Ekagrata - One-Pointed Concentration - The Psychology of Samadhi: 3

Patanjali's extraordinary eight-step (ashtanga) method of meditation can lead you to the state of samadhi. His ancient teachings become much more accessible with the help of modern psychology and personal insights gained through decades of practice.
Psychology of Meditation playlist: • Psychology of Samadhi ...
0:00 Pratyahara - Sense Withdrawal
8:51 Dharana - Concentration
18:27 Dhyana - Meditation
The first four of Patanjali's angas are called bahiranga sadhana or external practices because they involve matters external to your mind. The final four angas are called antaranga sadhana, internal practices, because they directly concern your mind. Those angas are pratyahara, sense withdrawal; dharana, concentration; dhyana, meditation; and finally, samadhi, absorption.
In the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures, pratyahara is compared to the behavior of a tortoise that pulls its head and limbs inside its shell. Its four legs and tail represent your five senses, and its head represents your mind. Pratyahara is the direct result of narrowly concentrating your attention. When your concentration is so completely constricted that it's focused on a single point, a single vritti or mental event, that state is called ekagrata, one-pointedness. Ekagrata is the goal of dharana, concentration, which is the sixth of Patanjali's eight angas. Pratyahara and dharana are intimately related, like two sides of a coin. That's why Patanjali placed dharana immediately after pratyahara.
The object on which you choose to focus or concentrate is called alambana by Patanjali. Alambana literally means something you hang on to. Here it means something you fix your attention on. There are many options for an alambana. With your eyes open, you can concentrate your attention on a candle flame in a practice known as trataka. Or with your eyes closed, you can concentrate on a mental image, like a flame shining brightly in your heart and radiating throughout your body. Or you can visualize a yantra, a sacred geometric form that's rich with symbolism. Many Hindus like to visualize the form of their chosen deity, their ishta devata
Another kind of alambana that's commonly used is to focus on a particular point on your body or inside it. For example, in the practice of Kundalini Yoga, you have to concentrate your attention on various energy centers known as chakras that are said to be located along the length of your spine. A more common practice is to concentrate on the point in between your eyebrows, which is known as bru-madhya. But, according to Patanjali, through the practice of pratyahara, sense withdrawal, your attention should be completely withdrawn from your body. For this reason, it's usually best to choose an alambana that's not associated with your body. An alternative that's widely used and extremely effective is to choose a sacred mantra as your alambana.
Whereas dharana trains your mind to concentrate with single-pointed attention on your alambana, your chosen object, dhyana prepares your mind to go beyond that alambana and rest in perfect silence. That is, dhyana leads to the complete absence of all mental activities, the complete restraint all mental chatter, all vrittis. According to Patanjali, this uninterrupted flow of mantras is the state of dhyana. He says, tatra pratyaya ekatanata dhyanam, tatra, there, directed towards your alambana, the ekatanata, single-pointed uninterrupted flow, of pratyayas, of mantras or vrittis, is the practice of dhyanam, meditation.
Swami Tadatmananda is a traditionally-trained teacher of Advaita Vedanta, meditation, and Sanskrit. For more information, please see: www.arshabodha.org/

[@muhsindogru7976]

endless love and respect from Turkiye. all series are priceless. thank you

[@rosellabrandi1558]

Thank you so much! You took it to the point! Now I understand much better what it's all about..best regards from Italian living in Southern Germany! Namasteji🙏

[@RC0921]

Thank you Guru Ji for your wisdom❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ love from Noida❤

[@alekseibutov4468]

you are just my virtual guru, thank you for enlightening me throughout all these videos you have on your channel. Let the light in you be the light in every person of the world. Shanti, shanti, shanti

[@galahadthreepwood9394]

Simple, but not easy. I’ve been at it for 40 years. Still a long way to go. 😮

[@gabrielcarmona2128]

thank you so much! Such a wonderfull video, full of knoleadge and wisdom. It helped me so much to clarify the steps i need to improve!

[@cvf3197]

Namaste Swamiji, Thank you for another wonderful lesson. I think it is impossible to find a more detailed explanation of the meditation process to this profound level and with such selected words, to make us easy to understand it. My meditation practice needed a push like this.🙏🙏🙏 Pranam.

[@janetownley]

Ditto for me! Well said 😊

[@novaacuinfo5930]

Beautiful as always.🕉☸☯🔱🔱🔱🙏🙏🙏

[@jefffrederick8648]

Thank you brother, for this clear and accessible explanation of dharanah, dyahn, and samadhi.🎉

[@hannahbanana7157]

Really appreciating your channel, thank you!

[@swamivedantanandapuri1322]

Pranaam maharaj🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@kanishkajoshi563]

🙏🙏 Thank you Swamiji.

[@michaelward6333]

I adore your videos, every morning I pour cold water over my guts and Anjali pose for twenty minutes, and been meditating everyday since I was six. Dao quickly quickly come!

[@BillSikes.]

