This is the teaching of Yoga. Yoga is the cessation of the turnings of thought. When thought ceases, the spirit stands in its true identity as observer of the world. Otherwise, the observer identifies with the turnings of thought.
—Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras, 1995
• Let go of your deliberate focus and allow focus to happen spontaneously
• Practice meditations to open attention
• Allow change to take place
• Experience self-transcendence and be unified with your meditation
What is dhyana? Dhyana is that level of meditation where your mind can be still without effort and no longer pushed and pulled by the turnings of thoughts, as Patañjali said. When the turnings of thought cease, you can observe clearly. Like a polished mirror, you reflect everything around you, alert, aware, and at peace within.
You can distinguish dharana meditation in the last chapter from the dhyana meditation in this chapter. They use the mind in two different ways. During dharana, you are aware of what you are meditating on while keeping your attention focused on deliberately meditating. You remain aware during dharana practice, first of the object of meditation and then on yourself as you meditate. You are focusing on the object and deliberately keeping your attention directed to the object of focus. By contrast, when you enter dhyana, you let go of specific thoughts and allow yourself just to become spontaneously aware. You find yourself engrossed in the meditation process itself, without trying to do so, just being in dhyana. This eventually leads to the experience of merging, unifying, and identifying your consciousness with whatever you are involved in.
At first, you may find yourself exerting effort in applying the therapeutic tools you have developed for reframing troubling thoughts and regulating strong emotions. Then comes a point when you can let go of your absorption in the troubled past, for example, and transcend it. But how can you do this, when the past is all you know, and is the source of your present attitudes? Dhyana meditation allows you to let go and permit something new. You have probably had effortless moments in your life, times when you were so engaged in doing something, so engrossed in your task, that you were completely lost in the activity itself, transcending the sense of yourself as an isolated ego. The difference is between pursuing goals through activity versus just being in the activity. This chapter offers meditation methods to develop this capacity to facilitate your healing journey.
Jason had not had a good night’s sleep in six years. He was a successful entrepreneur and had a stable, happy relationship with his male partner for many years. So, why, he wondered, couldn’t he sleep? He had been to sleep clinics and therapists to no avail. He had a good understanding of his problems and yet, still, no sleep! Now, after so many bad experiences with sleeping, he became apprehensive about falling asleep, which in turn made him less able to sleep.
We worked with meditative hypnosis, a dhyana method to allow his unconscious mind to flow freely. He learned to sensitize himself to the spontaneous natural responsiveness within, so he could let go and let be. We all have a built-in sleep-wake cycle that takes care of itself unless something interferes. Jason learned how to allow this natural system to do its job. As he let go of his worries and allowed himself to relax, nature took its course and his nervous system regained its natural balance. He slept well after the sessions, and with practice at home, he was able to reclaim his built-in capacity to sleep.
You have to learn how to push the rock where it wants to go.
—Tanouye Tenshin Roshi in Kushner, 2000
You may find that your thoughts are continually churning, keeping your consciousness full and busy. But with little pushes and nudges in the right direction, you can slow the speed of these thoughts and create spaces between them for contemplation, making way for an open, free consciousness. In doing these meditations, you don’t try to clear away all your thinking. Rather, you follow the natural flow to stillness. These meditations will lead to a slowing of the relentless stream of thoughts until your consciousness is free from churning from its turnings.
Notice a time with no immediate responsibilities or obligations coupled with less spontaneous mental activity. Look for such a moment, perhaps at night, just before sleep, during a lunch break, or a time alone when you have nothing pressing to do. At moments like these, you might try to force yourself to do a chore or task. Instead, such a moment can be used as an opportunity to open your attention and find inner quiet.
Let your thoughts drift. Don’t do anything and don’t think anything about it. Simply sit silently, allowing the experience to emerge and develop. Let your breathing be comfortable and let your body relax. Spend a few minutes permitting your mind to be quiet and explore how expansive that quiet can be. Don’t try to discern what it is exactly, but allow this spontaneous tendency to develop. After allowing the naturally occurring quietness, even if only for a brief time, you may find you can deliberately access this mental quiet at other times as well.
