classes ::: Raja Yoga, concentration,
children :::
branches ::: Dharana

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object:Dharana
class:Raja Yoga
class:concentration

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now begins generated list of local instances, definitions, quotes, instances in chapters, wordnet info if available and instances among weblinks


OBJECT INSTANCES [0] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

TOPICS
SEE ALSO


AUTH

BOOKS
Liber_ABA
Raja-Yoga
The_Study_and_Practice_of_Yoga
The_Yoga_Sutras

IN CHAPTERS TITLE
1.05_-_Dharana
1.05_-_Pratyahara_and_Dharana

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
0.00_-_The_Book_of_Lies_Text
1.00a_-_Introduction
1.01_-_SAMADHI_PADA
1.02_-_SADHANA_PADA
1.03_-_Meeting_the_Master_-_Meeting_with_others
1.03_-_YIBHOOTI_PADA
1.040_-_Re-Educating_the_Mind
1.04_-_Pratyahara
1.04_-_The_Paths
1.05_-_Dharana
1.05_-_Pratyahara_and_Dharana
1.06_-_Dhyana
1.06_-_Dhyana_and_Samadhi
1.06_-_Raja_Yoga
1.078_-_Kumbhaka_and_Concentration_of_Mind
1.07_-_Raja-Yoga_in_Brief
1.07_-_Samadhi
1.081_-_The_Application_of_Pratyahara
1.083_-_Choosing_an_Object_for_Concentration
1.08_-_Summary
1.10_-_Concentration_-_Its_Practice
1.11_-_Powers
1.18_-_The_Importance_of_our_Conventional_Greetings,_etc.
1.240_-_Talks_2
1.27_-_Structure_of_Mind_Based_on_that_of_Body
1.300_-_1.400_Talks
2.07_-_The_Cup
3_-_Commentaries_and_Annotated_Translations
APPENDIX_I_-_Curriculum_of_A._A.
Liber
Liber_71_-_The_Voice_of_the_Silence_-_The_Two_Paths_-_The_Seven_Portals
r1912_01_13
r1912_01_24
r1912_01_27
r1912_11_10
r1913_01_14
r1913_01_31
r1914_05_05
r1914_08_10
r1914_10_02
r1914_11_20
r1918_05_10
Sayings_of_Sri_Ramakrishna_(text)
Talks_026-050
Talks_151-175
Talks_176-200
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_1

PRIMARY CLASS

concentration
Raja_Yoga
SIMILAR TITLES
Dharana

DEFINITIONS


TERMS STARTING WITH

Dharana: Concentration of mind.

Dharanasakti: Power of grasping and retaining the ideas.

Dharana(Sanskrit) ::: A state in the practice of yoga as taught in Hindustan when the mind or percipient intelligenceis held with inflexible firmness, with fortitude of soul, and with indomitable resolution upon the object ofinvestigation to be attained through this form of yoga practice. (See also Samadhi)

Dharana (Sanskrit) Dhāraṇā [from the verbal root dhṛ to hold, carry, maintain, resolve] Intense concentration of the mind when directed to “some one interior object, accompanied by complete abstraction from everything pertaining to the external Universe, or the world of the Senses” (VS 73). It is the sixth stage of spiritual yoga, the effort to unite the human with the divine within, in which training “every sense as an individual faculty has to be ‘killed’ (or paralyzed) on this plane, passing into and merging with the Seventh sense, the most spiritual” (VS 78-9).

Dharanayoga: The Yoga of concentration, before the stage of Dhyana and Samadhi.

dharana. ::: concentration; one-pointedness of mind; the sixth of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga

DHARANA. ::: Holding of the one object of concentration to the exclusion of all other ideas and mental activities.

dharanasakti ::: faculty of holding.

dharanasamarthya ::: holding and responsive power; the power of sustaining the full stream of force, of ananda, of widening knowledge and being which descends into the mind and prana and the vital and bodily functions. ::: dharanasamarthyam [nominative]

dharanashakti ::: see dharan.asakti. dh dharane aran.e asamarthya

dharana ::: the fixing of the mind on a single thought, feeling or object.


TERMS ANYWHERE

6. dharana, 7. dhyana, and 8. samadhi&

ana deva ::: a god of knowledge. j ñanadharanasamarthyam

anandadharan.asakti (anandadharanashakti) ::: the power to sustain anandadharanasakti ananda of any intensity ananda

aran.asamarthya (dharanasamarthya; dharana-samarthya; dharanasamarthyam; dharana samarthyam) ::: the capacity of the body to contain "without strain or reaction any working however intense and constant, of energy however great and puissant", an element of dehasakti. dh dharanasamarthyam

Asadharana: Extraordinary; uncommon.

Asadharana karana: Uncommon cause.

Asadharana-nimitta: Special or chief cause.

Dharana: Concentration of mind.

Dharanasakti: Power of grasping and retaining the ideas.

Dharana(Sanskrit) ::: A state in the practice of yoga as taught in Hindustan when the mind or percipient intelligenceis held with inflexible firmness, with fortitude of soul, and with indomitable resolution upon the object ofinvestigation to be attained through this form of yoga practice. (See also Samadhi)

Dharana (Sanskrit) Dhāraṇā [from the verbal root dhṛ to hold, carry, maintain, resolve] Intense concentration of the mind when directed to “some one interior object, accompanied by complete abstraction from everything pertaining to the external Universe, or the world of the Senses” (VS 73). It is the sixth stage of spiritual yoga, the effort to unite the human with the divine within, in which training “every sense as an individual faculty has to be ‘killed’ (or paralyzed) on this plane, passing into and merging with the Seventh sense, the most spiritual” (VS 78-9).

Dharanayoga: The Yoga of concentration, before the stage of Dhyana and Samadhi.

buddhisaktih. (vishuddhata, prakasha, vichitrabodha, jnanadharanasamarthyam iti buddhishaktih) ::: purity, clarity, variety of understanding, capacity to hold all knowledge: these constitute the power of the thinking mind.

Concentration With meditation, an equivalent for certain parts of yoga, as found in samadhi, dharana; the removal or surmounting of distractions originating in the mind and centering the latter on the spiritual and intellectual objective to be attained, which in the best sense is union with the inner god, the divine monad — a conscious identification of oneself with the universal through the individual’s innate divinity. The method of meditative concentration prescribed in the Bhagavad-Gita is to perform all the duties of life without either attachment or avoidance. The hindrances to concentration which are to be removed are those arising from anger, lust, vanity, fear, sloth, etc. Such obstacles are removed by lifting the mind above them or by deliberately ignoring them, since directly fighting with them serves to concentrate the mind on them, thus defeating the object aimed at; and by cultivating the spirit of impersonal love and the light of wisdom which it evokes. Thus the blending of the personal self with the impersonal self is achieved by an orderly process of self-directed evolution, first by unselfish work in the cause of humanity, continued in the various degrees of chelaship, culminating in initiation.

dharana. ::: concentration; one-pointedness of mind; the sixth of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga

DHARANA. ::: Holding of the one object of concentration to the exclusion of all other ideas and mental activities.

dharan.asakti (dharanashakti) ::: the "faculty of holding"; the body"s "power to hold whatever force is brought into it by the spirit and to contain its action without spilling and wasting it or itself getting cracked"; same as dharan.asamarthya. dh dharanasamarthya

dharanasakti ::: faculty of holding.

dharanasamarthya ::: holding and responsive power; the power of sustaining the full stream of force, of ananda, of widening knowledge and being which descends into the mind and prana and the vital and bodily functions. ::: dharanasamarthyam [nominative]

dharanashakti ::: see dharan.asakti. dh dharane aran.e asamarthya

dharana ::: the fixing of the mind on a single thought, feeling or object.

jnanadharanasamarthyam ::: [capacity for receiving and sustaining knowledge].

mahattvabodho, balaslagha, laghutvaṁ, dharan.asamarthyam (mahattwabodho, balaslagha, laghutwam, dharanasamarthyam) ::: the sense of a greatness of sustaining force, assertion of strength, lightness, the capacity to hold all workings of energy (the elements of dehasakti).

mahattva (mahattwa; mahattwam) ::: greatness, largeness, vastness; a term in the first general formula of the sakti catus.t.aya; "a greatness of sustaining force", an element of dehasakti; sometimes equivalent to mahima. mahattvabodho, balaslagha, laghuta, dharan.asamarthyam iti dehasaktih. (mahattwabodho, balaslagha, laghuta, dharanasamarthyam iti

middle seer logistis ::: an intermediate degree of seer logistis; perhaps a form of inspired revelatory logistis. mithy mithyadharana

Sadharana-karana: Common cause.

Sadharana: Ordinary; common.

Samadhi(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word formed of sam, meaning "with" or "together"; a, meaning "towards"; andthe verbal root dha, signifying "to place," or "to bring"; hence samadhi, meaning "to direct towards,"generally signifies to combine the faculties of the mind with a direction towards an object. Hence, intensecontemplation or profound meditation, with the consciousness directed to the spiritual. It is the highestform of self-possession, in the sense of collecting all the faculties of the constitution towards reachingunion or quasi-union, long or short in time as the case may be, with the divine-spiritual. One whopossesses and is accustomed to use this power has complete, absolute control over all his faculties, andis, therefore, said to be "completely self- possessed." It is the highest state of yoga or "union."Samadhi, therefore, is a word of exceedingly mystical and profound significance implying the completeabstraction of the percipient consciousness from all worldly or exterior or even mental concerns orattributes, and its absorption into or, perhaps better, its becoming the pure unadulterate, undilutesuperconsciousness of the god within. In other words, samadhi is self-conscious union with the spiritualmonad of the human constitution. Samadhi is the eighth or final stage of genuine occult yoga, and can beattained at any time by the initiate without conscious recourse to the other phases or practices of yogaenumerated in Oriental works, and which other and inferior practices are often misleading, in some casesdistinctly injurious, and at the best mere props or aids in the attaining of complete mental abstractionfrom worldly concerns.The eight stages of yoga usually enumerated are the following: (1) yama, signifying "restraint" or"forbearance"; (2) niyama, religious observances of various kinds, such as watchings or fastings,prayings, penances, etc.; (3) asana (q.v.), postures of various kinds; (4) pranayama, various methods ofregulating the breath; (5) pratyahara, a word signifying "withdrawal," but technically and esoterically the"withdrawal" of the consciousness from sensual or sensuous concerns, or from external objects; (6)dharana (q.v.), firmness or steadiness or resolution in holding the mind set or concentrated on a topic orobject of thought, mental concentration; (7) dhyana (q.v.), abstract contemplation or meditation whenfreed from exterior distractions; and finally, (8) samadhi, complete collection of the consciousness and ofits faculties into oneness or union with the monadic essence.It may be observed, and should be carefully taken note of by the student, that when the initiate hasattained samadhi he becomes practically omniscient for the solar universe in which he dwells, becausehis consciousness is functioning at the time in the spiritual-causal worlds. All knowledge is then to himlike an open page because he is self-consciously conscious, to use a rather awkward phrase, of nature'sinner and spiritual realms, the reason being that his consciousness has become kosmic in its reaches.

