This Saturday from 10-2:30 at the Chace Mill in Studio C, our 200 Hour Instructor Course continues with a Saturday session focusing on Dharana and Dhyana - the sixth and seventh limbs of the eight limbed path of Ashtanga Yoga. yDharana - commonly defined as focus, concentration, follows the fifth limb, Pratyhara (withdrawl of the senses). Dhyana - the seventh limb, meditation, leads one into the eighth limb, Samadhi, a state of oneness. (we'll hold that one for another saturday session!)
Dharma Mittra's Yoga Dictionary includes these definitions on his website:
Dharana - It literally means “the act of maintaining” or “firmness”, meaning to firmly maintain a thought in the mind. Concentration. It is the sixth principle of the yoga system of Patanjali.
Dhyana - It literally means “meditation”, “thought” or “reflection”. Whereas Dharana simply consists of maintaining a thought in the mind, Dhyana allows for the expansion of the mind or its reflection on that thought. It is the seventh principle of the system of Patanjali.
Samadhi - Literally, it means “to put together”, or “together or in combination with” as well as unity of state.
In yoga, Samadhi may have anyone of the following meaning:
1. Engrossed in meditation.
2. A state of deep meditation or devotion.
3. Intense attention or fixation of the mind in something.
4. Attention, intense absorption or any kind of a trance.
5. Concentration of thoughts.
6. Deep or abstract meditation.
7. Intense concentration on any object in particular so that the yogui identifies himself or herself with the object of meditation. In other words, in Samadhi, the practitioner, through perception and experience, merges with the environment.
This it is the state of “Atman” or “Turiay” (the room).
Then, Samadhi refers to any of the highest levels of conscience, in or out of trance. These states may be reached through the practice of Yoga or through other means. It is the eighth and last Principle of Patanjali Yoga. Most of the systems of Hatha Yoga see the Samadhi like a state which is attained at the very end. In Buddhism, Samadhi is the fourth state, and the end of Dhyana or intense abstract meditation.
And who doesn't love a great graphic depiction?
Here's one we found via google...on flickr... click to see it (and others) on flickr.