Introduction
Without knowing exactly the nature of this process it is impossible to correctly realize it.

Object to Meditate
Without object to meditate upon, there is no meditation.

The steps of meditation
1. Dharana - mental concentration
2. Dhyana - meditation
3. Samadhi – blissful identification.

Yoga as per Patanjali
The mind is like a crazy monkey, the more you try to calm it by force, the more it will refuse to do that.

Yoga Sutra
Let yourself be absorbed into, and by, the object.

Introduction:

Before starting most people can successfully practice aerobics or body building, for instance, without knowing human anatomy or without understanding at all what they are doing or why.

Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately), this is not so with yoga and meditation. Without knowing exactly the nature of this process it is impossible to correctly realize it and therefore there can be no true meditation. Meditation is the highest yoga practice (this doesn't mean it is difficult!). In fact, very few people can really meditate, and this for two main reasons: Very few know exactly what meditation is; Even fewer are willing to comply with it (lack of motivation).

Not everybody that stays motionless with the eyes closed is meditating. Meditation is an accurate science, therefore it cannot be practiced in total ignorance. Only those who study it with a serious inner motivation can successfully practice it.

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Yoga as per Patanjali:

Patanjali defined yoga as follows: Yoga [is] citta vritti nirodha. Yoga Sutra, I, 1 That is, yoga is the gradual stoppage (nirodha) of the vritti-s (mental patterns) of citta. This sutra contains the essence of the whole yoga Science and the secret of mental concentration. Maybe ignorance and prejudices make you believe that you cannot concentrate your mind. This is not true! Everybody can concentrate, even deeply, upon an object that is highly interesting for that person.

The mind is like a crazy monkey: the more you try to calm it by force and to make it stay on a definite place, the more it will refuse to do that, doing exactly the opposite: jumping even more crazily form one place to another. Therefore start focusing the mind very softly upon the chosen object and when it jumps to another object just bring it back calmly and patiently, with humor and compassion at your lack of discipline. If you get angry about this continuous mental jumping, this will only increase the mind's tendency to disperse.

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Object to Meditate:

Keep in mind that meditation, especially in the first stages, must have an object. Without object to meditate upon, there is no meditation. The simplest object of meditation is a physical object (a pot, a drawing, a ball, etc.). In more advanced stages, the objects of meditation become ever more subtle: mental images created at will, a piece of information, a problem that needs a solution, a feeling, a thought, an idea, a subtle energy, a state of consciousness, etc.

In this material the word "object" will refer to any of these. An important point here is that the object of meditation has to be very well perceived by the subject. In other words, the object must have a clear objective or subjective reality. A very vaguely defined idea cannot function as an object of meditation. The subject (the practitioner of meditation) must be able to "take hold" of at least one of the major characteristics of the object, if not of all of them.

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Yoga Sutra:

Learn to perceive. Consider carefully the object of concentration: approach it with astonishment and childlike curiosity as if you don't know anything about it (do we really know something important about the objects of the outer world?).

Do Not approach the object rationally and/or intellectually, but grasp its essence with your feelings alone or even solely by instinct. Explore the object non-verbally, in a state of alert passivity, purposeless and unconcerned waiting, child-like curiosity and sheer astonishment. There is only you and the object: nothing is expected from you, everything is expected from the object. Therefore sit in a state of continuously euphoric expectation, in the highest state of readiness.

This is very important. Let yourself be absorbed into, and by, the object. Do not try to define, to judge or to understand, just consider the object with curiosity as if you see it for the very first time. The very fact that you cannot define exactly the object and do not understand it rationally, opens you toward the object and creates the state of mental receptivity in which intuition ("no-mind" or "superconsciousness", as it is also called) can start to function. By doing so, you will soon discover that the objects of the surrounding world have thousand meanings (that come in flashes). We normally overlook these meanings.

Every thing is thus full of a sheer wonder and fascinating mystery that you will start to grasp gradually, everything is sustained by an invisible energy that you will start to feel and effortlessly control. Mental concentration (dharana) is a modality of starting a process of resonance and attuning with the subtle cosmic energies of which the object of concentration is just a visible manifestation. Don't try to speed up this process: let it start by itself when the time comes. In this approach, knowledge comes from the object, NOT from the subject (the practitioner).

