Dhyana is a Sanskrit language word that means meditation. Meditation and Dhyana are often used interchangeably but there is one difference between the two. The fundamental difference is the state of the mind in the two processes. As a beginner, you start with meditation. When you are more adept in it and can get rid of your distracting thoughts to attain a deeper state of consciousness that state is called dhyana. In this state, the mind is not distracted by other thoughts from the past or from the thoughts about the future.
“Brings peace and tranquility to the mind. A calmness that we need and desire for different reasons.”
Meditation is a technique that helps the mind focus on something specific for calming the mind and getting rid of the negative thoughts in the mind. Meditation is basically two types one is the religious type and the second one is to help calm the mind. Religious type is for helping the person to have a connection with their respective god in their religion so that they have the clarity to pray. I am not going to go there; in this article, I am just interested in the second one which brings peace and tranquility to the mind. A calmness that we need and desire for different reasons.
Techniques and types of meditation
There are different types of meditation techniques focused meditation, transcendental meditation, movement meditation, and mindful meditation. Focused meditation is the technique that focuses the mind on a particular object, it could be anything that takes your mind out of the distractions in it. A particular part of your body like your folded hands image, candlelight, God if that is what will help, or any other thing that will help in this focus.
“Sometimes having a piece of calming instrumental music in the background helps the mind focus.”
The idea is to help the mind focus and not think about other things. Find a quiet place to get rid of all the distractions, if it helps maybe put noise-canceling headphones to get rid of the surrounding noise, close your eyes, and take some deep breaths focusing on the inhaling and exhaling of the breath. Think about an object like your folded hands and bring your whole focus to that object. Continue the focus till you can and increase the time every day. Sometimes having a piece of calming instrumental music in the background helps the mind focus. You can pick beforehand what you like and play it during your meditation session.
Transcendental meditation is done with the help of repeating a word or phrase like a mantra, shloka, etc. which helps in the focus. This is done in a similar manner as focused meditation by finding a quiet place and closing the eyes. Repeat the words or phrases (shloka or mantra). Have a definitive timeframe for it 10 minutes, 15 minutes whatever is comfortable for you.
“Mindful meditation like vipassana is done by helping the mind to focus on the present and not think about the past or future.”
Movement meditation is done with the help of some practice like yoga where some yoga asanas are done as part of the focus. Find a quiet place and preferably a comfortable mat where the yoga exercises can be performed. Being comfortable will help you focus on the practice itself rather than think of the uncomfortable environment. Perform the yoga asana like Surya namaskar or other asanas you are comfortable with. Mindful meditation like vipassana is done by helping the mind to focus on the present and not think about the past or future. I have explained mindfulness in another article so won’t go into much detail here.
Four types of Dhyana
There are four types of dhyana that have been mentioned by sages, Artha dhyana, Dharam dhyana, Shukla, and Raudra dhyana. In Artha dhyana, a person focuses on the meaning of life to understand the purpose of human existence. It can be achieved through right conduct and knowledge, practice of nonviolence, detachment from objects, and compassion towards other living beings, humans or animals, anything that has life.
Dharma dhyana is more about the right way to live. It focuses on truthfulness, non-stealing, and nonviolence abhor violence in any form, nonattachment to physical objects, and celibacy. Each of these has a separate type of dhyana.
“The person has their whole focus on the mind and how to calm it. The person can practice this by focusing on the different parts.”
Shukla which means pure or clean is the dhyana that in the truest state of dhyana is closer to meditation where the focus is on the mind. It reflects on the purity of the soul. The person has their whole focus on the mind and how to calm it. The person can practice this by focusing on the different parts of the body and relaxing the tension from that part as they go down from the toe towards their head.
Raudra dhyana is about channeling the anger within you for positive things. In this, the person tries to find the reason for the anger within him and uses that anger as a powerful tool. The person tries to find the things that make them angry. Once the source is found that anger is then used for the benefit of other humans and improving mankind.
Benefits of meditation
Meditation or dhyana has many benefits. The main reasons to do it could be many but the benefits are the same. It helps in improving the focus and concentration of the person, it lets the person be present in the moment and stay there not think about the past or future. This can be beneficial in the office or at school for kids. It helps reduce the stress and anxiety in life by bringing a state of calmness to the mind. This helps in reducing negative thoughts and in a better sleep cycle.
“Meditation helps in getting rid of that physiological trigger thereby eliminating pain. When your mind is focusing on calmness the body releases some hormones like endorphins which influence in reducing the inflammation inside the body.”
A person becomes more self-aware, by focusing on the thoughts and functions a person can identify the source of the negative thoughts and patterns around it. Meditation or dhyana can also help in reducing the pain that you experience. Pain is physical but most of the pain starts in your mind. Most of the time the source of that pain is psychological. Meditation helps in getting rid of that physiological trigger thereby eliminating pain. When your mind is focusing on calmness the body releases some hormones like endorphins which have an influence in reducing the inflammation inside the body, eliminating the inflammation that resulted in pain. As a result of meditation or dhyana, the overall mood of the person improves, it helps in reducing the negative thoughts that may result in those negative thoughts and emotions, that anger inside you, or for that matter the irritability inside you. Meditation helps in some specific conditions too like anxiety, depression, or other disorders like ADHD, PTSD, etc.
The main thing about meditation is that it is not something that you can learn on the first day itself. It is a journey, not the destination. You will have to go through it to experience and gain knowledge about it. As you don’t know how to do it the first day the reverse is also true. No matter how much you practice there is no perfection in it.
“You improve on it daily and use the knowledge to go through this journey of yours.”
There is no particular way to do it too. There are different techniques and lots of books, articles, and videos that can be used to start on it. Devise your own way or observe others and learn from the practitioners of it to help you. You improve on it daily and use the knowledge to go through this journey of yours. To make things better for yourself and the other people around you.
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