There are several states leading to spiritual powers and perception. The eight stages of yoga usually enumerated are: 1) yama (restraint, forbearance); 2) niyama, religious observances such as fastings, prayer, penances; 3) asana, postures of various kinds; 4) pranayama, methods of regulating the breath; 5) pratyahara (withdrawal), withdrawal of the consciousness from external objects; 6) dharana (firmness, steadiness, resolution) mental concentration, holding the mind on an object of thought; 7) dhyana, abstract contemplation or meditation freed from exterior distractions; and 8) samadhi, complete collection of the consciousness and its faculties into union with the monadic essence.

varuni dharana. ::: contemplation of Lord Varuna

Vayudharana: Concentration on a particular vital air; one of the five modes of concentration in Hatha Yoga.

visuddhata prakasah vicitrabodhah jnanadharanasadmarthyam iti buddhisaktih ::: see these words separately

Yoga: Sanskrit for union. The development of the powers latent in man for achieving union with the Divine Spirit. It is defined as “the restraint of mental modifications.” Eight stages are enumerated, viz. moral restraint (yama), self-culture (niyama), posture (asana) breath-control (pranayama), control of the senses (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and a state of superconsciousness (samadhi). The techniques of Yoga are recognized and applied by all schools of occultism.

Yoga: (Skr. "yoking") Restraining of the mind (see Manas), or, in Patanjali's (q.v.) phrase: citta vrtti nirodha, disciplining the activity of consciousness. The object of this universally recommended practice in India is the gaining of peace of mind and a deeper insight into the nature of reality. On psycho-physical assumptions, several aids are outlined in all works on Yoga, including moral preparation, breath-control, posture, and general toning up of the system. Karma or kriya Yoga is the attainment of Yoga ends primarily by doing, bhakti Yoga by devotion, jnana Yoga by mental or spiritual means. The Yogasutras (q.v.) teach eight paths: Moral restraint (see yama), self-culture (see niyama), posture (see asana), breath-control (see prandyama), control of the senses (see pratyahara), concentration (see dharana), meditation or complete surrender to the object of meditation (see samadhi). See Hathayoga. -- K.F.L.



QUOTES [7 / 7 - 16 / 16]


KEYS (10k)

   3 Aleister Crowley
   1 Yajnavalkya
   1 Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger
   1 Swami Vivekananda
   1 Sri Ramana Maharshi

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   10 Adharanand Finn
   2 Swami Vivekananda

1:By Pranayama impurities of the body are thrown out; by Dharana the impurities of the mind; by Pratyahara the impurities of attachment; and by Samadhi is taken off everything that hides the lordship of the soul.
   ~ Yajnavalkya,
2:Those who really want to be yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking-machines. If we really want to be blessed and make others blessed, we must go deeper.
   ~ Swami Vivekananda, Raja-Yoga, Pratyahara and Dharana, 73, [T4],
3:The general characteristics and attributions of these Grades are indicated by their correspondences on the Tree of Life, as may be studied in detail in the Book 777.
   Student. -- His business is to acquire a general intellectual knowledge of all systems of attainment, as declared in the prescribed books. (See curriculum in Appendix I.) {231}
   Probationer. -- His principal business is to begin such practices as he my prefer, and to write a careful record of the same for one year.
   Neophyte. -- Has to acquire perfect control of the Astral Plane.
   Zelator. -- His main work is to achieve complete success in Asana and Pranayama. He also begins to study the formula of the Rosy Cross.
   Practicus. -- Is expected to complete his intellectual training, and in particular to study the Qabalah.
   Philosophus. -- Is expected to complete his moral training. He is tested in Devotion to the Order.
   Dominus Liminis. -- Is expected to show mastery of Pratyahara and Dharana.
   Adeptus (without). -- is expected to perform the Great Work and to attain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
   Adeptus (within). -- Is admitted to the practice of the formula of the Rosy Cross on entering the College of the Holy Ghost.
   Adeptus (Major). -- Obtains a general mastery of practical Magick, though without comprehension.
   Adeptus (Exemptus). -- Completes in perfection all these matters. He then either ("a") becomes a Brother of the Left Hand Path or, ("b") is stripped of all his attainments and of himself as well, even of his Holy Guardian Angel, and becomes a babe of the Abyss, who, having transcended the Reason, does nothing but grow in the womb of its mother. It then finds itself a
   Magister Templi. -- (Master of the Temple): whose functions are fully described in Liber 418, as is this whole initiation from Adeptus Exemptus. See also "Aha!". His principal business is to tend his "garden" of disciples, and to obtain a perfect understanding of the Universe. He is a Master of Samadhi. {232}
   Magus. -- Attains to wisdom, declares his law (See Liber I, vel Magi) and is a Master of all Magick in its greatest and highest sense.
   Ipsissimus. -- Is beyond all this and beyond all comprehension of those of lower degrees. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
4:34
D: What are the eight limbs of knowledge (jnana ashtanga)?
M: The eight limbs are those which have been already mentioned, viz., yama, niyama etc., but differently defined:
(1) Yama: This is controlling the aggregate of sense-organs, realizing the defects that are present in the world consisting of the body, etc.
(2) Niyama: This is maintaining a stream of mental modes that relate to the Self and rejecting the contrary modes. In other words, it means love that arises uninterruptedly for the Supreme Self.
(3) Asana: That with the help of which constant meditation on Brahman is made possible with ease is asana.
(4) Pranayama: Rechaka (exhalation) is removing the two unreal aspects of name and form from the objects constituting the world, the body etc., puraka (inhalation) is grasping the three real aspects, existence, consciousness and bliss, which are constant in those objects, and kumbhaka is retaining those aspects thus grasped.
(5) Pratyahara: This is preventing name and form which have been removed from re-entering the mind.
(6) Dharana: This is making the mind stay in the Heart, without straying outward, and realizing that one is the Self itself which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
(7) Dhyana: This is meditation of the form 'I am only pure consciousness'. That is, after leaving aside the body which consists of five sheaths, one enquires 'Who am I?', and as a result of that, one stays as 'I' which shines as the Self.
(8) Samadhi: When the 'I-manifestation' also ceases, there is (subtle) direct experience. This is samadhi.
For pranayama, etc., detailed here, the disciplines such as asana, etc., mentioned in connection with yoga are not necessary.
The limbs of knowledge may be practised at all places and at all times. Of yoga and knowledge, one may follow whichever is pleasing to one, or both, according to circumstances. The great teachers say that forgetfulness is the root of all evil, and is death for those who seek release,10 so one should rest the mind in one's Self and should never forget the Self: this is the aim. If the mind is controlled, all else can be controlled. The distinction between yoga with eight limbs and knowledge with eight limbs has been set forth elaborately in the sacred texts; so only the substance of this teaching has been given here. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Self-Enquiry, 34,
5:DHARANA

NOW that we have learnt to observe the mind, so that we know how it works to some extent, and have begun to understand the elements of control, we may try the result of gathering together all the powers of the mind, and attempting to focus them on a single point.

   We know that it is fairly easy for the ordinary educated mind to think without much distraction on a subject in which it is much interested. We have the popular phrase, "revolving a thing in the mind"; and as long as the subject is sufficiently complex, as long as thoughts pass freely, there is no great difficulty. So long as a gyroscope is in motion, it remains motionless relatively to its support, and even resists attempts to distract it; when it stops it falls from that position. If the earth ceased to spin round the sun, it would at once fall into the sun. The moment then that the student takes a simple subject - or rather a simple object - and imagines it or visualizes it, he will find that it is not so much his creature as he supposed. Other thoughts will invade the mind, so that the object is altogether forgotten, perhaps for whole minutes at a time; and at other times the object itself will begin to play all sorts of tricks.

   Suppose you have chosen a white cross. It will move its bar up and down, elongate the bar, turn the bar oblique, get its arms unequal, turn upside down, grow branches, get a crack around it or a figure upon it, change its shape altogether like an Amoeba, change its size and distance as a whole, change the degree of its illumination, and at the same time change its colour. It will get splotchy and blotchy, grow patterns, rise, fall, twist and turn; clouds will pass over its face. There is no conceivable change of which it is incapable. Not to mention its total disappearance, and replacement by something altogether different!

   Any one to whom this experience does not occur need not imagine that he is meditating. It shows merely that he is incapable of concentrating his mind in the very smallest degree. Perhaps a student may go for several days before discovering that he is not meditating. When he does, the obstinacy of the object will infuriate him; and it is only now that his real troubles will begin, only now that Will comes really into play, only now that his manhood is tested. If it were not for the Will-development which he got in the conquest of Asana, he would probably give up. As it is, the mere physical agony which he underwent is the veriest trifle compared with the horrible tedium of Dharana.

   For the first week it may seem rather amusing, and you may even imagine you are progressing; but as the practice teaches you what you are doing, you will apparently get worse and worse. Please understand that in doing this practice you are supposed to be seated in Asana, and to have note-book and pencil by your side, and a watch in front of you. You are not to practise at first for more than ten minutes at a time, so as to avoid risk of overtiring the brain. In fact you will probably find that the whole of your willpower is not equal to keeping to a subject at all for so long as three minutes, or even apparently concentrating on it for so long as three seconds, or three-fifths of one second. By "keeping to it at all" is meant the mere attempt to keep to it. The mind becomes so fatigued, and the object so incredibly loathsome, that it is useless to continue for the time being. In Frater P.'s record we find that after daily practice for six months, meditations of four minutes and less are still being recorded.

   ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
6:PRATYAHARA

PRATYAHARA is the first process in the mental part of our task. The previous practices, Asana, Pranayama, Yama, and Niyama, are all acts of the body, while mantra is connected with speech: Pratyahara is purely mental.

   And what is Pratyahara? This word is used by different authors in different senses. The same word is employed to designate both the practice and the result. It means for our present purpose a process rather strategical than practical; it is introspection, a sort of general examination of the contents of the mind which we wish to control: Asana having been mastered, all immediate exciting causes have been removed, and we are free to think what we are thinking about.

   A very similar experience to that of Asana is in store for us. At first we shall very likely flatter ourselves that our minds are pretty calm; this is a defect of observation. Just as the European standing for the first time on the edge of the desert will see nothing there, while his Arab can tell him the family history of each of the fifty persons in view, because he has learnt how to look, so with practice the thoughts will become more numerous and more insistent.

   As soon as the body was accurately observed it was found to be terribly restless and painful; now that we observe the mind it is seen to be more restless and painful still. (See diagram opposite.)

