Dharana - admi.lv

<h2> Dharana</h2>/Based on Iyengar's book "Light on Yoga" (Yoga Dipika)/When the body has been tempered by asanas, the mind purified in the fire of pranayama and the senses brought under control by pratyahara, the sadhaka reaches the sixth stage of yoga, called dharana. Here he concentrates entirely on one object or task, in which he is completely absorbed. To reach this state of total absorption, the mind must be stilled.The mind is an instrument that classifies, evaluates and co-ordinates the impressions of the outer and the inner world.The mind is the product of thoughts, which are hard to hold because they are elusive and changeable. A thought held by a controlled mind brings happiness. To use an instrument well, one has to know how it works. The mind is the instrument of thinking, so it is necessary to examine how it functions.Mental states are divided into five groups. The first is the state of kshipta, in which the mental powers are scattered in disorder and neglect. The mind chases after the objects of desire; rajo-guna predominates. The second is the state of vikshipta, in which the mind is agitated and distracted. Here there is the capacity to enjoy the fruits of one's efforts, but the desires are neither ordered nor controlled. The third is the state of mudha, in which the mind is dull, sluggish and stupid. It is bewildered and does not know what it wants. Here tamo-guna predominates. The fourth state is ekagra (from the words "eka" - one, and "agra" - foremost), in which the mind is highly attentive and the mental faculties are concentrated on a single object or directed to one point alone; here sattva-guna predominates. A person of this type has outstanding intellectual powers and knows exactly what he wants, and therefore uses all his strength to reach his goal. Sometimes he pursues the goal he desires without thinking what it may cost others, and brings about terrible misfortune. It often happens that once the desired goal has been reached, a bitter aftertaste remains.Arjuna, the mighty archer of the epic "Mahabharata", is an example of what is meant by dharana. Once Drona, the teacher of the princes, arranged an archery contest to test their skill. Each prince in turn had to describe the target Drona pointed out to him. It was a bird in a nest. Some princes described the whole grove, others a single tree or only the branch that held the nest. When Arjuna's turn came, he first described the bird, then saw only its head, and at last only its glittering eye, which was the very centre of the target.There is, however, the danger that such a person will become an egoist in the highest degree. If the senses begin to wander unchecked, the mind behaves in the same way. The senses then confuse the reason and hand it over to the power of the elements, like a battered ship on a stormy sea. A ship needs ballast for steadiness, and the helmsman needs a lighthouse to steer the vessel towards. A person of the ekagra type needs bhakti (adoration of God) and concentration on the Divine in order to keep his mental balance and always move in the right direction. He will not know happiness until he loses the sense of "I" and "mine".The last mental state is niruddha, in which the mind (manas), the intellect (buddhi) and the ego (ahamkara) are controlled and directed towards God, to His service and for His sake. Here there is no room for the sense of "I" and "mine". As a lens grows more luminous when a great deal of light falls upon it, and seems even indistinguishable from the source of the light itself, so the sadhaka who has given his mind, intellect and ego to God becomes one with Him, for he thinks only of Him, the Creator of thought.Without ekagrata (concentration) nothing can be mastered. Without concentration on the Divine that shapes and governs the universe, it is impossible to grasp the divinity within oneself and to become universal. To achieve such concentration, eka-tattva-abhyasa is recommended - the study of the one element that embraces everything, the hidden Self of all beings, which turns its single form into many. Therefore, to attain ekagrata, the sadhaka concentrates on the sound AUM, the symbol of God.