drishti- ashtanga and meditation. how should one meditate in 33 bullet points

8/10/2019 DRISHTI- Ashtanga and Meditation. How Should One Meditate in 33 Bullet Points.

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DRISHTI: Ashtanga and Meditation. Howshould one meditate in 33 bullet points.

Posting this extended version of this earlier post as happily thequestion continues to come up...

But first perhaps an encouraging thought...

If we've been linking our breath to our movements inour practice. If we've been working on improving ouremployment of drishti (whether eyes open or closed,

internal or external), then it's not a case of should weor shouldn't we consider a meditation practice... We'vealready begun a meditation practice, the Smayama,the meditation limbs of raja (ashtanga yoga) whichinclude it's preparation .

Jump to the section that interests you1. The Aranya commentary from yesterday focusing on the

Drishti aspect.2. My 33 point how to meditate 'manual'.3. The Yoga 'meditation' Newsletter from Ramaswami.4. The Ashtanga and Zen video following a Zen Monk who also

practices Ashtanga.5. Concentration: the sixteen vital points



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The Samyama.

The upper three limbs of Raja (Ashtanga)yoga

Dh" ra ! "

– concentration, one-pointedness of mind

Dhy " na

– meditation (quiet activity that leads to samadhi)

Sam " dhi

– the quiet state of blissful awareness, superconscious state

1.

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"The Yogis mention two sadhanas or two yogic procedures as preparations. They are asanas and pranayama ". Ramaswami fromthe newsletter below.

At some point we can perhaps choose whether to look to the next pose and the next or look deeper within those that we have,explore them as asana (even as mudra ) rather than merelypostures.

Aranya's commentary on YS 22-49 that I posted yesterday assupport for Krishnamacharya's employment of breath suspension inasana strikes me as an excellent place to begin.

Drishti (internal or external, eyes closed or open).

"That is, the object of concentration should be present in themind during each act of inhalation and exhalation, or theinhalation and exhalation are to be looked upon as the

predisposing causes bringing the thought of the object ofconcentration; thus union between the breath and the object ofconcentration has to be practiced. When this becomes habitual,then the suspension of the movement (of breath) has to be

practiced. " Aranya.

Look too at his use of the Yoga as union translation option, yoking the breath to the object of concentration .

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/when-asana-has-not-been-wholly.html



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2.

"Ah! Meditation. The Yoga world is divided into twocamps. On one side we have enthusiastic hatha yogiswho specialize in asanas and the other group whichbelieves fervently in meditation as a panacea for allthe ills". Ramaswami Nov. 2009

A couple of years ago I put together what I like to think of as ashort Yoga Meditation Manual for my own personal use ( I don't

think I ever posted it and can't find my original), it's based onRamaswami's November 2009 newsletter Meditating onMeditation (below), it's pretty much a numbering of the sentencesoutlining practice in the newsletter. I'd wondered why it was thatwe turn to the yoga tradition for asana and perhaps pranayamabut when it comes to meditation often turn to , Zen,Vippasana...... This then was an attempt to make yoga meditationa little more accessible.

There is of course a more in depth yoga meditationmanual, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras,

Here is my own personal copy...



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3.Meditating on Meditation by Srivatsa Ramaswami

https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/vinyasa-krama-announce/LUhGCDH8jTk

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Newsletter Nov 2009I was watching a live television program in India some 30 yearsback when TV had just been introduced in India. It was a program

in which an elderly yogi was pitted against a leading cardiologist.It was virtually a war. The yogi was trying to impress with someunusualposes which were dubbed as potentially dangerous by thedoctor. Almost everything the yogi claimed was contested by thenon-yogi and soon the dialogue degenerated. The yogi stressedthat headstand will increase longevity by retaining the amrita inthe sahasrara in the head and the medical expert countered it bysaying that there was no scientific basis for such claims anddubbed it as a pose which was unnatural and dangerous and will

lead to a stroke. The Yogi replied by saying that Yoga had stoodthe test of time for centuries; it had been in voguemuch beforemodern medicine became popular. Thank God it was a black andwhite program; else you would have seen blood splashed all overthe screen.Things have become more civil in these three decades. Now netipot, asanas, yogic breathing exercises and yogic meditation haveall become part of the medical vocabulary. There is a grudgingappreciation of yoga within the medical profession. Many times