   A similar curve might be plotted for the real and apparent painfulness of Asana. Conscious of this fact, we begin to try to control it: "Not quite so many thoughts, please!" "Don't think quite so fast, please!" "No more of that kind of thought, please!" It is only then that we discover that what we thought was a school of playful porpoises is really the convolutions of the sea-serpent. The attempt to repress has the effect of exciting.

   When the unsuspecting pupil first approaches his holy but wily Guru, and demands magical powers, that Wise One replies that he will confer them, points out with much caution and secrecy some particular spot on the pupil's body which has never previously attracted his attention, and says: "In order to obtain this magical power which you seek, all that is necessary is to wash seven times in the Ganges during seven days, being particularly careful to avoid thinking of that one spot." Of course the unhappy youth spends a disgusted week in thinking of little else.

   It is positively amazing with what persistence a thought, even a whole train of thoughts, returns again and again to the charge. It becomes a positive nightmare. It is intensely annoying, too, to find that one does not become conscious that one has got on to the forbidden subject until one has gone right through with it. However, one continues day after day investigating thoughts and trying to check them; and sooner or later one proceeds to the next stage, Dharana, the attempt to restrain the mind to a single object.

   Before we go on to this, however, we must consider what is meant by success in Pratyahara. This is a very extensive subject, and different authors take widely divergent views. One writer means an analysis so acute that every thought is resolved into a number of elements (see "The Psychology of Hashish," Section V, in Equinox II).

   Others take the view that success in the practice is something like the experience which Sir Humphrey Davy had as a result of taking nitrous oxide, in which he exclaimed: "The universe is composed exclusively of ideas."

   Others say that it gives Hamlet's feeling: "There's nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so," interpreted as literally as was done by Mrs. Eddy.

   However, the main point is to acquire some sort of inhibitory power over the thoughts. Fortunately there is an unfailing method of acquiring this power. It is given in Liber III. If Sections 1 and 2 are practised (if necessary with the assistance of another person to aid your vigilance) you will soon be able to master the final section. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
7:64 Arts
   1. Geet vidya: art of singing.
   2. Vadya vidya: art of playing on musical instruments.
   3. Nritya vidya: art of dancing.
   4. Natya vidya: art of theatricals.
   5. Alekhya vidya: art of painting.
   6. Viseshakacchedya vidya: art of painting the face and body with color
   7. Tandula­kusuma­bali­vikara: art of preparing offerings from rice and flowers.
   8. Pushpastarana: art of making a covering of flowers for a bed.
   9. Dasana­vasananga­raga: art of applying preparations for cleansing the teeth, cloths and painting the body.
   10. Mani­bhumika­karma: art of making the groundwork of jewels.
   11. Aayya­racana: art of covering the bed.
   12. Udaka­vadya: art of playing on music in water.
   13. Udaka­ghata: art of splashing with water.
   14. Citra­yoga: art of practically applying an admixture of colors.
   15. Malya­grathana­vikalpa: art of designing a preparation of wreaths.
   16. Sekharapida­yojana: art of practically setting the coronet on the head.
   17. Nepathya­yoga: art of practically dressing in the tiring room.
   18. Karnapatra­bhanga: art of decorating the tragus of the ear.
   19. Sugandha­yukti: art of practical application of aromatics.
   20. Bhushana­yojana: art of applying or setting ornaments.
   21. Aindra­jala: art of juggling.
   22. Kaucumara: a kind of art.
   23. Hasta­laghava: art of sleight of hand.
   24. Citra­sakapupa­bhakshya­vikara­kriya: art of preparing varieties of delicious food.
   25. Panaka­rasa­ragasava­yojana: art of practically preparing palatable drinks and tinging draughts with red color.
   26. Suci­vaya­karma: art of needleworks and weaving.
   27. Sutra­krida: art of playing with thread.
   28. Vina­damuraka­vadya: art of playing on lute and small drum.
   29. Prahelika: art of making and solving riddles.
   30. Durvacaka­yoga: art of practicing language difficult to be answered by others.
   31. Pustaka­vacana: art of reciting books.
   32. Natikakhyayika­darsana: art of enacting short plays and anecdotes.
   33. Kavya­samasya­purana: art of solving enigmatic verses.
   34. Pattika­vetra­bana­vikalpa: art of designing preparation of shield, cane and arrows.
   35. Tarku­karma: art of spinning by spindle.
   36. Takshana: art of carpentry.
   37. Vastu­vidya: art of engineering.
   38. Raupya­ratna­pariksha: art of testing silver and jewels.
   39. Dhatu­vada: art of metallurgy.
   40. Mani­raga jnana: art of tinging jewels.
   41. Akara jnana: art of mineralogy.
   42. Vrikshayur­veda­yoga: art of practicing medicine or medical treatment, by herbs.
   43. Mesha­kukkuta­lavaka­yuddha­vidhi: art of knowing the mode of fighting of lambs, cocks and birds.
   44. Suka­sarika­pralapana: art of maintaining or knowing conversation between male and female cockatoos.
   45. Utsadana: art of healing or cleaning a person with perfumes.
   46. Kesa­marjana­kausala: art of combing hair.
   47. Akshara­mushtika­kathana: art of talking with fingers.
   48. Dharana­matrika: art of the use of amulets.
   49. Desa­bhasha­jnana: art of knowing provincial dialects.
   50. Nirmiti­jnana: art of knowing prediction by heavenly voice.
   51. Yantra­matrika: art of mechanics.
   52. Mlecchita­kutarka­vikalpa: art of fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry.
   53. Samvacya: art of conversation.
   54. Manasi kavya­kriya: art of composing verse
   55. Kriya­vikalpa: art of designing a literary work or a medical remedy.
   56. Chalitaka­yoga: art of practicing as a builder of shrines called after him.
   57. Abhidhana­kosha­cchando­jnana: art of the use of lexicography and meters.
   58. Vastra­gopana: art of concealment of cloths.
   59. Dyuta­visesha: art of knowing specific gambling.
   60. Akarsha­krida: art of playing with dice or magnet.
   61. Balaka­kridanaka: art of using children's toys.
   62. Vainayiki vidya: art of enforcing discipline.
   63. Vaijayiki vidya: art of gaining victory.
   64. Vaitaliki vidya: art of awakening master with music at dawn.
   ~ Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger, Sexual Secrets,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:By Pranayama impurities of the body are thrown out; by Dharana the impurities of the mind; by Pratyahara the impurities of attachment; and by Samadhi is taken off everything that hides the lordship of the soul.
   ~ Yajnavalkya,
2:Nowadays, the practice of yoga stops with just asanas. Very few even attempt dharana and dhyana (deeper meditation) with seriousness. There is a need to search once more and reestablish the practice and value of yoga in modern times. ~ Tirumalai Krishnamacharya,
3:There are three stages in meditation. The first is what is called Dharana, concentrating the mind upon an object. I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering. When it has become strong and does not waver so much, it is called Dhyana, meditation. And then there is a still higher state when the differentiation between the glass and myself is lost — Samadhi or absorption ~ Swami Vivekananda,
4:Those who really want to be yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking-machines. If we really want to be blessed and make others blessed, we must go deeper.
   ~ Swami Vivekananda, Raja-Yoga, Pratyahara and Dharana, 73, [T4],
5:People slip spontaneously into moments of concentration all the time—while reading a book, exercising, playing chess, or creating art. A yogi seeks to experience that same level of concentration intentionally in a practice known as dharana—the act of purposefully narrowing the mind’s focus on the breath, the sensations of the body, a mantra, or a prayer bead. This consistent and purposeful focusing of the mind while on the yoga mat or meditation cushion gives the yogi the same level of focus in life, allowing for wild creativity and unfathomable productivity. ~ Darren Main,
6:When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called Dhyana. When one has so intensified the power of Dhyana as to be able to reject the external part of perception and remain meditating only on the internal part, the meaning, that state is called Samadhi. The three — Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi — together, are called Samyama. That is, if the mind can first concentrate upon an object, and then is able to continue in that concentration for a length of time, and then, by continued concentration, to dwell only on the internal part of the perception of which the object was the effect, everything comes under the control of such a mind. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
7:THREE STAGES OF MEDITATION There are three stages in meditation. The first is what is called Dharana, concentrating the mind upon an object. I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering. When it has become strong and does not waver so much, it is called Dhyana, meditation. And then there is a still higher state when the differentiation between the glass and myself is lost — Samadhi or absorption. The mind and the glass are identical. I do not see any difference. All the senses stop and all powers that have been working through other channels of other senses are focused in the mind. Then this glass is under the power of the mind entirely. This is to be realised. It is a tremendous play played by the Yogis. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
8:The Yoga system of Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path.9 The first steps are (1) yama (moral conduct), and (2) niyama (religious observances). Yama is fulfilled by noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness. The niyama prescripts are purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru. The next steps are (3) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; (4) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and (5) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). The last steps are forms of yoga proper: (6) dharana (concentration), holding the mind to one thought; (7) dhyana (meditation); and (8) samadhi (superconscious experience). This Eightfold Path of Yoga leads to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), in which the yogi realizes the Truth beyond all intellectual apprehension. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
9:The Yoga system of Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path. 9 The first steps are (1) yama (moral conduct), and (2) niyama (religious observances). Yama is fulfilled by noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness. The niyama prescripts are purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru. The next steps are (3) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; (4) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and (5) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). The last steps are forms of yoga proper: (6) dharana (concentration), holding the mind to one thought; (7) dhyana (meditation); and (8) samadhi (superconscious experience). This Eightfold Path of Yoga leads to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), in which the yogi realizes the Truth beyond all intellectual apprehension. “Which is greater,” one may ask, “a swami or a yogi?” If and when oneness with God is achieved, the distinctions of the various paths disappear. The Bhagavad Gita, however, has pointed out that the methods of yoga are all-embracing. Its techniques are not meant only for certain types and temperaments, such as those few persons who incline toward the monastic life; yoga requires no formal allegiance. Because the yogic science satisfies a universal need, it has a natural universal appeal. A true yogi may remain dutifully in the world; ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
10:In mystical literature such self-contradictory phrases as "dazzling obscurity," "whispering silence," "teeming desert," are continually met with. They prove that not conceptual speech, but music rather, is the element through which we are best spoken to by mystical truth. Many mystical scriptures are indeed little more than musical compositions. "He who would hear the voice of Nada, 'the Soundless Sound,' and comprehend it, he has to learn the nature of Dharana…. When to himself his form appears unreal, as do on waking all the forms he sees in dreams, when he has ceased to hear the many, he may discern the ONE—the inner sound which kills the outer…. For then the soul will hear, and will remember. And then to the inner ear will speak THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE…. And now thy SELF is lost in SELF, THYSELF unto THYSELF, merged in that SELF from which thou first didst radiate.. . . Behold! thou hast become the Light, thou hast become the Sound, thou art thy Master and thy God. Thou art THYSELF the object of thy search: the VOICE unbroken, that resounds throughout eternities, exempt from change, from sin exempt, the seven sounds in one, the VOICE OF THE SILENCE. Om tat Sat."[277] [277] H. P. Blavatsky: The voice of the Silence. These words, if they do not awaken laughter as you receive them, probably stir chords within you which music and language touch in common. Music gives us ontological messages which non-musical criticism is unable to contradict, though it may laugh at our foolishness in minding them. There is a verge of the mind which these things haunt; and whispers therefrom mingle with the operations of our understanding, even as the waters of the infinite ocean send their waves to break among the pebbles that lie upon our shores. ~ William James,
11:The ancient rishi Patanjali6 defines yoga as “neutralization of the alternating waves in consciousness.”7 His short and masterly work, Yoga Sutras, forms one of the six systems of Hindu philosophy. In contradistinction to Western philosophies, all six Hindu systems8 embody not only theoretical teachings but practical ones also. After pursuing every conceivable ontological inquiry, the Hindu systems formulate six definite disciplines aimed at the permanent removal of suffering and the attainment of timeless bliss. The later Upanishads uphold the Yoga Sutras, among the six systems, as containing the most efficacious methods for achieving direct perception of truth. Through the practical techniques of yoga, man leaves behind forever the barren realms of speculation and cognizes in experience the veritable Essence. The Yoga system of Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path.9 The first steps are (1) yama (moral conduct), and (2) niyama (religious observances). Yama is fulfilled by noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness. The niyama prescripts are purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru. The next steps are (3) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; (4) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and (5) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). The last steps are forms of yoga proper: (6) dharana (concentration), holding the mind to one thought; (7) dhyana (meditation); and (8) samadhi (superconscious experience). This Eightfold Path of Yoga leads to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), in which the yogi realizes the Truth beyond all intellectual apprehension. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
12:The general characteristics and attributions of these Grades are indicated by their correspondences on the Tree of Life, as may be studied in detail in the Book 777.
   Student. -- His business is to acquire a general intellectual knowledge of all systems of attainment, as declared in the prescribed books. (See curriculum in Appendix I.) {231}
   Probationer. -- His principal business is to begin such practices as he my prefer, and to write a careful record of the same for one year.
   Neophyte. -- Has to acquire perfect control of the Astral Plane.
   Zelator. -- His main work is to achieve complete success in Asana and Pranayama. He also begins to study the formula of the Rosy Cross.
   Practicus. -- Is expected to complete his intellectual training, and in particular to study the Qabalah.
   Philosophus. -- Is expected to complete his moral training. He is tested in Devotion to the Order.
   Dominus Liminis. -- Is expected to show mastery of Pratyahara and Dharana.
   Adeptus (without). -- is expected to perform the Great Work and to attain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.
   Adeptus (within). -- Is admitted to the practice of the formula of the Rosy Cross on entering the College of the Holy Ghost.
   Adeptus (Major). -- Obtains a general mastery of practical Magick, though without comprehension.
   Adeptus (Exemptus). -- Completes in perfection all these matters. He then either ("a") becomes a Brother of the Left Hand Path or, ("b") is stripped of all his attainments and of himself as well, even of his Holy Guardian Angel, and becomes a babe of the Abyss, who, having transcended the Reason, does nothing but grow in the womb of its mother. It then finds itself a
   Magister Templi. -- (Master of the Temple): whose functions are fully described in Liber 418, as is this whole initiation from Adeptus Exemptus. See also "Aha!". His principal business is to tend his "garden" of disciples, and to obtain a perfect understanding of the Universe. He is a Master of Samadhi. {232}
   Magus. -- Attains to wisdom, declares his law (See Liber I, vel Magi) and is a Master of all Magick in its greatest and highest sense.
   Ipsissimus. -- Is beyond all this and beyond all comprehension of those of lower degrees. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
13:34
D: What are the eight limbs of knowledge (jnana ashtanga)?
M: The eight limbs are those which have been already mentioned, viz., yama, niyama etc., but differently defined:
(1) Yama: This is controlling the aggregate of sense-organs, realizing the defects that are present in the world consisting of the body, etc.
(2) Niyama: This is maintaining a stream of mental modes that relate to the Self and rejecting the contrary modes. In other words, it means love that arises uninterruptedly for the Supreme Self.
(3) Asana: That with the help of which constant meditation on Brahman is made possible with ease is asana.
(4) Pranayama: Rechaka (exhalation) is removing the two unreal aspects of name and form from the objects constituting the world, the body etc., puraka (inhalation) is grasping the three real aspects, existence, consciousness and bliss, which are constant in those objects, and kumbhaka is retaining those aspects thus grasped.
(5) Pratyahara: This is preventing name and form which have been removed from re-entering the mind.
(6) Dharana: This is making the mind stay in the Heart, without straying outward, and realizing that one is the Self itself which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
(7) Dhyana: This is meditation of the form 'I am only pure consciousness'. That is, after leaving aside the body which consists of five sheaths, one enquires 'Who am I?', and as a result of that, one stays as 'I' which shines as the Self.
(8) Samadhi: When the 'I-manifestation' also ceases, there is (subtle) direct experience. This is samadhi.
For pranayama, etc., detailed here, the disciplines such as asana, etc., mentioned in connection with yoga are not necessary.
The limbs of knowledge may be practised at all places and at all times. Of yoga and knowledge, one may follow whichever is pleasing to one, or both, according to circumstances. The great teachers say that forgetfulness is the root of all evil, and is death for those who seek release,10 so one should rest the mind in one's Self and should never forget the Self: this is the aim. If the mind is controlled, all else can be controlled. The distinction between yoga with eight limbs and knowledge with eight limbs has been set forth elaborately in the sacred texts; so only the substance of this teaching has been given here. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Self-Enquiry, 34,
14:DHARANA

