Answers by

PROF. HR NAGENDRA,
Vice Chancellor,
SVYASA, Bangalore, India

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Transcription

You have seen how it consists of two parts Bahiranga Yoga and Antaranga Yoga. Bahiranga Yoga will indirectly control the mind. Antaranga Yoga will directly control the mind. The goal is getting mastery over the mind. What is that mastery? It has two components. One, it should be able to concentrate, go deep into the subject and understand the things with deepest of depth. Like what we all do, in modern science, the path of analysis, we use that. That is one part. That is better and better power of concentration, faster mind, quicker mind, quicker grasp, quick absorption, quicker understanding and all that. But there is a second part. The second part is to calm down the mind, silence the mind. We should be able to withdraw and stay in that silence as long as you want. If I say to my mind, come on stay silent for half an hour, don’t think of anything, the mind should be able to stay in that silence.
Chiththavrithinirodha, nirodha or sushudak.
Therefore vasya has two components, one is silence in the mind and another is concentration. So Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi. Dharana is focusing of the mind. This is the next step after concentration. From concentration we move to Antaranga Yoga. And from multiple thoughts which are all connected with one another you go to a single thought, that is the Dharana. And make that Dharana effortless, it becomes Dhyana. And merge with the scene is Samadhi, absorption we call. So that is the Antaranga Yoga part, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi. In Dharana we focus all the energies, therefore the thought becomes very very powerful and you can pierce through unraveling the mysteries. You can go deep down into your sub-conscious and unravel and cleanse and burn up the inner blocks, knots, obsessions, phobias and others. Dhyana is effortlessly staying in that silence. You cannot stay in Dharana for a long time. Within a minute or two you start getting the headache if you stay in Dharana, the real Dharana. But Dhyana you can stay for half an hour, one hour, two hours, three hours, five hours, ten hours, because it is effortless. The culmination of Dhyana is Samadhi.