Thank you Bindhu 🙏

[@rajukunjukrishnan472]

Pranam Guruji 🙏

[@McIntoshYoga]

I like your presentations very much. However, there are two ways to look at pratyahara - the way you present it and the way of kograta, to bring the senses inward (antaranga sadhana). To put it succinctly, as Pantanjali points out in 2.54-55, "When you draw your senses inward (pratyahara) and are no longer focusing on any object, the mind becomes a field of consciousness (cittasya). Then you will have ultimate mastery of the senses." So, rather than concentrating on an object to avoid sensory input, you would slowly bring all your sense awareness (sound, sight, taste, smell, feeling, thoughts) into the center of your mind (consciousness) and be completely aware of all six inputs at the same time. That would therefore be complete mastery of the senses.

[@vidaamericana_br]

Very good explanation, thanks a lot

[@ranand089]

Jai ho 🙏

[@makingofmandala7264]

Wonderful Swamiji! Thank you dearly! 🙏

[@mustafaanon288]

Thank you Swami, from the heart

[@girishnanoti954]

Pranam Swami ji

[@utubesep]

These are endlessly beautiful and helpful videos! Thank you, thank you! 🙏🏽

[@kalanithyravindran4374]

Thank you 🙏

[@rashmidayal4040]

Pranam, really good to hear.

[@ravish05]

So clearly and succinctly put. Thanks much swamiji.

[@bbat2822]

Absolutely fantastic guidance 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@redeemernegativ]

This is excellent. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@torussaga3428]

Wonderful - thank you again.

[@abiramisenthilkumar7056]

Thank you thank you Guruji.... Your words are crestal clear.. Om namshi vaya...

[@hjanai]

These series are so useful to Watch after taking and finishing the Meditation course, this gives further direction of how to carry out the daily meditation practice. Very good!

[@tonymarriott8480]

When one talks about Samadhi in Yoga it is generally accepted that you are talking about the first Samprajnata Samadhi, this is the Samadhi which is arrived at, at the eight stage of Yoga, and some have the belief that this is the final stage of Yoga, but in fact is only really the beginning, from which kundalini will arouse, and although you have to to able to shut the senses down to reach this first Samadhi, to reach the next non dual Asamprajnata Samadhi, you have to shut the Chakras down through the Kundalini absorbtion process. And from first arousal it takes many lifetimes to assend all the chakras, so don't get confused that this first Samadhi is the end game, and do not get confused between the first Samadhi which is attained whilst you are still in a dual state, and the non dual SAMADHI, after all the chakras have been assended, and please don't mix them up, like so many do.

[@adiravikumar1209]

thanks a lot for wonderful information and sharing your experiences which is the ultimate. 🙏🙏🙏

[@AdmiringGardeningTools-dy2rz]

Thank you

[@neilpollicino80]

I’m 77 years old. This is the closest I’ve come to “getting” it.

[@shivamumbai1]

🌹🙏🧘🙏🌹

[@utubesep]

Ps- DIG ❤THE BEARD 🙌🏽 😊

[@Zarthu1982]

Obrigado ❤🙏🇧🇷

[@satyanarayanarao6337]

🙏🙏🙏

[@hariharan4922]

🙏🙇‍♂️🙇‍♀️🙏

[@gansvoortvet]

As we know Patanjali's approach is often associated with renunciation and detachment from the external world, seeking to transcend the fluctuations of the mind. In comparisons to Vatulanatha's Approach of Tantric Meditation. The tantric traditions, which have diverse interpretations, often focus on harnessing and channeling the energies of the body, mind, and emotions in order to achieve spiritual realization. The tantric meditation can involve rituals, visualization, mantra chanting, and working with energy centers (chakras). Unlike the ascetic focus of Patanjali's system, tantra tends to embrace the world and aims to transform ordinary experiences into spiritual insights. Tantric practices might be seen as more inclusive of worldly aspects, seeking to integrate rather than renounce them. This may be a closer approach to our modern world of yoga and meditation than Patanjali's.

[@ringingthebells307]

A bit confused between difference in Dhyana and dharna ( meditation and concentration) . If we r doing concentration with mantra then what is meditation with mantra, for me it appears same or I could not grasp it

[@michaelward6333]

The beejas is what your probably thinking of works like mantra. When you say krs inhaling thru your nose that's a bijas when you say na exhaling thru your resting tongue that's a bijas, together it's a spiritual controller/god/dragon krsna when you say krsna is loved better by fame and is as undeserving of abandonment anymore than you a devotee/kami you said a lovely mantra[m]. Sticks in your wisdom mind/ emotional memories. This is why I think you have difficulty applying the Vedic stories and mantras to practices. Mantras presented as verses are for memorizing for priests who don't wanna do math memorizations.

[@OrionConstellationHome]

You may watch videos of Sri M explaining the difference in great depth. He has videos on all 8 angas. You will enjoy it. ‘Dhyana - The 7th Anga’ by Sri M Is the name of the video. 🙏

[@surajmg3121]

Sir, wht u did after head pain generated focusing on Anja? I hve same problem and how to move forward

[@saranyansridharan7722]

What music is this Guruji

[@hyperqbit7246]

Can elaborate on what is attention itself?