NOW that we have learnt to observe the mind, so that we know how it works to some extent, and have begun to understand the elements of control, we may try the result of gathering together all the powers of the mind, and attempting to focus them on a single point.

   We know that it is fairly easy for the ordinary educated mind to think without much distraction on a subject in which it is much interested. We have the popular phrase, "revolving a thing in the mind"; and as long as the subject is sufficiently complex, as long as thoughts pass freely, there is no great difficulty. So long as a gyroscope is in motion, it remains motionless relatively to its support, and even resists attempts to distract it; when it stops it falls from that position. If the earth ceased to spin round the sun, it would at once fall into the sun. The moment then that the student takes a simple subject - or rather a simple object - and imagines it or visualizes it, he will find that it is not so much his creature as he supposed. Other thoughts will invade the mind, so that the object is altogether forgotten, perhaps for whole minutes at a time; and at other times the object itself will begin to play all sorts of tricks.

   Suppose you have chosen a white cross. It will move its bar up and down, elongate the bar, turn the bar oblique, get its arms unequal, turn upside down, grow branches, get a crack around it or a figure upon it, change its shape altogether like an Amoeba, change its size and distance as a whole, change the degree of its illumination, and at the same time change its colour. It will get splotchy and blotchy, grow patterns, rise, fall, twist and turn; clouds will pass over its face. There is no conceivable change of which it is incapable. Not to mention its total disappearance, and replacement by something altogether different!

   Any one to whom this experience does not occur need not imagine that he is meditating. It shows merely that he is incapable of concentrating his mind in the very smallest degree. Perhaps a student may go for several days before discovering that he is not meditating. When he does, the obstinacy of the object will infuriate him; and it is only now that his real troubles will begin, only now that Will comes really into play, only now that his manhood is tested. If it were not for the Will-development which he got in the conquest of Asana, he would probably give up. As it is, the mere physical agony which he underwent is the veriest trifle compared with the horrible tedium of Dharana.

   For the first week it may seem rather amusing, and you may even imagine you are progressing; but as the practice teaches you what you are doing, you will apparently get worse and worse. Please understand that in doing this practice you are supposed to be seated in Asana, and to have note-book and pencil by your side, and a watch in front of you. You are not to practise at first for more than ten minutes at a time, so as to avoid risk of overtiring the brain. In fact you will probably find that the whole of your willpower is not equal to keeping to a subject at all for so long as three minutes, or even apparently concentrating on it for so long as three seconds, or three-fifths of one second. By "keeping to it at all" is meant the mere attempt to keep to it. The mind becomes so fatigued, and the object so incredibly loathsome, that it is useless to continue for the time being. In Frater P.'s record we find that after daily practice for six months, meditations of four minutes and less are still being recorded.

   ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
15:PRATYAHARA

PRATYAHARA is the first process in the mental part of our task. The previous practices, Asana, Pranayama, Yama, and Niyama, are all acts of the body, while mantra is connected with speech: Pratyahara is purely mental.

   And what is Pratyahara? This word is used by different authors in different senses. The same word is employed to designate both the practice and the result. It means for our present purpose a process rather strategical than practical; it is introspection, a sort of general examination of the contents of the mind which we wish to control: Asana having been mastered, all immediate exciting causes have been removed, and we are free to think what we are thinking about.

   A very similar experience to that of Asana is in store for us. At first we shall very likely flatter ourselves that our minds are pretty calm; this is a defect of observation. Just as the European standing for the first time on the edge of the desert will see nothing there, while his Arab can tell him the family history of each of the fifty persons in view, because he has learnt how to look, so with practice the thoughts will become more numerous and more insistent.

   As soon as the body was accurately observed it was found to be terribly restless and painful; now that we observe the mind it is seen to be more restless and painful still. (See diagram opposite.)

   A similar curve might be plotted for the real and apparent painfulness of Asana. Conscious of this fact, we begin to try to control it: "Not quite so many thoughts, please!" "Don't think quite so fast, please!" "No more of that kind of thought, please!" It is only then that we discover that what we thought was a school of playful porpoises is really the convolutions of the sea-serpent. The attempt to repress has the effect of exciting.

   When the unsuspecting pupil first approaches his holy but wily Guru, and demands magical powers, that Wise One replies that he will confer them, points out with much caution and secrecy some particular spot on the pupil's body which has never previously attracted his attention, and says: "In order to obtain this magical power which you seek, all that is necessary is to wash seven times in the Ganges during seven days, being particularly careful to avoid thinking of that one spot." Of course the unhappy youth spends a disgusted week in thinking of little else.

   It is positively amazing with what persistence a thought, even a whole train of thoughts, returns again and again to the charge. It becomes a positive nightmare. It is intensely annoying, too, to find that one does not become conscious that one has got on to the forbidden subject until one has gone right through with it. However, one continues day after day investigating thoughts and trying to check them; and sooner or later one proceeds to the next stage, Dharana, the attempt to restrain the mind to a single object.