doctors suggest a few yogic procedures, especially Meditation, inseveral conditions like hypertension, anxiety, depression and otherpsychosomatic ailments.Ah! Meditation. The Yoga world is divided into two camps. On oneside we have enthusiastic hatha yogis who specialize in asanas andthe other group which believes fervently in meditation as apanacea for all the ills.But how should one meditate? Many start meditation and give itup after a few days or weeks as they fail to see any appreciable

benefit or perceivable progress. The drop out rate is quite highamong meditators. The mind continues to be agitated and doesnot get into the meditating routine. Or quite often one tends totake petit naps while meditating. Why does this happen? It is dueto lack of adequate preparation. Basically one has to prepareoneself properly for meditation.The Yogis mention two sadhanas or two yogic procedures aspreparations. They are asanas and pranayama. Asanas, as we haveseen earlier, reduce rajas which manifests as restlessness of the

mind, an inability to remain focused for an appreciable amount oftime. But another guna, tamas also is not helpful during



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meditation, manifesting as laziness, lethargy and sloth and thisalso should be brought under control if one wants to meditate.Patanjali, Tirumular and several old Yogis advocate the practice ofPranayama to reduce the effects of Tamas. Patanjali says

Pranayama helps to reduce avarana or Tamas. He along withconventional ashtanga yogis also mentions that Pranayama makesthe mind capable of Dharana or the first stage of meditation.Pranayama is an important prerequisite of meditation.There isevidence that pranayama has a salutary effect on the wholesystem. In an earlier article I had explained the beneficial effectsof deep pranayama on the heart and the circulatory system.Further, when it is done correctly, it helps to draw in anywherebetween 3 to 4 liters of atmospheric air compared to just about "

liter of air during normal breathing. This helps to stretch the airsacs of the lungs affording an excellent exchange of oxygen andgaseous waste products. These waste products are proactivelythrown out of the system by deep pranayama, which yogis refer toas reduction of tamas. Thus soon after pranayama, the yogi feelsrefreshed and calm andbecomes fit for the first stage ofmeditation which is called Dharana.What should one meditate on? Several works talk about meditatingon cakras, mantras, auspicious icons, various tatwas and on thespirit/soul etc. But, the method of meditating, only a few worksdetail. Perhaps the most precise is that of Patanjali in Yoga Sutras.Patanjali details not only a step by step methodology ofmeditation but also the various objects of prakriti and ultimatelythe spirit within to meditate on. Hence his work may beconsidered as the most detailed, complete and rigorous onmeditationFor a start Patanjali would like the abhyasi to get the techniqueright. So he does not initially specify the object but merely saysthat the Yogi after the preliminary practices of asana, pranayamaand pratyahara, should sit down in a comfortable yogasana andstart the meditation. Tying the mind to a spot is dharana. Whichspot? Vyasa in his commentary suggests going by tradition, a fewspots, firstly inside the body, like the chakras as the Kundalini Yogiwould do,, or the heart lotus as the bhakti yogi would do, or themid-brows as a sidhha yogi would do or even an icon outside as akriya yogi would do.The icon should be an auspicious object like the image of one’sfavorite deity. Many find it easier to choose a mantra and focusattention on that. Thousands everyday meditate on the Gayatri



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mantra visualizing the sun in the middle of the eyebrows or theheart as part of their daily Sandhyavandana** routine. It is also anancient practice followed even today to meditate on the breathwith or without using the Pranayama Mantra. (** Namarupa published my article “Sandhyavandanam-RitualisticGayatri Meditation” with all the routines, mantras, meanings,about 40 pictures, and also an audio with the chanting of themantras in theSep/Oct 2008 issue).What of the technique? The Yogabhyasi starts the antarangasadhana or the internal practice by bringing the mind to the sameobject again and again even as the mind tends to move away fromthe chosen object of meditation. The active, repeated attemptsto bring the mind back to the simple, single object again and

