
> : bandha = bind, fasten, cohere
> : chitta = individual consciousness
> : dhâranâ = holding, focusing
> Dhâranâ is binding the mind to a place (or
âHoldingâ is the placement of consciousness)
>
> Vyasa sez:
> Dharana is binding the mind to a place. It is binding the mind, AS A
PURELY MENTAL PROCESS, to the navel circle, the heart lotus, the light
in the head, the tip of the nose, the tip of the tongue, and other such
locations; and to external objects.
>
> Shankara sez:
> Dhâranâ is binding the mind to one place. Binding to one
place means binding it there and it is the mind that is to be bound.
>
> The commentator (Vyasa) gives details, binding to the navel circle
all the vital currents meet there in the form of a circle, so it is
called the circle of the navel. On the form of the heart lotus, the
light in the head. The door of the nadi nerve-channel of the head is
radiant, and so it is called a light. To the tip of the nose, the tip of
the tongue, and to other such locations, and to external objects, such
as the moon. To these the mind is bound.
>
> The mental process (vritti) of the mind, held in those places without
being dispersed, is called dhâranâ, as a purely mental process.
It functions simply as the IDEA of that place without any disturbance or
viksepa.
>
>
> YS 3.2 tatra pratyaya-ekatânatâ dhyânam
> tatra = therein or âin regard toâ
> pratyaya = idea, notion
> eka = one
> tânatâ = extension, stretching
> (here one-directionality)
>
> dhyâna = meditative absorption
> Continuity of the mind there is meditation.
>