Concentration is lying in wait, watching hyperattentively, like a cat that waits for the mouse to get out from its hiding place: the unforeseen can happen any split second. Every beginning is difficult. At the beginning, you probably will discover that this exercise fails lamentably. Accept this fact as being perfectly normal. Keep in mind that in yoga there is no lost effort, in other words every effort will bring a result eventually.

None of your failed efforts is wasted labor. As the wise saying goes: "The mud is as valuable as the lotus flower that it nourishes." Every failed try is in fact a step toward success because mental concentration, the same as meditation, has a cumulative effect that comes not only from doing it "well," but also from working consistently on it.

Taming the mind: At the beginning, the mind has very little stability; you find the object and then very swiftly you lose it. The mind wanders elsewhere.

After a certain period of practice, sufficient stability arise in mind so that the attention will remain uninterruptedly focused on the object for short periods of time (ten-fifteen seconds, maybe more). Further on, the degree of mental stability becomes even greater than before; the mind can stay constantly focused upon the object with a reasonably good degree of stability and yet, occasionally, it will wander off.

Then it will come a stage in which the mind no longer loses the object, because the power of concentration has come to completion. Now, a sustained effort to increase the clarity of mind has to be done. After this, the mind will have a tremendous power. With just the slightest bit of effort, it becomes focused upon the object and continues to abide effortlessly in it for as long as you want. Once you have attained this state, the mind has become an extremely fine instrument for any type of meditation you want to engage in. It is like you want to ride a wild horse.

This kind of meditation really produces significant inner transformation and enlightenment. Of course, meditating in the midst of distractions is initially much more difficult -- with fewer short-term rewards -- than sitting quietly alone. However, if you want to make the heightened awareness of meditation a part of your life, then you must meditate in daily life continuously, you must remain inwardly in meditation no matter what you do outwardly. Frequently you may feel that you are getting nowhere with the practice of meditation in the midst of activity, whereas the quietistic approach brings unexpected and quick results. Yet rest assured that those who use the quietistic approach only can never hope to enter meditation in the midst of activity, which is the true meaning of meditation.

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The steps of meditation:

The ageless tradition of wisdom teaches that in order to enter the state of meditation, certain definite steps are to be followed. Nobody can enter meditation without passing through these steps.

The steps are:

Dharana - mental concentration
a. Know about Dharana
b. The ideal state of Dharana
c. How to start it

Dhyana - meditation
a. What is Dhyana
b. The basic principle
c. How to start

Samadhi – blissful identification.
a. What actually Samadhi is?
b. Loosing Yourself
c. Triangle of Meditaiton

In the Western Tradition, these three stages are called ‘consideratio’ ("considering"), ‘contemplatio’ ("contemplation") and ‘raptus’ ("rapture").

Each step, when mastered, naturally leads to the following step Dharana - mental concentration.

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1.Dharana:- mental concentration

The human mind continuously receives information about the outer world through the five "gates" of the senses: smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing.

Among the data received through a certain sense, the mind can select only those that are of interest at a given time. This selection is realized through focusing the attention upon that particular data and ignoring the other unimportant data. The more the attention is focused upon a certain sense, the more the amount of information received through that sense increases and the information coming from other senses becomes ‘less important’ and can even be completely ignored by the mind.

A special characteristic of the human mind is the capacity of focusing the attention toward the inner world of feelings, thoughts and ideas. More than that, the human mind can be focused even upon itself -- this fact is of paramount importance, because it creates the possibility of controlling the mind. This faculty of the human mind to modify at will the orientation of the conscious attention is the basic mechanism of mental concentration (dharana). Defining the concept "To concentrate" means to reunite into a center, to gather, to focus. Mental concentration (dharana) means to focus the mind upon a unique object without allowing it (the mind) to jump to another object for a determined period of time.

The opposite of concentration is dispersion, scattering. In this case, the mind jumps uncontrolled from one object to another fixing itself to nothing.

