CONCETRATION DHARAṆA

Dhāraṇā is translated as “collection or concentration of the mind (joined with the retention of breath)”, or “the act of holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, maintaining, retaining, keeping back (in remembrance), a good memory”, or “firmness, steadfastness, certainty”. This term is related to the verbal Sanskrit roots dha and ana, to hold, carry, maintain, resolve.

Dhāraṇā, the sixth limb of yoga, is a state of focused attention used during asana, pranayama, and meditation. Dhāraṇā is a Sanskrit word that is translated as “concentration.” Dhāraṇā is the general yoga term for practices that train the mind to become clear, focused, and one-pointed. You can focus the mind on an object that is external (such as an image or deity) or internal (such as a chakra).

Boredom and fear will impair your concentration and create distractions. For the best success, choose your goals and techniques carefully. If you are practicing something that feels too easy, you will become bored, and your mind will wander. If a practice is too challenging, you will encounter fear and resistance, and your attention will shift towards something that is more comfortable and pleasing. The concentration techniques of Dhāraṇā ready the mind for the next step of yogic development dhyana. This is the state of sustained meditation, which ultimately leads to samadhi or enlightenment.

What are the characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause of concentration? The characteristic of concentration is non-distraction; its function is overcoming of distraction, and hence the attainment of calm; its manifestation is non- wavering; and its proximate cause is happiness. It should be remembered that there must always be satisfaction, ease, cheerfulness, joy — in a word, happiness. Happiness is the proximate cause of concentration.

CONCENTRATION VS MINDFULNESS

Concentration and mindfulness are distinctly different functions. They each have their role to play in meditation, and the relationship between them is definite and delicate. Concentration is often called one-pointedness of mind. It consists of forcing the mind to remain on one static point. Please note the word force. Concentration is pretty much a forced type of activity. It can be developed by force, by sheer unremitting willpower. And once developed, it retains some of that forced flavor. Mindfulness, on the other hand, is a delicate function leading to refined sensibilities. These two are partners in the job of meditation.

Mindfulness is the sensitive one. It notices things. Concentration provides the power. It keeps the attention pinned down to one item. Ideally, mindfulness is in this relationship. Mindfulness picks the objects of attention, and notices when the attention has gone astray. Concentration does the actual work of holding the attention steady on that chosen object. If either of these partners is weak, your meditation goes astray.

Concentration could be defined as that faculty of the mind that focuses single-pointedly on one object without interruption. It must be emphasized that true concentration is a wholesome one-pointedness of mind. That is, the state is free from greed, hatred, and delusion. Unwholesome one-pointedness is also possible, but it will not lead to liberation. You can be very single-minded in a state of lust. But that gets you nowhere. Uninterrupted focus on something that you hate does not help you at all. In fact, such unwholesome concentration is fairly short-lived even when it is achieved— especially when it is used to harm others. True concentration itself is free from such contaminants. It is a state in which the mind is gathered together and thus gains power and intensity. We might use the analogy of a lens. Parallel waves of sunlight falling on a piece of paper will do no more than warm the surface. But if that same amount of light, when focused through a lens, falls on a single point, the paper bursts into flames. Concentration is the lens. It produces the burning intensity necessary to see into the deeper reaches of the mind. Mindfulness selects the object that the lens will focus on and looks through the lens to see what is there.

Concentration should be regarded as a tool. Like any tool, it can be used for good or for ill. A sharp knife can be used to create a beautiful carving or to harm someone. It is all up to the one who uses the knife. Concentration is similar. Properly used, it can assist you toward liberation. But it can also be used in the service of the ego. It can operate in the framework of achievement and competition. You can use concentration to dominate others. You can use it to be selfish. The real problem is that concentration alone will not give you a perspective on yourself. It won’t throw light on the basic problems of selfishness and the nature of suffering. It can be used to dig down into deep psychological states. But even then, the forces of egotism won’t be understood. Only mindfulness can do that. If mindfulness is not there to look into the lens and see what has been uncovered, then it is all for nothing. Only mindfulness understands. Only mindfulness brings wisdom.

(SOURCE: Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana)

Concentration: In this approach, one intentionally focuses the attention on only one object, such as breath, mantra, a chakra center, or an internally visualized image.

Mindfulness: In this approach, one does not focus the mind on one object, but rather observes the whole range of passing thoughts, emotions, sensations, or images.

THE CONCENTRATED MIND

The one-pointed modification of the mind (concentration), comes when the subsiding and rising (the past and the present) are rendered similar. Sometimes when you are deeply engrossed in a subject you do not know how the time has passed. You say, Is it 12 o’clock now? How the time has passed! I sat at six in the morning. It is twelve now. I have not taken even my tea. The idea of time has vanished now, as you were deeply engaged. In Samadhi, the past and present become one. There is simultaneous knowledge. Everything is present for the Yogi. Everything is here. Everything is now only. The more you are concentrated, the more you are not aware of time. This is the test for deep concentration.

When the mind is fully occupied in the affairs of the war, the soldier does not feel any serious injury of a gun-shot wound in the leg. He is not aware of the loss of a large quantity of blood also. He has great concentration in war. He is not conscious of his body for the time being. When the excitement is over, when he sees some blood spots on his clothing, he comes to consciousness. Then only he is alarmed a bit. When the mind is intensely fond of anything, there will be no perception of pain even if destruction awaits the body. When the mind is completely drowned in any object, who else is there to observe and feel the actions of the body?

(By Swami Shivananda)