Withdrawal of the senses (pratyahara)
The fifth limb, pratyahara, involves the detachment of the mind from the sensory organs, in other words, shutting out the external world from our senses. To put it another way, it means the ability to wean one;s thoughts from the endless fleeting sensations upon which they feed.
Pratyahara literally means ‘gathering towards’ or ‘gathering in’. It is therefore the reigning in and integration of our scattered thoughts. We actually do this frequently without realizing it, as a means to stat subconsciously with our object of interest at any given time. For example, while we are fully absorbed in reading a book, we are not conscious of peripheral sounds such as the clock ticking. But when we stop reading the book and remain silent, it is then that we notice the ticking of the clock. Any form of intense concentration has the same effect. Lying in a sense deprivation tank would give you an experience of sense withdrawal. But what the yogi seeks through mastery of pratyahara in the conscious ability to sustain this withdrawal of the senses. There are many techniques to achieve this, but the methods of mindful one-pointed focus such as anapana result in the mastery of concentration (dharana).
Pratyahara is most clearly symbolized by the yoni mudra, whereby the mouth, nose and eyes are closed with the fingers, and the ears are blocked with the fingers, and the ears are blocked with the thumbs. This serves to insulate the senses from distraction, thereby freeing the attention to dwell in the internal or mystic sounds called nadas, in particular, the sounds generated by the heart, known an anahata sounds.
Yoga Meditation Techniques 4
Yoga Meditation 3 - Attentiveness to higher consciousness( ishvara pranidhana )
This involves letting go of your ego’s grip and placing trust in the validity of your spiritual practice. It is an invitation to stop clinging, and therefore to trust that all will work out better for you if you follow the path of mindfulness rather that the blind slavery of the ego and senses. For the more religiously inclined, this could mean ‘giving oneself ‘or ‘surrendering’ to the Divine. For others, it can mean
unconditionally trusting a guru or at least some higher principle.
These first two limbs (the yamas and niyamas) lay down guidance for the moral standards and conduct expected of the sincere seeker. They are not meant to delay practice of meditation until one has developed a flawless morality, but offer a checklist to measure your higher personal growth and development. In other words, the list is not strictly hierarchical. It does not mean that you must first master the abstinences and observances before practicing the postures and then the breathing; all before specifically working on the mind. Instead, you should take note of the abstinences and observances and press on with your practice of meditation (and yoga asanas if you practice hatha yoga).
Whats is being said here is that the practice of meditation is much easier if you have your ethics and morals under control, because that majes for less distraction and guilt in life. But the practice of meditaion will of itself cause you to reflect and be more aware of your conduct and interaction with others. As a result, your ethical and moral standards and practices will naturally be modified if you meditate regularly.
Limbs three and four are the postures (asanas) and the breath controls (pranayama) that belong to the practice of mastering the body, known as hatha yoga. This subject is covered within innumerable books. Since we are focusing on the methods of meditation, we will move on to limbs five to eight on the next post.
Yoga Meditation – 2
The five observances (niyamas)
The five observances in Yoga Meditation are: purity, contentment, austerity, study, and attentiveness to higher principles.
1. Purity (saucha)
This includes specific methods to purge the body of poisons and to maintain hygiene. It includes advice about eating pure and appropriate foods. It is based on the idea that to purify the body helps to purify the mind.
2. Contentment (santosha)
This reminds us that meditation, whether or not practiced as an integral part of yoga, is accompanied by serenity of mind and greater harmony within ourselves and with our surroundings. Contentment is both a result of meditation and a psychological state that will help prevent us from being distracted during our meditation.
3. Austerity (tapas)
This term has often been mistaken to mean excessive asceticism or even deliberate self-inflicted mortification. It really refers to the application of sufficient self-discipline to achieve your goal, which in this context is samadhi. It is equivalent too the Buddhist ‘middle way’, which encourages the avoidance of extreme laziness on the one hand and extreme overexertion on the other.
4. Study (svadhyaya)
This has two aspects. One aspect is self-enquiry, leading to such questions as “who am I?” or “what am I?” to be addressed repeatedly until the ego is finally stripped away, leaving one’s essential being exposed. The other aspect includes the mindful study of appropriate written material, which in the context of traditional Indian yoga would include classic texts such as the Upanishads. Buddhist yogis would study the Buddhist Sutras and Tantras, and yogis within other traditions would study the appropriate texts related to that tradition.
Next Post: The last observances "Attentiveness to higher consciousness".
Yoga Meditation – 1
The Eight Limbs of Yoga
Yoga meditation has an ultimate goal to reach self–realization which in Sanskrit is called Samadhi. There are 8 disciplines that one should understand before able to reach it. What are they?
In the literature of yoga meditation, the most systematic and useful book that describes the raja yoga path is the yoga sutras, written by Patanjali between 200 and 300 BCE. The second section of this classic book (as commented upon by many modern books on yoga) describes the disciplines designed to lead one progressively to Samadhi. These disciplines are known as the eight limbs or angas of yoga. Their aim is to ‘purify’ the mind progressively so that the route to Samadhi is smooth. Patanjali did not originally conceive these eight limbs; that happened much earlier in antiquity, but he was the first and most important codifier. The eight limbs (ashtanga) of yoga are:
- Abstinences ( yamas )
- Observances ( niyamas )
- Postures ( asanas )
- Breath controls ( pranayana )
- Withdrawal of the senses (pratyahara )
- Concentration (dharana )
- Contemplation or meditation (dhyana)
- Absorption or self- realization ( Samadhi )
Now we will take a look each of those limbs of yoga meditation in deep. We begin with the first one yamas.