   Before we go on to this, however, we must consider what is meant by success in Pratyahara. This is a very extensive subject, and different authors take widely divergent views. One writer means an analysis so acute that every thought is resolved into a number of elements (see "The Psychology of Hashish," Section V, in Equinox II).

   Others take the view that success in the practice is something like the experience which Sir Humphrey Davy had as a result of taking nitrous oxide, in which he exclaimed: "The universe is composed exclusively of ideas."

   Others say that it gives Hamlet's feeling: "There's nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so," interpreted as literally as was done by Mrs. Eddy.

   However, the main point is to acquire some sort of inhibitory power over the thoughts. Fortunately there is an unfailing method of acquiring this power. It is given in Liber III. If Sections 1 and 2 are practised (if necessary with the assistance of another person to aid your vigilance) you will soon be able to master the final section. ~ Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA,
16:64 Arts
   1. Geet vidya: art of singing.
   2. Vadya vidya: art of playing on musical instruments.
   3. Nritya vidya: art of dancing.
   4. Natya vidya: art of theatricals.
   5. Alekhya vidya: art of painting.
   6. Viseshakacchedya vidya: art of painting the face and body with color
   7. Tandula­kusuma­bali­vikara: art of preparing offerings from rice and flowers.
   8. Pushpastarana: art of making a covering of flowers for a bed.
   9. Dasana­vasananga­raga: art of applying preparations for cleansing the teeth, cloths and painting the body.
   10. Mani­bhumika­karma: art of making the groundwork of jewels.
   11. Aayya­racana: art of covering the bed.
   12. Udaka­vadya: art of playing on music in water.
   13. Udaka­ghata: art of splashing with water.
   14. Citra­yoga: art of practically applying an admixture of colors.
   15. Malya­grathana­vikalpa: art of designing a preparation of wreaths.
   16. Sekharapida­yojana: art of practically setting the coronet on the head.
   17. Nepathya­yoga: art of practically dressing in the tiring room.
   18. Karnapatra­bhanga: art of decorating the tragus of the ear.
   19. Sugandha­yukti: art of practical application of aromatics.
   20. Bhushana­yojana: art of applying or setting ornaments.
   21. Aindra­jala: art of juggling.
   22. Kaucumara: a kind of art.
   23. Hasta­laghava: art of sleight of hand.
   24. Citra­sakapupa­bhakshya­vikara­kriya: art of preparing varieties of delicious food.
   25. Panaka­rasa­ragasava­yojana: art of practically preparing palatable drinks and tinging draughts with red color.
   26. Suci­vaya­karma: art of needleworks and weaving.
   27. Sutra­krida: art of playing with thread.
   28. Vina­damuraka­vadya: art of playing on lute and small drum.
   29. Prahelika: art of making and solving riddles.
   30. Durvacaka­yoga: art of practicing language difficult to be answered by others.
   31. Pustaka­vacana: art of reciting books.
   32. Natikakhyayika­darsana: art of enacting short plays and anecdotes.
   33. Kavya­samasya­purana: art of solving enigmatic verses.
   34. Pattika­vetra­bana­vikalpa: art of designing preparation of shield, cane and arrows.
   35. Tarku­karma: art of spinning by spindle.
   36. Takshana: art of carpentry.
   37. Vastu­vidya: art of engineering.
   38. Raupya­ratna­pariksha: art of testing silver and jewels.
   39. Dhatu­vada: art of metallurgy.
   40. Mani­raga jnana: art of tinging jewels.
   41. Akara jnana: art of mineralogy.
   42. Vrikshayur­veda­yoga: art of practicing medicine or medical treatment, by herbs.
   43. Mesha­kukkuta­lavaka­yuddha­vidhi: art of knowing the mode of fighting of lambs, cocks and birds.
   44. Suka­sarika­pralapana: art of maintaining or knowing conversation between male and female cockatoos.
   45. Utsadana: art of healing or cleaning a person with perfumes.
   46. Kesa­marjana­kausala: art of combing hair.
   47. Akshara­mushtika­kathana: art of talking with fingers.
   48. Dharana­matrika: art of the use of amulets.
   49. Desa­bhasha­jnana: art of knowing provincial dialects.
   50. Nirmiti­jnana: art of knowing prediction by heavenly voice.
   51. Yantra­matrika: art of mechanics.
   52. Mlecchita­kutarka­vikalpa: art of fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry.
   53. Samvacya: art of conversation.
   54. Manasi kavya­kriya: art of composing verse
   55. Kriya­vikalpa: art of designing a literary work or a medical remedy.
   56. Chalitaka­yoga: art of practicing as a builder of shrines called after him.
   57. Abhidhana­kosha­cchando­jnana: art of the use of lexicography and meters.
   58. Vastra­gopana: art of concealment of cloths.
   59. Dyuta­visesha: art of knowing specific gambling.
   60. Akarsha­krida: art of playing with dice or magnet.
   61. Balaka­kridanaka: art of using children's toys.
   62. Vainayiki vidya: art of enforcing discipline.
   63. Vaijayiki vidya: art of gaining victory.
   64. Vaitaliki vidya: art of awakening master with music at dawn.
   ~ Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger, Sexual Secrets,

IN CHAPTERS [40/40]



   13 Yoga
   10 Integral Yoga
   6 Occultism
   5 Hinduism
   1 Thelema


   10 Sri Aurobindo
   9 Aleister Crowley
   8 Swami Vivekananda
   4 Swami Krishnananda
   3 Patanjali


   9 Record of Yoga
   7 Liber ABA
   5 Raja-Yoga
   4 The Study and Practice of Yoga
   4 Talks
   3 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
   2 Magick Without Tears


0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
     Dharana gets rid of the Subjective.
    Dhyana gets rid of the Ego.
  --
     Dharana destroys the perceptions (Sanna).
    Dhyana destroys the tendencies (Sankhara).

1.00a - Introduction, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  But you don't give it a fair chance. There is, I admit, some trick, or knack, about getting properly across; a faculty which one acquires (as a rule) quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Rather like mastering some shots at billiards. Practice has taught me how to communicate this to students; only in rare cases does one fail. (It's incredible: one man simply could not be persuaded that intense physical exertion was the wrong way to to it. There he sat, with the veins on his forehead almost on the point of bursting, and the arms of my favourite chair visibly trembling beneath his powerful grip!) In your case, I notice that you have got this practice mixed up with Dharana: you write of "Emptying my mind of everything except the one idea, etc." Then you go on: "The invoking of a supersensible Being is impossible to me as yet." The impudence! The arrogance! How do you know, pray madam? (Dial numbers at random: the results are often surprisingly delightful!) Besides, I didn't ask you to invoke a supersensible (what a word! Meaning?) Being right away, or at any time: that supersensible is getting on my nerves: do you mean "not in normal circumstances to be apprehended by the senses?" I suppose so.
  In a word: do fix a convenient season for going on the Astral Plane under my eye: half an hour (with a bit of luck) on not more than four evenings would put you in a very different frame of mind. You will soon "feel your feet" and then "get your sea-legs" and then, much sooner than you think

1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  This naturally comes with Dharana, concentration; the Yogis
  say, if the mind becomes concentrated on the tip of the nose

1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  The mind becomes fit for Dharana.
  After this covering has been removed we are able to

1.03 - Meeting the Master - Meeting with others, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Gandhi: What is the method of Yoga? How do you meditate? Do you meditate on an image or do you practise Pranayama, Dhyana and Dharana?
   Haribhai: It is meditation but it is by quite a different method.

1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  deshabandhashchittasya Dharana
   Dharana is holding the mind on to some particular

1.040 - Re-Educating the Mind, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  So we can take any object for our concentration, but be we should be sure that the thoughts are not distracting, and that they are not so many in number as to diminish the power of thought. If we think of many things at the same time, the force of thought gets diminished due to the diversification of the channel of the movement of mental force. In Dharana or concentration there is a twofold activity taking place the idea that certain notions should be entertained in the mind, and also a simultaneous idea that certain notions should not be allowed into the mind. There is a double activity going on in our minds at this time. We have a feeling inside that, "I should not allow certain thoughts inside the mind." And yet, the very idea that we should not allow certain thoughts inside the mind is itself an idea of those objects. "I should not think of my enemy," but the moment we have that idea, we have already thought of the enemy. So even the idea to repel an extraneous thought is an idea of that thought, the particular object.
  It is a peculiar repulsive feature that makes itself felt in the mind at the time of concentration of mind, which is what I mean by saying the double activity that is going on in the mind. We have resentment towards certain features which we regard as irrelevant for the purpose, and so there is a tension in the beginning. It is not an easy thing; we struggle hard, we sweat and then feel fatigue, exhaustion. The reason for feeling exhaustion in meditation is that there is a kind of struggle going on inside, and there is not a spontaneous movement of the mind towards the given object. That is not possible, because the very attempt to concentrate the mind on a given concept is a simultaneous attempt to get rid of certain other thoughts which are unsympa thetic with this ideal; and this is the tension. There is always a simultaneous activity going on in the mind one pulling the other in this direction and that direction. This subtle tension is the cause of exhaustion, and we tire of meditation.

1.04 - Pratyahara, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  8:It is positively amazing with what persistence a thought, even a whole train of thoughts, returns again and again to the charge. It becomes a positive nightmare. It is intensely annoying, too, to find that one does not become conscious that one has got on to the forbidden subject until one has gone right through with it. However, one continues day after day investigating thoughts and trying to check them; and sooner or later one proceeds to the next stage, Dharana, the attempt to restrain the mind to a single object.
  9:Before we go on to this, however, we must consider what is meant by success in Pratyahara. This is a very extensive subject, and different authors take widely divergent views. One writer means an analysis so acute that every thought is resolved into a number of elements (see "The Psychology of Hashish," Section V, in Equinox II).
  --
  next chapter: 1.05 - Dharana

1.05 - Dharana, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  object:1.05 - Dharana
  class:chapter
  --
  5:Any one to whom this experience does not occur need not imagine that he is meditating. It shows merely that he is incapable of concentrating his mind in the very smallest degree. Perhaps a student may go for several days before discovering that he is not meditating. When he does, the obstinacy of the object will infuriate him; and it is only now that his real troubles will begin, only now that Will comes really into play, only now that his manhood is tested. If it were not for the Will-development which he got in the conquest of Asana, he would probably give up. As it is, the mere physical agony which he underwent is the veriest trifle compared with the horrible tedium of Dharana.
  6:For the first week it may seem rather amusing, and you may even imagine you are progressing; but as the practice teaches you what you are doing, you will apparently get worse and worse.