Think of your mind as similar to a murky lake that becomes clear when the mud settles to the bottom. The potential for clarity is there in the lake, but the sediment is stirred up. All you need to do is allow everything to settle.
Sit quietly and try not to think about anything. Stay with each moment, without adding any thoughts. Inevitably, thoughts will surface anyway. As a thought occurs, notice it but let it go. Then return to thinking of nothing. Continue to notice any thoughts that come up, but try not to get involved in them. As soon as you can, return to not thinking about anything. Eventually the stream of your thoughts will slow, then become still, leaving you with clear, calm consciousness.
You have practiced deliberate breathing patterns and focus on breathing. Now, without changing your breathing, focus on it as it is right now.
Direct your attention to your breathing and let it remain there, but do so without interfering at all. Continue breathing comfortably and calmly. And as you allow your breathing to be natural, let it find its own rhythm. Your body may relax a bit and your emotions might calm, but don’t try to make them do so. Just keep breathing comfortably and allow yourself to be as you are in this moment.
Do you have a particular piece of music you love? If so, play or listen to it now, and focus your attention on it fully. Enjoy it completely and let yourself move with the beat. Modern researchers use the phrase “being in the groove,” (Janata, Tomic, & Haberman, 2012) when you become lost in your favorite music and find that your body spontaneously moves in harmony with it. You might shift side to side, nod your head, tap you hands or feet, or express your feeling in another way. Let yourself “be in the groove,” This is a kind of dhyana meditation, natural, spontaneous, without thinking about yourself at all. Just be.
Have you ever found yourself so engaged in an activity that you did it perfectly, seemingly without effort? The great Zen practitioners call such a moment mushin, a compounding of two terms: mu meaning empty and shin meaning heart or mind. Some have likened it to samadhi, enlightenment. You can develop this mind-set by doing an activity you have practiced many times. Choose something you enjoy doing, such as a sport or art, that you engage in regularly.
Focus your attention on your chosen activity for several minutes, noticing yourself doing it as you do it. As you continue, let go of trying, and instead, simply allow yourself to move. Don’t think about anything, just permit your body to do what it knows how to do. You have practiced often before, so you can trust yourself now.
For example, if you are running, let your legs flow, your breathing coordinate with each step, your arms swing naturally. Forget yourself in action and simply run. Feel yourself flowing along without trying—just running. Or, if you are a painter, let the demands of the painting, with its evolving rhythms and patterns, call forth the movements of the brush. Let the brushstrokes flow from the brush as your hand and arm move. Through immersion in the activity, you become one with it, and your movements are the natural expression. Forget yourself in creating, and just create. Let your mind be clear and follow the flow as it evolves. When finished, stop, and be quiet for a moment with a clear, calm mind.
All the steps you have taken so far lead to samyama, that is, “holding together” or “binding.” Unifying breathing, body posture, and focus puts you on the path. Then withdrawing your attention and keeping it focused on something takes you to the point where meditation (dhyana) will happen spontaneously, resulting in samadhi. As you become fully absorbed in the moment, you develop intuitive understanding and insight into whatever you are focusing on.
Set aside a longer period of time for meditation. Sit quietly and turn your attention somewhere, either to an outer object or within. Turn your attention gently there, but don’t force it to go there. During this process, while you sit quietly, you will have moments where something happens, if you can allow it. You may feel a tranquil meditative state sweep over you. The boundary between you as the person meditating and the process of meditating loses its meaning. At first, you may just have a fleeting moment, but with practice, the experience will last longer. Let go of your conscious, rational thoughts and allow the spontaneous expression of your unconscious and intuitive capacities. This might be difficult at first. But as you continue to invite openness, it will become effortless. Let it happen and enjoy the experience!
1. Make a journal entry after each exercise. Note what you have experienced.
2. Did you feel as if you needed to keep control or could you allow your experience to unfold?
3. If you were able to let go, describe what you felt. Was it comfortable or uncomfortable, and in what way?
4. Experiment with dhyana journaling. Just start writing whatever comes to mind and let it be expressed. Then let writing flow without a goal. Just express yourself. Fine-tune it later.