The five abstinences ( yamas )
These involve abstinence form killing and violence, false hood, theft, damaging sexual behaviour and greed.
1. Non-violence (ahimsa)
This means extending compassion to all sentient creatures.
2. Truth fullness (satya)
This means not only abstaining from telling lies, but being sincere in all dealings with others. In other words, avoiding deceit at any level.
3. Non-stealing (asteya)
This includes abstinence from theft on all levels. It demands mindfulness of all your daily activities, to ensure that nothing is acquired, either materially or non-materially, by means other than through the strict observance of fairness and honesty.
4. Chastity and continence (brahmacharya)
In narrow sense, this means abstinence from the sexual act, so that the powerful sexual energy can be transmuted into the impetus for ultimately gaining enlightenment. This level of abstinence only really applies within a monastic situation. In ordinary life, it should be interpreted as restraint from a wasteful overindulgence in sexual activity, rather than a general judgement about the morals of sex.
5. Non-possessiveness (aparigrapha)
This can be translated as ‘non-hoarding’, but does not imply one should have no possessions. It means that we should not be enslaver by our possessions, or that their presence or the desire for them should not dominate our mind.
Next: The Five Observances (niyamas) of Yoga Meditation.
Yoga Meditation - The Basic II
As you progress through your yoga meditation practice, you’ll find that there are various yoga paths available.
The main yoga paths are classically listed as:
- Raja yoga: union by mental control, focusing on meditation and concentration
- Karma yoga: union by action, eliminating the ego and attachments through selfless service
- Bhakti yoga: union by devotion, through conversion of the emotions into devotion centered on the divine
- Jnana yoga: union by knowledge, using the intellect to break bondage to the material world.
Of the above, bhakti yoga is most readily considered synonymous with religion, while both raja and jnana yoga are considered the most ‘scientific’.
To the above list we can also add the following:
- Hatha yoga: an aspect of raja yoga, which works with the energies of the body and mind through exercises, postures and breathing methods
- Mantra (japa) toga: union by sound, repeating special words, sentences and incantations to take the meditator to the essence and source of thought (this can be incorporated into raja and bhakto yoga).
- Laya (latent) yoga: a combination of most other yoga paths, with an emphasis on kundalini yoga, which is the systematic raising of energy upwards through the chakras as a rapid route to enlightenment.
Most people who practice yoga meditation incorporate many of the above paths at some level. Hence, in practice, the distinctions implied by the labeling are not so rigid. The purpose of this section within this book is to extrapolate some meditation principles from yoga. In practice, this means considering the methods employed within raja yoga, including mantra yoga.
Now you have known the main paths of yoga meditation so you can choose which one is appropriate for you.
Next post: The eight limbs of yoga.
Yoga Meditation Basic - I
Yoga meditation is a very popular method of meditation and this post will give you a clear perspective of yoga meditation.
Many people in the western world have traditionally associated meditation with yoga, which is the context within which many people practice it. The word yoga means “union” or “identification”, and comes from the same root as the verb “to yoke”. In very general terms, the word yoga can be applied to any systematic method geared towards attaining union” or “oneness” with true reality. It is particularly associated with the spiritual practice rooted in eastern philosophies. Thus, much of what has been discussed in my meditation post so far can be replaced within the practice of yoga.
However, the popular concept of yoga meditation is the practice of hatha yoga to gain control of the body, leading to raja yoga, to gain mastery of the mind. These aspects of yoga meditation are just two of a numbers of paths to union, or enlightenment, which ate practiced within the traditional philosophical frameworks of the Indian subcontinent. Most of these philosophies were developed by full-time meditators and sages known as “Rishis”. There are six categories of Indian philosophy (seven if you include Buddhism which is no longer practiced so much in India itself, but more so in adjoining countries). Yogic theory, as practiced today, stems mainly from two of six philosophies: the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Vedanta which is based on ancient texts known as the Upanishads. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras give detailed instructions for hatha and raja yoga, whilst Vedanta offers the philosophical backbone of jnana yoga, which is the yoga meditation of using the intellect to enquire and contemplate. Yoga meditation can also be connected to Buddhism, especially yoga tantra, which forms and aspect of the Tibetan Vahrayana Buddhist practice. However, much of what has been discovered and within yoga meditation has been imported into other traditions, albeit often with some changes in terminology.
Yoga meditation is a science of personal development. As stated earlier, it is incorporated into many eastern religion, but is equally valid within any world religion, or divorced from religion altogether. To quote a famous Indian yogi called Ramakrishna: “Through yoga a Hindu becomes a better Hindu, a Christian a better Christian, a Moslem a better Moslem, and a Jew a better Jew.” The Hindu religion in particular borrows heavily from the classical Indian philosophies, therefore the iconography associated with the popular concept of yoga is common to Hinduism, especially in view of the fact that most Indian yoga gurus tend to be Hindus. As result, the other sacred works of the Hindu, such as the Bhagavad Gita, have had a great influence on the shaping of yoga meditation.
You may either be attracted or put off by an association of religion with your preferred meditation practice. As such, you can choose to take the whole package, religion and all, or you can cut through the cultural and religious accoutrements and extract the philosophical and practical essence of yoga to enrich your meditation practice.
Next we are going to talk about yoga paths in yoga meditation.