again is the first stage of meditation (samyama) called dharana.Even though one has done everything possible to make the body/mind system more satwic, because of the accumulated samskarasor habits, the mind continues to drift away from the objectchosen for meditation. The mind starts with the focus on theobject but within a short time it swiftly drifts to another relatedthought then a third one and within a short time this train ofthoughts leads to a stage which has no connection whatsoeverwith the object one started with.Then suddenly the meditator remembers that one is drifting andsoon brings the mind back to the object and resumes remainingwith the “object”. This process repeats over and over again. Thisrepeated attempts to coax and bring the mind to the same objectis dharana. At the end of the session lasting for about 15 minutes,the meditator may (may means must) take a short time to reviewthe quality of meditation. How often was the mind drifting awayfrom the object and how long on an average the mind wandered?And further what were the kinds of interfering thoughts? Themeditator takes note of these. If they are recurrent and strongthen one may take efforts to sort out the problem that interfereswith the meditation repeatedly or at least decide to accept andendure the situation but may decide to take efforts to keep thosethoughts away at least during the time one meditates.If during the dharana period, the mind gets distracted too oftenand this does not change over days of practice, perhaps it mayindicate that the rajas is still dominant and one may want toreduce the systemic rajas by doing more asanas in the practice.On the other hand if the rajas is due to influences from outside,one may take special efforts to adhere to the yamaniyamas more



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scrupulously. Perhaps every night before going to sleep one mayreview the day’s activities and see if one had willfully violated thetenets of yamaniyamas like “did I hurt someone by deed, word orderive satisfaction at the expense of others’ pain”. Or did I say

untruths and so on. On the other hand if one tends to go to sleepduring the meditation minutes, one may consider increasing thepranayama practice and also consider reducing tamasicinteractions, foods etc.Then one may continue the practice daily and also review theprogress on a daily basis and also make the necessary adjustmentsin practice and interactions with the outside world. Theoreticallyand practically when this practice is continued diligently andregularly, slowly the practitioner of dharana will find that the

frequency and duration of these extraneous interferences startreducing and one day, the abhyasi may find that for the entireduration one stayed with the object. When this takes place, whenthe mind is completely with the object moment after moment in acontinuous flow of attention, then one may say that the abhyasihas graduated into the next stage of meditation known as dhyana.Many meditators are happy to have reached this stage. Then onehas to continue with the practice so that the dhyana habits orsamskaras get strengthened. The following day may not be asinterruption free, but Patanjali says conscious practice will makeit more successful. “dhyana heyat tad vrittayah”. If one continueswith this practice for sufficiently long time meditating on thesame object diligently, one would hopefully reach the next stageof meditation called Samadhi.In this state only the object remains occupying the mind and theabhyasi even forgets herself/himself. Naturally if one continuesthe meditation practice one would master the technique ofmeditation. Almost every time the yagabhasi gets into meditationpractice, one would get into Samadhi. Once one gets thiscapability one is a yogi—a technically competent yogi– and onemay be able to use the skill on any other yoga worthy object andmake further progress in Yoga. (tatra bhumishu viniyogah)The consummate yogi could make a further refinement. An objecthas a name and one has a memory of the object, apart from theobject itself (sabda, artha gnyana). If a Yogi is able to furtherrefine the meditation by focusing attention on one aspect like thename of the object such a meditation is considered superior. Forinstance when the sound ‘gow” is heard (gow is cow ), if themeditiator intently maintains the word ‘gow’ alone in his mind



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without bringing the impression(form) of a cow in his mind thenthat is considered a refined meditation. Or when he sees the cow,he does not bring the name ‘gow’ in the meditation process, it is arefined meditation.

The next aspect-after mastering meditation— one may consider is,what should be the object one should meditate upon. For BhaktiYogis it is the Lord one should meditate upon. According to myteacher, a great Bhakti Yogi, there is only one dhyana ormeditation and that is bhagavat dhyana or meditating upon theLord. There is a difference between a religious person and adevotee. A devotee loves the Lord and meditates on the Lord, allthrough life. The Vedas refer to the Pararmatman or the SupremeLord and bhakti yogis meditate on the Lord.