This is a fundamental principle of worship. Mind is movement "Dharana" means "holding the mind." The Ageless Wisdom considers that "the mind", as we know it, is just a perpetual flow, according to definite laws, of psychic patterns (vritti-s). The train of psychic patterns has an undercurrent of emotions, doubled by a consequent physiological responses. Actually, the mind is movement.

Mind is like the wind: the wind is air movement; when this movement stops, the air is still there, but the wind disappeared. The mental-stuff that remains after the psychic patterns (vritti-s) have been stopped is called citta. When the mental patterns (vritti-s) are stopped, the mind disappears: we enter the no-mind state. No-Mind (which actually means ‘beyond the mind’) is the state of highest creativity and spiritual intuition.

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The ideal state of Dharana:

Perfect mental concentration implies to focus completely the whole potential of attention -- without using any force or mental / nervous tension -- upon the chosen object for a definite period of time, allowing no dispersion at all. This state is analogous to the phenomenon of focusing sunlight through a lens: the light rays are gathered in a small point, thus enormously increasing their power. Here, the time element is very important: if the light is perfectly concentrated but this state lasts a very short time, nothing can happen. The point of focused light must be maintained continuously a certain time - only after that the effects can appear (for instance, the lighting of a piece of wood).

In a similar way, dharana must be maintained a certain period of time: only after that concentration starts the process of resonance with the corresponding cosmic energy and the consequent transfer of that energy into your being. The energy carries feelings and information related to the object of concentration.

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How to start it:

Sit in a comfortable posture with the spine and neck kept straight and vertical. Close your eyes and pass through the following steps: Relax quickly and deeply from bottom to top. Let your attention swiftly scan your body and release all tensions.

Let your breathing become calm and peaceful. Turn the attention inward (introversive gaze) and disconnect yourself from the outer disturbing factors (noises, etc.); begin to withdraw the mind from any thoughts that arise (as a result of the activity of the senses) by making a brief but detetrmined effort to stop the discursive thinking; Concentrate the mind (dharana) upon the object of your choice. Let's examine in greater detail dharana.

Empty your mind of all thoughts. Then bring the chosen object before your inner mind's eye. Don't allow the mind to jump to another object or thought. If this happens, calmly and patiently bring your mind back to your object. This is the only thing you are supposed to do during dharana: to keep the mind focused upon the object.

Beware of force or tension! Be calm, open and favorably inclined to concentrate. Doing nothing Mental concentration is a static process: during concentration the mind is ‘frozen’, the thinking is stopped, the mental activity is suspended. The only mental movement should be to bring gently the mind back to the chosen object when it jumps away. Mental concentration can be described as "doing nothing".

You understand now that it is not laziness, but "just sitting" with a purpose. During dharana, the mind is like a mirror: the only activity is to reflect the object. "During Concentration (dharana), the mind is like a pure crystal that takes the color of the object upon which it is placed."

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2.Dhyana - the state of meditation

What is Dhyana:

"Dhyana (meditation per se) is the continuous flow of the mental processes toward the object (of meditation)." Yoga Sutra Dhyana is an effortless flow of the mind spontaneously directed toward the object. Dhyana (meditation) is a dynamic process: during it, the mental processes (thoughts, ideas, etc.) are turning around the object of meditation, making free associations (for example) related to that particular object only. During meditation, the activity of the mind reaches a tremendously dynamic intensity and eventually becomes a laser-beam-like stream of concentrated thinking.

Dhyana (meditation) is superimposed upon dharana (mental concentration). In other words, mental concentration lasts permanently during the whole period of meditation. The purpose of mental concentration is to ‘keep the object before the mind's eye’ so to speak, and it is a static process. Meditation takes place at a higher level of mind and implies mental dynamics.

