Ashtanga Yoga - The Intermediate Series. Gregor Maehle

It thereby removes the various obstacles listed by Patanjali, such as sickness and rigidity.¹² Asana coupled with pranayama removes even more obstacles, such as doubt, negligence, laziness, and sense indulgence. Most important, though, asana serves as the bedrock of meditation proper: performing the postures prepares the body for extensive sitting in the main yogic meditation postures, which are Padmasana (lotus posture), Siddhasana, Swastikasana, and Virasana (note that the names of these postures differ slightly among the different schools of asana). Padmasana is by far the most important of these postures — see the sidebar above titled “Padmasana: Seat of Power.”

      PRANAYAMA — BREATH CONTROL AND EXTENSION

      Once the yogi is proficient in asana, breath extension can occur within the context of posture. In other words, the two are not separate practices; we assume asana to practice pranayama. The very significant effects of pranayama can be classed into three main groups:

      1 Prana, which previously was scattered, is concentrated.

      2 Pranic flow between the lunar and solar parts of the nadi system is harmonized.

      3 Prana is arrested in the central channel of the nadi system, which leads to reabsorption of the mind into the heart.

      PRATYAHARA — INTERNAL FOCUS

      Pratyahara consists of a catalog of techniques used to focus the mind inward, thus forming the essential prerequisite for the arising of the higher limbs. It is ideally practiced in Padmasana or a similar potent asana and within the state of kumbhaka (breath retention). During kumbhaka we focus initially on locations within the gross body, which constitutes stage 1. Stage 2 is reached when we visualize the chakras of the subtle body and the mind is made to rest on them. This process is strongly intensified if it occurs within the framework of asana and pranayama. During this time of practice, the senses are prevented from “logging on” to their usual objects of desire, thus establishing inward focus.

The practice of pratyahara is based on the following concept: When the senses come into contact with objects in the external world (object being defined as anything that can be experienced by means of the senses), the objects arouse in the beholder reactions such as desire or repulsion, which all tend to ripple the surface of the lake of the mind. Some objects when presented to the mind will even bring about a downright storm. Once this has happened, it is difficult or impossible to use the mind as a tool for meditation. In pratyahara, you avoid the disturbances of the external world by settling the mind on something that is not in the outer world; you withdraw your senses into yourself “like a turtle withdraws its limbs.”¹³

      There are several categories of suitable pratyahara objects, which are principally categorized according to subtlety. The practitioner starts with gross objects, those that are perceptible to the senses. Typically these are the so-called drishtis (focal points), such as the tip of the nose, the eyebrow center, the big toes, the tip of the tongue, the nostrils, the highest point of the palate, the navel, the ankle, or other body parts; and of course the bandhas, principally the Mula Bandha (pelvic lock).

      Once the yogi’s focus is established on the gross level, subtle objects are chosen. The typical subtle objects used for pratyahara are the chakras. One starts by clearly visualizing the muladhara chakra; once attention is established there, one goes on to svadhishthana chakra, and so on. At this early point, you visualize only the following dimensions of the chakra: number of petals, color, and position (in case of the Muladhara, that would be four petals, dark red color, and a location near the tailbone). You have established proficiency in pratyahara when your focus during kumbhaka can be kept on the chakras, one after the other, without the senses grasping external objects.

      DHARANA — CONCENTRATION

      The ancient texts describe more than one hundred forms or techniques of dharana. They generally agree on the following point, however: dharana is practiced once proficiency in asana, pranayama, and pratyahara is gained and not before. Yogis achieve dharana once they can use willpower to focus on the chosen object. But because this concentration is powered by a willful effort, it may be frequently interrupted, much as an Internet connection is sometimes interrupted when you are using an old-fashioned dial-up connection.

      Practically, dharana is done in the following way: You assume Padmasana, Siddhasana, Swastikasana, or Virasana and commence pranayama until breath retention (kumbhaka) is reached. Once in kumbhaka, you rest the mind on your chosen location, beginning with the base chakra (muladhara). Rather than just visualizing the chakra in its location close to the coccyx (tailbone) and stopping there, you concentrate now on a particular aspect of that chakra. The first aspect would be the solidity of the earth element (prithvi). You then go on to the Sanskrit letters that are associated with the four petals of this chakra — that is, va, sa, sha (retroflex), and sha (palatal). The next aspect may be the root syllable (bija akshara) of the base chakra, lang. After that you may concentrate on the subtle essence or quantum (tanmatra) of the chakra, which in the case of the base chakra is smell (gandha). At this point you may conclude concentration on the base chakra and go on to the water chakra (svadhishthana). It is not specified how many breath retentions one has to spend on each aspect of the chakra.

      DHYANA — MEDITATION

      Dhyana, or meditation, can flourish only once concentration is mastered. Whereas concentration relies on willpower, meditation occurs effortlessly. The difference between the two is like the difference between a dial-up Internet connection and a high-speed broadband connection. In meditation, there is a continuous flow of awareness from the meditator toward the chosen meditation object and a constant stream of information or data from the object to the meditator — very much like what occurs on an Internet connection with fast upload and download speeds.

      Let’s assume that you have sufficiently practiced concentration and are therefore ready to embark on the exciting practice of meditation proper. I use the word exciting because once you have properly concentrated and thus “seen” the underlying truth of the various aspects of the chakra (that is, form, location, Sanskrit letters, root syllables, color, gross element, mandala, subtle essence), you can put them all together. At this depth of concentration, effort suddenly falls away and you get a direct line to the underlying reality of the chakra.

The fascinating opening that happens when you get to this stage is that you can “download” or “log on” to the deva, or divine form, that resides in or presides over each respective chakra (Lord Brahma for the muladhara chakra, for example).¹⁴ The view of the divine form instills you with confidence in your progress and devotion. The deva is a manifestation of its mantra, the root syllable. In fact, the chakra, the associated element, and the presiding divine form are all manifested by the mantra, which in itself was a part of the creation of the universe by means of sound or vibration.

      In dhyana, due to the permanent “logging on” to the object of contemplation, you no longer switch your attention from one aspect of the chakra to another (location to color to number of petals to root syllable to gross element, and so on); instead, you become able to see them all together as an interconnected, reciprocal whole. For the base chakra, for example, the divine form (Lord Brahma) is understood as a psychological representation of the root mantra, and the root mantra as an acoustic representation of the Lord Brahma; at the same time, the Earth element is seen as a material representation of the Lord Brahma and the Lord Brahma as a divine or celestial representation