Concentration and Meditation
This article is a continuation of the earlier article “Yoga and Ethics”.
The two components of yoga leading to the last (eighth) are concentration (dhaaranaa) and meditation (dhyaana); the last one is trance (samaadhi). As stated in the earlier article it is possible to practice meditation without going through the preceding stages. We mentioned only the first two components. The third and fourth (aasana and praanaayaam) are in the form of exercises. We used the terms lower and higher yoga in the sense of physical and spiritual. They were not meant to denigrate the beneficial aspects of exercises and meditation, but only to stress the point that they do not take one towards the main goal of yoga.
Paatanjali defines concentration as confining the mind in a limited mental area. The mental territory is vast though not infinite at the lower levels of the mind. Concentration involves limiting attention to as small portion of this territory as possible. One usually chooses an object of concentration. But there can be a movement of thought within the object itself. As long as there are thoughts they will cause distraction resulting in an interruption of concentration.
Meditation on the other hand is defined as uninterrupted flow of the mind toward the object of concentration. This means a complete cessation of distractions implying the absence of the thought process. And this is the definition of yoga itself as given in the very first sutra. Another way of seeing the distractions is in terms of the degree or depth of concentration. If the depth is not at its highest point there would be a break in the continuity of attention. So the essential difference, at least from a technical point of view, is uninterrupted flow of attention.
The use of the word attention may cause some confusion. Attention necessarily implies the presence of an object or thought. But this is true only when the mind is operating at its low levels. At the highest level attention does not require an object. This may be made clear by an analogy. Suppose a person is focusing his attention on a point. As long as it is a physical point it has an area however small and attention is spread over that area. However, when he is concentrating on a geometrical point that has no dimensions, the attention is not spread any more; it is focused on zero or nothing. This is the stage at which concentration goes over into meditation and nothing is everything.
There is another significant point to note in this connection. In concentration one has to force the mind to stay at the object or within the confined area of the mental territory. In meditation the attention and its flow toward the object is spontaneous without any deliberate effort. When the mind becomes absolutely calm without any modifications in it (complete cessation of the thought process) there is no movement and no distraction.
Of course meditation itself has many stages depending on at what level the mind is operating. The practitioner goes through successively higher stages and at the highest level he goes into trance. Meditation is beneficial no matter at what stage a person is; it is now a well-known fact that it leads to healthy body and mind. Not everyone can become an enlightened yogi; it takes a long time, even many lives to get to that stage.
But getting started and having benefits even at the physical level is reward enough.
Although concentration is not meditation it is an essential step in the practice of yoga. It is essential for success in any effort in life. At the initial stages of meditation the books often advise to concentrate on a light or even on breath. Even if the person does not pursue the spiritual goal, the power of concentration is a great gift for physical and material goals.
Dharmbir Rai Sharma is a retired professor with electrical engineering and physics background. He maintains a website [http://www.cosmosebooks.com] devoted mainly to philosophy, science, and self-development.
