Samyamaa
Meditation

Samyama is effortlessly progressing through the last three stage of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga - Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi - and stilling your own chitta to the point where it can reflect another's chitta.

There are a few distinct levels of meditation which serve as milestones along the path to Samyama. Think of it as the stages of your evolving meditative self.

The first of these is Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses. It is the stage at which you can rein in your senses and turn them inward. Pratyahara is not something you do, as in the case of Asanas and Pranayama, but a state that descends on you when your yoga practise reaches an advanced, stable, steady, controlled, comfortable stage.

At this stage you are merely an observer, having developed a high level of Vairagya (detachment, dispassion) and are merely witnessing your sensory inputs, and are no longer overpowered/ controlled/ directed by them. With sufficient practise, this stage of complete control of your senses, remaining but a witness to external and internal sensory inputs (that stream into your mind through your senses), becomes a more or less regular and permanent state your yogee personality.

The sixth limb, Dharana is a state of one pointed concentration. Your mind holds unwavering attention to the desired focus, with no distracting, unwanted thoughts randomly running through your headspace. Again, this is a state one can facilitate through practise.

Dhyana is that state of effortless, yet absolutely complete awareness of everything internal and external. It can be likened to an athlete's state of "being in the zone", except that Dhyana would not be limited to the annamaya kosha or physical level; instead, you are "in the zone" at all 5 kosha levels! This is the level of meditation one can achieve with persistent practise of the seven limbs over the years.

Maintaining this state of Dhyana for extended periods of time results in a spontaneous deepening of the effects Dharana and Dhyana into a state of Samadhi. This level of meditation is known by many different names - samadhi, kevali kumbhaka, kaivalya, nirvana, moksha. It is said to be the stage of the individual consciousness merging with the cosmic consciousness and apparently cannot be described in words - you have to experience it to truly know it.

It is in Samadhi that the breath spontaneously stops and there is usually no sign of life, as we know and measure it medically.....and yet the person returns to life from the state of Samadhi, none the worse for wear. Precious few reach this level of meditation.

Practise makes perfect, and repeatedly experiencing this progression from Dharana, Dhyana to Samadhi just makes it easier and faster for one to get there, at which point Samyama is achieved. Samyama then is the stage when one can effortlessly move through the sixth and seventh limbs of Dharana and Dhyana to the eight, Samadhi, almost directly, as if immediately. It is the meditative state where your chitta (mind-stuff)is utterly aware, totally conscious, and so still that it can reflect the chitta of whoever or whatever is the focus of your meditation - it is literally getting into the mind state of an another living thing.

While Samyama is the art of the progressing through the last three meditative stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga at will, mention must be made of Anahat Nad or hearing the unstruck sound. Not listed in Patanjali's Ashtanga (Eight Limbs), it is one of the milestones on the Hatha Yoga path. Anahat Nad refers to the cosmic sounds from the creation of the universe, spontaneously heard when the senses are withdrawn from the external and directed inward, thus marking the successful achievement of pratyahar.

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There are numerous techniques which, when consistently practised along with Shuddhi Kriyas, Pranayama, Asanas, Niyamas and Yamas, prime your mind to go into a meditative state at will. The ability to stay absolutely and comfortably still in any meditative asana of your choice for a minimum of 15 minutes is strongly recommended before attempting any of the practices mentioned below.