1.05 - Pratyahara and Dharana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  object:1.05 - Pratyahara and Dharana
  author class:Swami Vivekananda
  --
  PRATYAHARA AND Dharana
  The next step is called Pratyhra. What is this? You know how perceptions come. First of all there are the external instruments, then the internal organs acting in the body through the brain centres, and there is the mind. When these come together and attach themselves to some external object, then we perceive it. At the same time it is a very difficult thing to concentrate the mind and attach it to one organ only; the mind is a slave.
  --
  After you have practised Pratyahara for a time, take the next step, the Dhran, holding the mind to certain points. What is meant by holding the mind to certain points? Forcing the mind to feel certain parts of the body to the exclusion of others. For instance, try to feel only the hand, to the exclusion of other parts of the body. When the Chitta, or mind-stuff, is confined and limited to a certain place it is Dharana. This Dharana is of various sorts, and along with it, it is better to have a little play of the imagination. For instance, the mind should be made to think of one point in the heart. That is very difficult; an easier way is to imagine a lotus there. That lotus is full of light, effulgent light. Put the mind there. Or think of the lotus in the brain as full of light, or of the different centres in the Sushumna mentioned before.
  The Yogi must always practice. He should try to live alone; the companionship of different sorts of people distracts the mind; he should not speak much, because to speak distracts the mind; not work much, because too much work distracts the mind; the mind cannot be controlled after a whole day's hard work. One observing the above rules becomes a Yogi. Such is the power of Yoga that even the least of it will bring a great amount of benefit. It will not hurt anyone, but will benefit everyone. First of all, it will tone down nervous excitement, bring calmness, enable us to see things more clearly. The temperament will be better, and the health will be better. Sound health will be one of the first signs, and a beautiful voice. Defects in the voice will be changed. This will be among the first of the many effects that will come. Those who practise hard will get many other signs. Sometimes there will be sounds, as a peal of bells heard at a distance, commingling, and falling on the ear as one continuous sound. Sometimes things will be seen, little specks of light floating and becoming bigger and bigger; and when these things come, know that you are progressing fast.

1.06 - Dhyana and Samadhi, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  In order to reach the superconscious state in a scientific manner it is necessary to pass through the various steps of Raja-Yoga I have been teaching. After Pratyhra and Dhran, we come to Dhyna, meditation. When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called Dhyana. When one has so intensified the power of Dhyana as to be able to reject the external part of perception and remain meditating only on the internal part, the meaning, that state is called Samadhi. The three Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi together, are called Samyama. That is, if the mind can first concentrate upon an object, and then is able to continue in that concentration for a length of time, and then, by continued concentration, to dwell only on the internal part of the perception of which the object was the effect, everything comes under the control of such a mind.
  This meditative state is the highest state of existence. So long as there is desire, no real happiness can come. It is only the contemplative, witness-like study of objects that brings to us real enjoyment and happiness. The animal has its happiness in the senses, the man in his intellect, and the god in spiritual contemplation. It is only to the soul that has attained to this contemplative state that the world really becomes beautiful. To him who desires nothing, and does not mix himself up with them, the manifold changes of nature are one panorama of beauty and sublimity.

1.06 - Dhyana, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  1:THIS word has two quite distinct and mutually exclusive meanings. The first refers to the result itself. Dhyana is the same word as the Pali "Jhana." The Buddha counted eight Jhanas, which are evidently different degrees and kinds of trance. The Hindu also speaks of Dhyana as a lesser form of Samadhi. Others, however, treat it as if it were merely an intensification of Dharana. Patanjali says: "Dhrana is holding the mind on to some particular object. An unbroken flow of knowledge in that subject is Dhyana. When that, giving up all forms, reflects only the meaning, it is Samadhi." He combines these three into Samyama.
  2:We shall treat of Dhyana as a result rather than as a method. Up to this point ancient authorities have been fairly reliable guides, except with regard to their crabbed ethics; but when they get on the subject of results of meditation, they completely lose their heads.
  --
  9:It will have been understood that Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi form a continuous process, and exactly when the climax comes does not matter. It is of this climax that we must speak, for this is a matter of "experience," and a very striking one.
  10:In the course of our concentration we noticed that the contents of the mind at any moment consisted of two things, and no more: the Object, variable, and the Subject, invariable, or apparently so. By success in Dharana the object has been made as invariable as the subject.
  11:Now the result of this is that the two become one. This phenomenon usually comes as a tremendous shock. It is indescribable even by the masters of language; and it is therefore not surprising that semi-educated stutterers wallow in oceans of gush.
  --
  29:Let us see what what explanation we can find. The first suggestion which would enter a well-balanced mind, versed in the study of nature, is that we have experienced a mental catastrophe. Just as a blow on the head will made a man "see stars," so one might suppose that the terrific mental strain of Dharana has somehow over-excited the brain, and caused a spasm, or possibly even the breaking of a small vessel. There seems no reason to reject this explanation altogether, though it would be quite absurd to suppose that to accept it would be to condemn the practice. Spasm is a normal function of at least one of the organs of the body. That the brain is not damaged by the practice is proved by the fact that many people who claim to have had this experience repeatedly continue to exercise the ordinary avocations of life without diminished activity.
  30:We may dismiss, then the physiological question. It throws no light on the main problem, which is the value of the testimony of the experience.

1.06 - Raja Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  5. The eight limbs of Raja Yoga are: Yama (self-restraint), Niyama (religious observances), Asana (posture), Pranayama (regulation of breath), Pratyahara (abstraction of the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (superconscious state).
  6. Yama consists of five parts, viz., Ahimsa (non-injury), Satyam (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy), and Aparigraha (non-covetousness).
  --
  26. A Raja Yogi practises Samyama or the combined practice of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi at one and the same time and gets detailed knowledge of an object.
  27. Control the mind by Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya (dispassion).

1.078 - Kumbhaka and Concentration of Mind, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  When this is acquired, this mastery is gained, some sort of a control is maintained over the pranic movements. Great consequences unexpected and unforeseen will follow. We will see strange phenomena appear within us as well as outside us if we gain mastery over the prana, because this kumbhaka that we are speaking of is nothing but another form of concentration of mind, as the mind is associated with the prana always. The object, or the ideal before oneself, is united with the meditating consciousness in a fast embrace, as it were, when the prana is withheld, and it is made to stick to ones consciousness inseparably. It becomes one with ones own self, and there is a sudden impact felt upon the object on account of the kumbhaka that we practise. The kumbhaka, the retention of the breath that we practise, coupled with concentration of mind on the object that is before us, will tell upon the nature of that object which we are thinking of, whatever be the distance of that object. It may be millions of miles away it makes no difference. This is because prana is omnipresent. It is like ether, and so it will produce an impact upon the object that we are thinking of in our meditation. It will stir it up into an activity of a desired manner, according to what we are contemplating in the mind. This effect cannot be produced if the prana is allowed to move hither and thither, distractedly. If we want quick success in meditation, the retention of the breath is absolutely necessary because it is this that impresses upon the object of meditation the necessity to commingle itself with the subject. Therefore, a combination of pranayama and Dharana, concentration, is the most effective method of bringing about a union of oneself with the ideal of meditation.

1.07 - Raja-Yoga in Brief, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  We have spoken about Yama and Niyama. The next is Asana (posture). The only thing to understand about it is leaving the body free, holding the chest, shoulders, and head straight. Then comes Pranayama. Prana means the vital forces in one's own body, yma means controlling them. There are three sorts of Pranayama, the very simple, the middle, and the very high. Pranayama is divided into three parts: filling, restraining, and emptying. When you begin with twelve seconds it is the lowest Pranayama; when you begin with twenty-four seconds it is the middle Pranayama; that Pranayama is the best which begins with thirty-six seconds. In the lowest kind of Pranayama there is perspiration, in the medium kind, quivering of the body, and in the highest Pranayama levitation of the body and influx of great bliss. There is a Mantra called the Gyatri. It is a very holy verse of the Vedas. "We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds." Om is joined to it at the beginning and the end. In one Pranayama repeat three Gayatris. In all books they speak of Pranayama being divided into Rechaka (rejecting or exhaling), Puraka (inhaling), and Kurnbhaka (restraining, stationary). The Indriyas, the organs of the senses, are acting outwards and coming in contact with external objects. Bringing them under the control of the will is what is called Pratyahara or gathering towards oneself. Fixing the mind on the lotus of the heart, or on the centre of the head, is what is called Dharana. Limited to one spot, making that spot the base, a particular kind of mental waves rises; these are not swallowed up by other kinds of waves, but by degrees become prominent, while all the others recede and finally disappear. Next the multiplicity of these waves gives place to unity and one wave only is left in the mind. This is Dhyana, meditation. When no basis is necessary, when the whole of the mind has become one wave, one-formedness, it is called Samadhi. Bereft of all help from places and centres, only the meaning of the thought is present. If the mind can be fixed on the centre for twelve seconds it will be a Dharana, twelve such Dharanas will be a Dhyana, and twelve such Dhyanas will be a Samadhi.
  Where there is fire, or in water or on ground which is strewn with dry leaves, where there are many ant-hills, where there are wild animals, or danger, where four streets meet, where there is too much noise, where there are many wicked persons, Yoga must not be practiced. This applies more particularly to India. Do not practice when the body feels very lazy or ill, or when the mind is very miserable and sorrowful. Go to a place which is well hidden, and where people do not come to disturb you. Do not choose dirty places. Rather choose beautiful scenery, or a room in your own house which is beautiful. When you practice, first salute all the ancient Yogis, and your own Guru, and God, and then begin.

1.07 - Samadhi, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  2:The most reasonable statement, of any acknowledged authority, is that of Vajna Valkya, who says: "By Pranayama impurities of the body are thrown out; by Dharana the impurities of the mind; by Pratyahara the impurities of attachment; and by Samadhi is taken off everything that hides the lordship of the soul." There is a modest statement in good literary form. If we can only do as well as that!
  3:In the first place, what is the meaning of the term? Etymologically, "Sam" is the Greek {in Greek alphabet: sigma-upsilon-nu-} the English prefix "syn-" meaning "together with." "Adhi" means "Lord," and a reasonable translation of the whole word would be "Union with God," the exact term used by Christian mystics to describe their attainment.
  --
  15:One author says (unless memory deceives) that twelve seconds' steadiness is Dharana, a hundred and fortyfour Dhyana, and seventeen hundred and twenty-eight Samadhi. And Vivekananda, commenting on Patanjali, makes Dhyana a mere prolongation of Dharana; but says further: "Suppose I were meditating on a book, and I gradually succeeded in concentrating the mind on it , and perceiving only the internal sensation, the meaning unexpressed in any form, that state of Dhyana is called Samadhi."
  16:Other authors are inclined to suggest that Samadhi results from meditating on subjects that are in themselves worthy. For example, Vivekananda says: "Think of any holy subject\:" and explains this as follows: "This does not mean any wicked subject."(!)