The Vedas also refer to several gods and some may meditate onthese as well. By meditating on the Lord one may transcend thecycle of transmigration. At the end of the bhakti yogi’s life onereaches the same world of the Lord (saloka), the heaven. Someattain the same form as the Lord. Some stay in the proximity ofthe Lord and some merge with the Lord. The Puranas which arethe later creation of poet seers personify the Lord and the vedicgods. Thus we have several puranas as Agni purana, Vayu puranaand then those of the Lord Himself like the Bhagavata Purana ,Siva Purana , Vishnu Purana. Running to thousands of slokas andpages the puranic age helped to worship the Lord more easily asthese stories helped to visualize the Lord as a person, which wasrather difficult to do from the Vedas. Later on Agamas made theLord more accessible by allowing idols to be made of the Lord anddivine beings and consecrating them in temples. Thus thesevarious methods helped the general populace remain rooted toreligion and religious worship. So meditating upon the charmingidol/icon of theLord made it possible for many to worship andmeditate .Of course many traditional Brahmins belonging to the vedicpractices stuck to the vedic fire rituals, frowned upon andrefrained from any ‘form worship’, but millions of others foundform worship a great boon.Meditating on the form of the chosen deity either in a temple orat one’s own home has made it possible to sidestep theintermediate priestly class to a great extent. One can becomeresponsible for one’s own religious practice, including meditation.The ultimate reality is meditated on in different forms, in anyform as Siva Vishnu etc or as Father, Mother, Preceptor or even a



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Friend. Some idol meditators define meditating on the whole formas dharana, then meditating on each aspect of the form as the toeor head or the arms or the bewitching eyes as dhyana and thusgiving a different interpretation to meditation. Some, after

meditating on the icon, close the eyes and meditate on the formin their mind’s eye (manasika).Darshanas like Samkhya and Yoga which do not subscribe to thetheory of a Creator commended ‘the understanding of one’s ownSelf’ as a means of liberation. The Self which is non-changing ispure consciousness and by deep unwavering meditation aftergetting the technique right, one can realize the nature of oneselfand be liberated. Following this approach, the Samkhyascommend meditating on each and every of the 24 aspects of

prakriti in the body-mind complex of oneself and transcend themto directly know the true nature of oneself, and that will beFreedom or Kaivalya. Similarly the Yogis would say that the truenature of the self is known when the mind transcends(nirodha) thefive types of its activities called vrittis to reach kaivalya, by aprocess of subtler and subtler meditation.The Upanishads on the other hand while agreeing with the otherNivritti sastras like Yoga and Samkhya in so far as the nature of theself is concerned, indicate that the individual and the SupremeBeing are one and the same and meditating on this identity leadsto liberation. They would like the spiritual aspirant to first followa disciplined life to get an unwavering satwic state of the mind.Then one would study the upanishadic texts (sravana), by analysis(manana) understand them and realize the nature of the selfthrough several step by step meditation approaches(nidhidhyasana). The Vedas, for the sake of the spiritual aspirant,have several Upanishad vidyas to study and understand it fromseveral viewpoints. For instance, the panchkosa vidya indicatesthat the real self is beyond (or within) the five koshas (sheaths). Itcould also be considered as the pure consciousness which isbeyond the three states of awareness (avasta) of waking, dreamand deep sleep, as the Pranava(Om) vidya would indicate. Theunderstanding and conviction that Self and the Supreme Self areone and the same is what one needs to get, before doingUpanishadic meditation following the advaitic interpretation.Summarizing one may say that traditional meditation warrantsproper preparation so that the mind becomes irrevocably satwicand thus fit for and capable of meditation. Secondly it requirespractice on a simple object until the meditation technique is



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mastered and such meditatin samskaras developed. Then the Yogishould set the goal of meditation based on the conviction of asolid philosophy—bhakti, samkhya, yoga, vedanta, kundalini (or ifcomfortable, nirvana) or whatever.

Srivatsa Ramaswami

4.

And then we have this from another earlier post

Ashtanga and Zen 2 - Mirror of Zen /// A Day in the Moment of aModern Zen Monk

5.

Concentration: the sixteen vital pointssee my earlier post

Krishnamacharya's alternatives to Headstand in his third son Sri

Sribhashyam's book Emergence of yoga

Which contains examples of General Practice employingconcentration on vital points as well as pranayama in asana.

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-10-25T00:33:00%2B01:00&max-results=2

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-10-25T00:33:00%2B01:00&max-results=2

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/09/ashtanga-and-zen-2-mirror-of-zen-day-in.html

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/09/ashtanga-and-zen-2-mirror-of-zen-day-in.html

http://www.vinyasakrama.com/


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drishti- ashtanga and meditation. how should one meditate in 33 bullet points

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