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The basic principle:

There is a law of mind that says that "if a thought / idea prevails in mind, all the other thoughts / ideas gradually have the tendency to submit to the prevailing thought / idea". This is the basic principle of meditation. The prevailing thought is created by concentration and the movement of the mind around that particular thought is meditation. One leads to another Concentration and meditation, even if they seem very close, are nevertheless distinct phenomena. If you realize a good concentration, this will lead automatically to meditation, because in yoga every step, when perfectly realized, gives the key to the next step. Do not force or do not try to accelerate the process of passing from concentration to meditation. Let it come naturally: this will certainly happen after a certain period of practice.

Remember: genius is an infinite patience. Be therefore patient and you will become a genius through the practice of meditation.

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How to start:

1. The first step in dhyana (meditation) is dharana (mental concentration). For some time, this might be the only step you will be able to make for meditation. Through patience and tireless practice, you will gradually discover through personal experience how to start/release the next step.
Keep this in mind: at a deep level, nobody can really teach you to meditate, except yourself, applying the traditional information exposed in this material.

2. While keeping the dharana (concentration) state of mind, let go of it, allow your thoughts to move freely, to make connections, associations. Don't you think that you have to do something for this: just be mentally alert and realize the spontaneous and effortless transition from the motionless reflection (dharana) to the dynamic thinking (dhyana). You will discover that now your mind will not jump any more at random but, on a lower level, dharana (concentration) will be sustained almost effortlessly and, on a higher level, the thoughts will start to move, to revolve around the object only. This is dhyana (meditation).

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3. Samadhi- blissful identification

We saw that dhyana (meditation) is the continuous flow of mental processes toward the object of meditation. This process leads gradually to a blissful identification (co-penetration of the object of meditation with the practitioner's own being). This is the highest state, called samadhi. In samadhi the mind, continuously and to the exclusion of all other objects, assumes the nature and becomes one with the object.

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Loosing yourself

In samadhi, only the object awareness remains, as if the consciousness of individuality disappears. Actually, the individuality of the practitioner does not disappear (it would be impossible !), but the practitioner's consciousness blissfully identifies with the object of meditation. In samadhi, the mind and consciousness of the yogin become one with the object. There is no more awareness of mental functioning (the mind apparently enters into a state of void, emptiness). There is no more awareness of personal individuality as being separate form the object. Now, the practitioner feels that there is no more difference between "object" and "me." This dichotomy is now impossible.

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The triangle of meditation

During dhyana (meditation), there is awareness about the knower (the practitioner of meditation), the known (the object of meditation) and the knowledge that arises in mind about the object of meditation. These three are distinct: The triangle absorbed in a point.

In samadhi, knower, known and knowledge fuse, merge one into another, become one. Samadhi is an intuitive cognition referring to what is directly present, it is he immediacy of the replicative experience, the non-intermediateness of perception. This means that here perception is realized somehow without using any of the intermediary channels (like, for example, the senses, the mind, the intellect, etc.), and this is why this experience is perceived as identity. Samadhi is a state of undifferentiated identity with the object to be known, a self-detaching immersion into its meaning. In this state, the yogin experiences that state of consciousness in which he perceives the undifferentiatedly unique substratum of all things, creatures and worlds. The part is discovered to be the whole, every unit is present in any other units, everything is a part of the fullness of which the experiencer represents an epitome. The yogin who has brought this process to its completion is able to recognize the underlying and essentially unconcealed reality of the Cosmic Consciousness that composes the most intimate status of every apparently finite objects.

Here the triad of knower, known and the process of knowing has been transcended. The knower (the yogin in samadhi) turns away from the object and doubles back on himself. In so doing, he creates a situation in which the object of knowing is the knower himself, and the process of knowing is also simply the knower himself. This state is sometimes described as "void" or "emptiness" (shunya) because of the contrast with the apparent fullness of objectivity (represented by the duality object-subject) that precedes it. It is a process of progressively stripping away the outer attributes and characteristics of the object of meditation until the yogin is simply left with the sheer existential essence of that object. This process of rediscovery of the undifferentiated unique substratum of everything that exists is a major feature of the attainment of liberation and spiritual enlightenment. No longer do finite objects appear as separate and limited structures; rather, the Consciousness out of which all things are composed surfaces and becomes visible as the true Reality of perceived objects.

Steps of Meditation