What do We Mean by Meditation |Samahita Retreat Article by Elonne Stockton

What do We Mean by “Meditation”?

by Elonne Stockton

Students often ask us something like this:

We are doing pranayama each morning. Are we going to spend time meditating?

True meditation is a very advanced state. When people say mediation, they are usually referring to a specific concentration technique that they are using, a specific tool for helping to focus the mind. Maybe they use a Buddhist technique, or maybe they are repeating a specific mantra. Maybe they have another technique they are using from another tradition.
Working with the breath in pranayama is also one way of focusing the mind. And it is said to be the highest tapas/discipline because it leads us directly to the bridge of pratyahara/withdrawal of the senses. Pratyahara is the 5th of Patanjali’s 8 limbs, and it is called a bridge because it takes us from the limbs that are in our control, the things we can do – namely Yamas & Niyamas (how we treat others and how we treat ourselves), Asana (physical postures) and Pranayama (breath control/regulation) – to those limbs that are out of our control -- Dharana/concentration, Dhyana/meditation and Samadhi/Nirvana.

What do We Mean by “Meditation”?

Like sleep, meditation is an altered state, something that you fall into. Nobody can tell you how to meditate. Likewise, nobody can tell you how to sleep, even though they might offer suggestions to help you fall into a state of sleep – drink chamomile tea, turn off the lights, find a comfortable pillow, etc. No one can tell you how to meditate, but they can give you tools, specific techniques to use in order to help you one day achieve the state of meditation. Working with the breath is one of those tools. More about Meditation >>