1.081 - The Application of Pratyahara, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  Why this involvement has taken place, and what is the defect that is there behind it, cannot be understood as long as the mind is impinging upon the object and clinging to it. The proper direction of the mind in a requisite manner can be effected only in a higher stage, which is called Dharana, or concentration. But prior to this there is the need for bringing the mind back from the wrong direction that it has taken. Before we direct it in a proper way, we have to bring it back from the improper way it has taken. This is the meaning of pratyahara the mind has taken a wrong direction of action, and so we have to bring it back from that direction. It has taken a wrong course, and after we bring it back to the point from where it started on the wrong course, we direct it on a proper course.
  The bringing of the mind back from its improper course is pratyahara, and the directing of the mind in a proper course is Dharana, concentration. We can now appreciate the necessity for pratyahara. When you are persistently doing something wrong, and I expect you to do the right thing, first I would enlighten you as to the mistake that has been committed, and then inform you about the way of rectifying the situation: stop doing that which is improper, and then start to do that which is proper. The cessation of doing that which is improper is pratyahara, and the actual doing of the thing which is proper is Dharana. But, as I mentioned, this is a painful process. Though we may philosophically argue with the mind that it has taken a wrong direction, it will not listen to this argument because it has got involved emotionally in that particular object towards which it is moving in a wrong manner. Though it is wrong in an ultimate sense, it also has to be noted, with sympathy in respect of the mind, that it has become one with the object due to its recognition of a peculiar twisted value in that object, for the purpose of the fulfilment of which it is moving towards it. There is a need for viveka, a proper understanding of the whole circumstance under which the mind has got involved in this manner. Then only is it possible to wean the mind from the object and bring it to the point of right concentration, which is real yoga.
  The pain involved in pratyahara is the result of a love that the mind has for that object towards which it is wrongly moving. Inasmuch as the direction which the mind has taken towards the object is wrong, the affection that it has towards the object is also wrong, and the pleasure that it derives from the object is also a misconstrued, misconceived idea. There is some complete topsy-turvy effect that has taken place on account of a basic error in the total attitude of the mind towards the object. In an earlier sutra we have studied that, to the discriminative, all is pain in this world: dukham eva sarva vivekina (II.15). It is to the understanding spirit and to the mind that the painful aspect of a thing is made clear. But to an unclear mind, this painful aspect will not become obvious. Who can ever believe that the objects of sense are made, or constituted, in a manner quite differently from the way in which they are seen by the eyes?
  --
  Complete pratyahara is not practicable unless an aspect of concentration and meditation is combined with it. The positive side should also be brought into the role of the practice, to some extent at least. Just as in medical treatment, together with the particular prescription for the treatment of the illness we also give a constructive tonic so that there may not be a deleterious effect of the weakness of the system on account of an intensive treatment, likewise we have to be very cautious in dealing with the mind that in withdrawing the mind from objects, we are not merely focused on the aspect of withdrawing. We are not only emptying the mind and giving nothing else with which to fill it. There can be a parallel filling of the mind with a positive content, together with the emptying of it. Then the painful aspect of it will be mitigated to a large extent. We are not going to merely starve the mind and give it nothing. That would be a very difficult thing to stomach. Together with this starvation and the emptying or vacating of the mind gradually by detaching it from its usual objects of contact, it can also be positively filled with the content of Dharana, whose winds will start blowing, gradually, with their own fragrance and solacing message, together with this deeper preceding stage of pratyahara or withdrawal.
  With this, the Samadhi Pada of the Yoga Sutras concludes. From the Vibhuti Pada onwards, we are given a passport to enter into the inner realm of yoga, which is concentration, meditation, and communion with the noble, great object of meditation. The Vibhuti Pada begins with Dharana, or concentration of mind. Dea bandha cittasya dhra (III.1): The fixing of the attention of the mind on the given object wholeheartedly, spontaneously and entirely is called concentration.

1.083 - Choosing an Object for Concentration, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  The very first step is the most difficult step. This requires a very terrible adjustment of ideas. The sadhaka, the seeker, has to work very hard to introduce some sort of an organisation in the midst of the variegated ideas which run hither and thither in disparity just as the head of a family, if he is wise enough, may bring about some sort of an organisation in the family in spite of the fact that the members disagree among themselves, as otherwise there will be only disagreement and no such thing as a family. The very purpose of there being a head of the family is to introduce system into the chaos that would be there otherwise. The aspiration for the realisation of a higher goal acts like the head of a family which brings this disparity of ideas into a focused attention. It does not mean that the mind is really united in the act of concentration, or Dharana. It is still disunited inside; therefore, there is a vast difference between the stage of Dharana and the further advanced stages, which are yet to be reached, where there is a complete union of ideas. There is no such complete union in Dharana there is still restlessness. But there is a force exerted upon the mind as a whole by the aspiration that is at the background of this effort at concentration.
  The fixing of the mind on the point also implies the choosing of the point. What is the point on which we are concentrating? We have the traditional concept of the ishta devata, a term designating the nature of the object of meditation, which gives a clue as to what sort of object it should be. It should be ishta and it should be our devata. Only then we can allow the mind to move towards it entirely. We must worship that object as our god or goddess, our deity, our alter-ego, our centre of affection, our love, our everything; that should be the object. And, it is the dearest conceivable. There is nothing in this world so dear to us as that such a thing is called the ishta devata. What is there in this world which is so dear to us, which we worship as God Himself? Is there anything like that? If there was no such thing as that, it would have to be there; otherwise, the mind will not move towards the object. How can the mind move towards an object which it does not regard as the highest ideal, which it regards as only one among the many? If the idea is that there is a possibility of other objects also, equally valuable as the one here presented, why should not the mind turn to other directions?
  --
  When the cause is brought to the surface of consciousness, the problem is brought to the surface of consciousness and then we can deal with it directly in the manner required. This is what yoga does. In the great endeavour called concentration of mind, or Dharana, we try to pull up to the surface of consciousness the infinitude of aspiration that is behind the desires of the mind which are limited in nature. If this is properly understood, we will know how and why the object of concentration should be our ishta, because it is that which can fulfil the infinite longings of this infinite background. It is, really speaking, a symbol of all-round perfection that we place before ourselves as the object of meditation. The object of meditation is symbolic of perfection; it should have no defects. It should be artistically beautiful, philosophically sound and spiritually solacing. That is the nature of the object of concentration, because if there is any defect either from the point of view of the understanding of the intellect or the appreciation of the aesthetic sense, or in any other manner the mind will not move towards this object. It should contain all the characteristics that are regarded as valuable in the world.
  Thus, we have to superimpose, in the beginning, all those blessed qualities which we require to be satisfied in our mind, ordinarily speaking. This is a type of psychological analysis that we are making of the point on which the mind is to be fixed the desa, as the sutra puts it, to which the mind has to be tied. The mind cannot be tied to a point like that easily, unless all this background, or its history, is properly known. From this analysis we also come to the understanding that this point is not merely a dot on the wall, as many people imagine. Rather, it is a symbolic focusing point, a metaphorical point not a geometrical point which allows all the infinite characteristics of our longings to converge upon one point. It is the point, really speaking, where we find the satisfaction of our desires. Though the desires of the mind are endless, how is it that the mind sometimes rushes forward towards a single object? How does it become possible for the mind to see all perfection in a single object at the time when it runs towards the object? That is because at that particular moment of time, the given object manages to attract towards itself all the values which the mind seeks. That becomes the converging point of all our longings for that particular time only. Afterwards, that object will withdraw itself and some other object will come to the forefront. So unless all our aspirations get focused at that particular point, it cannot become the point of concentration.

1.08 - Summary, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
    Fourthly, we suppress all other thoughts by a direct concentration upon a single thought. This process, which leads to the highest results, consists of three parts, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, grouped under the single term Samyama.
    How can I obtain further knowledge and experience of this?

1.10 - Concentration - Its Practice, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  53. The mind becomes fit for Dharana.
  After this covering has been removed, we are able to concentrate the mind.

1.11 - Powers, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  The mind tries to think of one object, to hold itself to one particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if the mind succeeds in receiving the sensations only through that part of the body, and through no other part, that would be Dharana, and when the mind succeeds in keeping itself in that state for some time, it is called Dhyana (mediation).
  
  --
  When a man can direct his mind to any particular object and fix it there, and then keep it there for a long time, separating the object from the internal part, this is Samyama; or Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, one following the other, and making one. The form of the thing has vanished, and only its meaning remains in the mind.
  5. By the conquest of that comes light of knowledge.
  --
  Before these we had the Pratyhra, the Prnyma, the sana, the Yama and Niyama; they are external parts of the three Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. When a man has attained to them, he may attain to omniscience and omnipotence, but that would not be salvation. These three would; not make the mind Nirvikalpa, changeless, but would leave the seeds for getting bodies again. Only when the seeds are, as the Yogi says, "fried", do they lose the possibility of producing further plants. These powers cannot fry the seed.
  

1.18 - The Importance of our Conventional Greetings, etc., #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  When you are practicing Dharana[AC27] concentration, you allow yourself so many minutes. It is a steady, sustained effort. The mind constantly struggles to escape control. (I hope you remember the sequence of "breaks." In case you don't, I summarize them.
    Immediate physical interruptions: Asana should stop these.

1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  M.: Pranayama is an aid for the control of mind. Only you should not stop with pranayama. You must proceed further to pratyahara, Dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Full results are reaped finally.
  Another of the group asked: How are lust, anger, acquisitiveness, confusion, pride and jealousy overcome?
  --
  M.: Pranayama is meant for one who cannot directly control the thoughts. It serves as a brake to a car. But one should not stop with it, as I said before, but must proceed to pratyahara, Dharana and dhyana. After the fruition of dhyana, the mind will come under control even in the absence of pranayama.
  The asanas (postures) help pranayama, which helps dhyana in its turn, and peace of mind results. Here is the purpose of hatha yoga.

1.300 - 1.400 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  M.: Pranayama is an aid for the control of mind. Only you should not stop with pranayama. You must proceed further to pratyahara, Dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Full results are reaped finally.
  Another of the group asked: How are lust, anger, acquisitiveness, confusion, pride and jealousy overcome?
  --
  M.: Pranayama is meant for one who cannot directly control the thoughts. It serves as a brake to a car. But one should not stop with it, as I said before, but must proceed to pratyahara, Dharana and dhyana. After the fruition of dhyana, the mind will come under control even in the absence of pranayama.
  The asanas (postures) help pranayama, which helps dhyana in its turn, and peace of mind results. Here is the purpose of hatha yoga.

2.07 - The Cup, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  48:There are also the Lotuses in the human body, according to the Hindu system of Physiology referred to in the chapter on Dharana. footnote: These Lotuses are all situated in the spinal column, which has three channels, Sushumna in the middle, Ida and Pingala on either side ("cf." the Tree of Life). The central channel is compressed at the base by Kundalini, the magical power, a sleeping serpent. Awake her: she darts up the spine, and the Prana flows through the Sushumna. See "Raja-Yoga" for more details.
  49:There is the lotus of three petals in the Sacrum, in which the Kundalini lies asleep. This lotus is the receptacle of reproductive force.

