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An Essay on


© 2008 by Academic Services International, Los Lunas, NM, USA

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Raja Yoga - Continued

 


.DHYANA.

7. Dhyana ("meditation"): Dhyana is actually a "result." It is attained by losing awareness of one's self (ego) and becoming the object of one's concentration.

The term, "meditation," comes from the same root as "mediation," the process of bringing two things together (as in "labor" and "management"). The yogi's consciousness is "brought together" with the object of his or her concentration. Ideally, this would be the union of the "lower" consciousness and the "higher" consciousness.

One can meditate on/with an automobile engine, a blue bird, a floor mat, the heart chakra, the Solar Angel, a god-form, or one's own "higher self." In this Essay, we will only be examining concepts that refer to expanded consciousness or spiritual development.

However, even union with a lowly floor mat requires the "loss of ego consciousness" that is the hallmark of dhyana.

This "ego loss" is usually accompanied by a clicking or popping sound and a flash of light. These are audio-visual representations of the "ego bubble" collapsing. The state can be short-lived or extend for a lengthy period of time.

Many people have experienced dhyana without the necessary moral, physical and energetic preparation. They then demonstrate bizarre "side-effect" or "after-effect" reactions:

One lady was meditating and she experienced dhyana. A few minutes later, she was out on the street corner, grabbing pedestrians by their sleeves and (in a loud and excited voice) attempting to explain the nature of reality to them.

A well-known man in the metaphysical seminar circus was driving his automobile over a bridge when he suddenly experienced dhyana. Based on this single insight, he went on to design and present classes to the general public. He was quite successful (monetarily). His students appeared to benefit from the instruction, but the insights and high energy states tended to dissolve after six weeks.

Anyway, the state of dhyana is a result. Thus, there are no practical techniques for inducing it, except for the continual performance of dharana (concentration). After dhyana is experienced a few times, the yogi becomes more adept at allowing it to occur.

Most expounders of yoga state that dhyana is not describable (being beyond time and space and all that). They then proceed to fill up several pages of description.

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