[@michaelward6333]

When you cry and quickly inhale thru the nose krs that's sadness becoming peace, when you laugh ha thats excitement becoming peaceful, that together is a balanced natural attention, and the sarcasm is grown into concentration. Prana yama therefore is connected to deeper than breath breath "retentions".

[@dustinedwinfockler]

What pranayama techniques did you find worked well in combination with dharana, Swamiji? Please elaborate. Will this be covered in the final installment?

[@Criggeda]

I'm curious to know what you think of J Krishnamurti's teachings, if you know of them

[@MentalGutter]

Next video is hidden it seems. Please !

[@leematthews6812]

Another great episode in this excellent series. I've been trying to get to grips with Pratayahara ("the neglected limb of yoga") for a while now. If I understand this perspective, Pratayahara effectively merges into Dharana while Dhyana eventually becomes Samadhi, would that be roughly correct?

[@nishantd557]

If you understand what abiding in the Self is (being aware of awareness), then pratyahara is included in that.

[@janetownley]

@@nishantd557He says a lot more about Pratyahara if you watch this video 😊

[@nishantd557]

@@janetownley I know. And I said something different.

[@nishantd557]

@@janetownley Not different really. I just expressed yoga sutra 2.54 in a different way.

[@harelfishman9456]

One question swamiji : if Pratyahara is the result of Dharana, then apparently it should have been mentioned after it, rather than before it. Why are they mentioned as two separate limbs, and why is the order inverted? Thank you so much for your videos!

[@alexpetroff8461]

the respiratory pause i take after expiration doesnt fit/match/coincide with the length/duration of the usually used mantra which means a rhythmical disharmony. Should i divide mantra into two parts and make two shorter pauses after inspiration and expiration respectivly? Thank you!

[@alexpetroff8461]

i mean, during meditation

[@douglasalfseike3867]

Piping in from Iowa, is samadhi attained also by the top down awakening? Also known as the annointing by the Holy Spirit/ pentecostal fire? I was asked to look into the Freemasons then after illumined non-corporeals who overtook people near me asked me to join their cause. I have a sense that there is more than their perspective and wouldn't bond. I encountered Israel Regardie's(Golden Dawn order) "middle pillar technique" & it seemed to be backwards. Miss pronouncing Hebrew through the 5 chakras "seemed" to be working, having sychronicities, thinking of needs for others & self & poof! The universe/All/God/higher self provides! Eye of Shiva opened then obscured! What is the eye was & getting back to helping others????

[@danfara6126]

Last bot was the dificultad one, at least for a western mind. How to archieve the effortless state?😅

[@anuragsengar1572]

😂

[@gridcoregilry666]

Thank you for the wisdom and crystal clear explanations! I also really like the editing, computer chip background and esp. the introductory music, it was beautiful. Just a little thing: "Tweets" are now called "posts" as it is no longer "Twitter" but X ;)

[@janetownley]

Except that everyone will keep calling them Tweets and calling it Twitter 😁

[@srinivasmudda8081]

I see You understood concept lot better than others, but Pratyahara = Inward Cognition = Thoughts and emotions = when you think or have emotions = inward cognition state Dharana = Switching or taking or Transitioning to Outward Cognition State Dhyana = Maintaining Outward Cognition State without slipping into inwardcognition = No Thoughts and Emotion = No inward-visual&Vocals & Emotions = No visual&Vocal Thoughts & Emotions...... You are understanding Pratyahara wrongly..anyways you are a very higly skilled Guru compared to many big gurus today

[@seanmanseau]

Dismissing the sensations experienced during kundalini yoga as the result of "autosuggestion" (rather than, say, the perception of subtle psychospiritual energies moving through the body) seems awfully reductive.

[@tonymarriott8480]

Dhyana is not Mantra, Dharana and Dhyana are the same, and its called the holding process, holding one thing or though using concentration, the only difference between Dharana and Dhyana is the amount of time you can hold that one thought for, to move from Dharana one pointed holding, and then move into Dhyana is Mantra is utterly rediculousr, and in my humble opinion shows total lach of understanding, Mantra is for those that don't have the concentration level to practice Dhyana, and because of that is a lot slower method to reach Samadhi, but be assured Dharana and Dhyana are the same practice except Dhyana is holding longer, and there is Dharana Dhyana to Samadhi, orthe mantra yoga method or mantra method, from the start, you don't cross over from the two. Unless you can't adapt to the holding process and you change to the Mantra, and then you would be starting from the begging with that. MANTRA is different from the holding process of Dharana and Dhyans even thought they both can get you to Samadhi it is a different approach, so whoever the commentator of pajandali was, he has things a little mixed up, like a lot of these commentators unless they have done it themselves, they don't know what they are talking about, and this has distorted so many thing including the next Major thing which is SAMADHI.