3 - Commentaries and Annotated Translations, #Hymns to the Mystic Fire, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  to bear". It is the Dharana-samarthya, the power to hold the
  force, delight or vast expansion pouring into the system without

APPENDIX I - Curriculum of A. A., #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
    Liber IX. (9) [B] Liber E vel Exercitiorum. ::: Instructs the aspirant in the necessity of keeping a record. Suggests methods of testing physical clairvoyance. Gives instruction in Asana, Pranayama and Dharana, and advises the application of tests to the physical body, in order that the student may thoroughly understand his own limitations. Equinox I, p. 25 & Appendix VI of this Book.
    Liber X. (10) [A] Liber Porta Lucis ::: An account of the sending forth of the Master Therion by the A.'. A.'. and an explanation of His mission. Equinox VI, p. 3.

Liber 71 - The Voice of the Silence - The Two Paths - The Seven Portals, #unset, #Arthur C Clarke, #Fiction
   Dharana has been explained thoroughly in Book 4, q.v.
   78. When thou hast passed into the seventh, O happy one, thou shall

Liber, #Liber Null, #Peter J Carroll, #Occultism
  Liber IX. (9) [B] Liber E vel Exercitiorum. ::: Instructs the aspirant in the necessity of keeping a record. Suggests methods of testing physical clairvoyance. Gives instruction in Asana, Pranayama and Dharana, and advises the application of tests to the physical body, in order that the student may thoroughly understand his own limitations. Equinox I, p. 25 & Appendix VI of this Book.
  @Liber X. (10) [A] Liber Porta Lucis ::: An account of the sending forth of the Master Therion by the A.'. A.'. and an explanation of His mission. Equinox VI, p. 3.

r1912 01 24, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   Lipi of death of Gupta fulfilled, but he died apparently on the day of the lipi, or possibly the next day, not on the 25, of heart failure. There had been no previous news of illness etc. It is notable that the death of Sir J. Jenkins had been also foreseen, but in that case there was first the news of his illness.Exercise of utthapana 6.55 to 11.40; strong attack of non-anima and temporary failure of utthapana.The tendency to ratna in the bhoga continues and there is occasional ratha. The nirananda is mostly in the physical element of the higher anandas where the indriyas are touched. Motions of contact are now commencing in which, starting with the vishaya and the tivra, all the five physical anandas manifest together raudra, vaidyuta and kama following each other or rather developing out of each other. The same ratna of bhoga is being applied to events and happenings and even to the circumstances of roga. Satiety and Dharananyunata interfere with the full consummation, but are being subjected to the general law. This movement is connected with a rapid deepening of the dasyam through which the realisation of all motions mental and bodily being inspired, conducted and imposed by Prakriti is being confirmed not only to Chit in buddhi, but also to Chit in sensation, mental nervous and physical. The movements of the body are being liberated from the shadow of emotional or affective intention and choice. Adverse movements are chiefly of the order of roga, a sore throat having taken hold after an interval of several years, and of bodily slackness and failure of utthapana.
   ***

r1912 11 10, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   The samadhi is only obscured by the imperfect Dharanashakti of the material mind.
   The defect of anima is prolonged by the tamas in the body.

r1913 01 14, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   Several predictions have followed, but as they are experimental in their nature, they need not be recorded. Samadhi has been antardrishta jagrat with lipi and thought. There was proof of an increased bodily force and pravritti, but not yet of sufficient Dharanasamarthyam (dhriti, sthairyam) of a single occupation. Yet it is alleged that [two of the]2 essential requisites demanded before the literary work could be allowed to recommence, play of vijnana and sufficient primary utthapana both in body & brain, are already accomplished, though they have to be confirmed in the karma; but the third, equipment, is yet wanting. Aishwarya is generalising itself slowly, but has not yet got rid of the mere tapasic volition which can create a force or tendency, but not produce the required effect. The perfect aishwarya either produces an immediate particular effect, (that being the limit of the thing willed), or a final result, without regard to the immediate or intermediate steps, or produces a final result through or subsequent to certain particular steps which may constitute the whole or a part of the apparent nimitta (immediate karana) of the final effect (karya). The first form is already strong and frequent, the second works, but with great slowness and infrequency, the third is yet rare & undeveloped. Trikaldrishti is effecting its siddhi with regard (1) to place, (2) to ordinarily unforeseeable effect. Rupadrishti is developing, in the daylight, long stability of images complete and incomplete and variety of image, (tejas, chhaya, chhayamay, tejomay & agnimaya varna). Script is free and active. Consideration of kartavyam akartavyam is finally disappearing, in its remnants, out of the supreme dasya.
   In the evening the rupadrishti began to develop variety of perfect forms, but did not advance in stability. Swapnasamadhi was scanty, but the tendency towards continuity persevered in its struggle with the escaping drishti. Sleep which has recently been excessive, fell back to its normal level of six to seven hours. Kamananda, throughout the day, frequent & increasing in its hold on the body, has not yet recovered its tendency to continuity.

r1913 01 31, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   Today has been a day of considerable advance. The script has recovered accuracy of detail and added to it accuracy of suggestion. All the predictions made for the day have been fulfilled not only in substance, but in detail and in order of time and circumstance. Intensity of ananda has been greatly increased and the more intense pitch is now established as the normal to which the Ananda tends always to rise when not hampered either by deliberate obstruction or by the tamasic sanskar of dharane asamarthya impressed on the karmadeha from the outside swabhava and through the karmadeha affective of the body; otherwise it sinks to the subnormal, the pitch attained yesterday,or even to the implicit when it seems to be discontinued or existing only as a general tendency. The health is being purified slowly of the remnants of cold and eruption and is almost free of both, though still subject to momentary touches; visrishti has been a little thrown back, the assimilation for the last three days being less powerful; but today, although subjected to an unusually powerful tejasic stimulus, it has resisted much better than ever before since the final stage began and was disturbed only partially & very temporarily. The weakness of the chakra has been greatly exaggerated, but tends always when allowed to return to the former state of passive efficiency, dhairya & Dharana. Secondary utthapana also suffers from a partially successful attack & apparently successful obstruction.
   Samadhi took a great stride forward. It has begun to organise itself and images (visual, auditory, sensational, actional, tactual) came in a crowd, not yet well organised, but evolving their own organisation. Continuity of incident accompanied with perfect vividness was greater in one typical case than has yet happened and the tendency of image to survive into the antardarshi jagrat was strong and successful. Rupadrishti in the jagrat is at last emerging definitively out of the prison of the sukshma, but the movement is not yet complete. Trikaldrishti and aishwarya are becoming more effective in details of the siddhi. The subjective tamas which returned partially for a short time, has been rejected and the physical is being expelled. In the chitra two fresh circumstances have reemerged, 1, chitra of objects, eg a sword, moneybag, spear etc, 2, chitra of familiar faces & scenes, eg the face of Gladstone & neck with collar.

r1914 05 05, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   The siddhi of the kamananda proceeds with great, almost unexampled rapidity. Yesterday there was a struggle of the roga to make it an excuse for the return of fever etc on the ground that the body is still unfit, but this was repelled. Today there is constant, continuous ananda, always recurrent, first only when seated, then while walking; it is also now beginning to recur even when the attention is withdrawn from the body. The ananda was at first not intense in the sthula body, only in the half-vyakta action of the pranakosha; & the capacity of the body to bear continual unintense pervading ananda was established. Now, while sitting, continuous intense ananda is being given, with Dharanashakti behind in the mental body supporting the pranakosha in this activity. Thus, rapidly, the lipi death of the difficulties daily repeated (not recorded) is being fulfilled in this important siddhi by a sort of concentrated process emerging out of the most rapid gradual progress. It is now decided that the vijnana siddhi shall also get rid rapidly of its difficulties, so that the faith from now in the Yoga-siddhi (not yet in karma, kama, saundarya & utthapana) may extend to the long-promised rapidities of the siddhi.
   The vijnanamaya instruments of knowledge (thought articulate & perceptive, script etc) are undertaking at last the expression of the trikaldrishti and no longer leave it entirely to their intellectual equivalents. The conversion of the intellectualities is being steadily begun.

r1914 08 10, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   Kamananda is now perfectly fixed in recurrence & in frequent continuity. It has intensity as well & is independent of asana, although to some extent influenced by old habit of asana. It is becoming independent of smarana, but that is not so apparent. It is more independent than it seems. The contrary notion is due to a false experiential logic in the mind, which lays too much stress on the defect and on a certain attempt of the exterior smarana to rush upon the ananda & claim it as its effect by a rapid self-association. Entire continuity is delayed by old memories in the body which help in keeping up the idea of inability of Dharana and the habit of discontinuance.
   The other physical anandas are more subject to these old memories and habits & too dependent on smarana. The one strong exception is the tivra, but only in certain parts of the body.

r1914 10 02, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   K.A. is now active in all circumstances, but active without smarana only in the stationary postures. This difficulty is to be removed. All that will then remain will be the defective Dharana in the body.
   ***

r1914 11 20, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   Mahattwabodho, Balaslagha, Laghutwam, Dharanasamarthyam.
   Well-established.

r1918 05 10, #Record of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   The strong intense sahaituka still leaves a doubt whether the body is capable of bearing and therefore holding its indefinite prolongation and increase. This Dharana-samarthya also must be determined in order to ensure permanence. When it is fixed, Ananda will help to enforce perfect arogya on the body.
   The transformation of all telepathy into intuitional ideality is proceeding rapidly. When it is completed, thought will be entirely idealised, an ideal mentality will replace the average imperfect mentality. But this intuition has now (1) an inspirational and a revelatory element within its limits, (2) a strong intellectual element and atmosphere. The latter has to be entirely eliminated, the former streng thened and made dominant.

Talks 151-175, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  For one unable to do this also, regulation of breath is prescribed for making the mind quiescent. Quiescence lasts only so long as the breath is controlled. So it is transient. The goal is clearly not pranayama. It extends on to pratyahara, Dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Those stages deal with the control of mind. Such control becomes easier for the man who had earlier practised pranayama.
  Pranayama leads him to the higher stages involving control of mind. Therefore control of mind is the aim of yoga also.

Talks 176-200, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  It is necessary to be aware while controlling thoughts. Otherwise it will lead to sleep. That awareness, the chief factor, is indicated by the fact of Patanjali emphasising pratyahara, Dharana, dhyana, samadhi even after pranayama. Pranayama makes the mind steady
  Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi and suppresses thoughts. Then why develop further? Because awareness then is the one necessary factor. Such states can be imitated by taking morphia, chloroform, etc. They do not lead to

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