Message #24425

[Jitendra Hydonus]

Paramahansa Yogananda describes dharana in lesson 114.  He says: The essential thing to remember is that scientific meditation means the withdrawal of life current from the nerves. When you can do that, sensations cannot reach the brain to rouse perceptions and associated thoughts. Concentration and meditation both have two sides: disengaging your attention from objects of disturbance and putting it on one object at a time. In the beginning you cannot make your attention stay on one thing. After you have attained that state wherein you can control attention (dharana, the sixth of the eight steps of yoga described by Pentanjali), you will find that you can accomplish much in both a spiritual way and in a material way. If at death you can hold on to that state of deep meditation, of soul awareness, you will go consciously and know no change. P.Y.

The essential Point here is that Yogananda is saying that meditation is not only releasing yourself from objects of distraction but also concentrating on one thing at a time. Hmmmm. Sounds like what the Buddhists call Mindfulness.