There are two types of sadhana — bahiranga-sadhana बहिरन्ग-साधना, or external means; and antaranga-sadhana अन्तरन्ग-साधना , or internal means. Doing karma is doing what is to be done by you with the right attitude and following proper values. In other words, karmayoga कर्मयोग is called bahiranga-sadhana. Meditation, dhyana, wherein the mind alone is involved, is called antaranga-sadhana. It can be a prayer, a contemplation, or any inner discipline, but it is purely internal. No limbs are involved, nor is the organ of speech. Therefore, one type of sadhana is external and the other is internal, both of which we should follow.
The external means, bahiranga-sadhana, take care of your likes and dislikes because these can only be worked out through your interactions with the external world. For gaining steadiness of mind and the composure necessary to gain self-knowledge, there is the inner discipline of meditation, antaranga-sadhana, which is also very important.
In meditation, the external objects are kept outside
In his commentary, Adi Shankaracharya explains that all the sense objects such as sound enter your mind through ears – the gates of the sense organs. In meditation, all of the external objects are to be kept outside, meaning you leave them alone for the time being. You simply stop thinking about them. You turn your mind to something else. You do not need to turn these sense objects away from yourself, nor do you have to turn away from them. You just have to leave them right where they are.
The sense objects enter your mind in the first place by your thinking about them. Therefore, you cannot blame the sense objects for being in your head. Do not think about them, Shankaracharya said, and they will not be there. The sense objects are already external and by not dwelling on them, they remain external. This, then, is how the sense objects are kept outside.
The eyes are generally kept closed. You can meditate with your eyes open, but keeping your eyes closed makes it easier for the mind to think about the object of meditation. If your eyes are open, your mind may wander to what is in front of you. Therefore, we close the eyes to eliminate distraction from this one particular sense perception.
Meditation is an action born purely of the mind. In fact, every action is born in the mind, but it does not necessarily remain in the mind. The act of speaking, for example, is born of the mind. The words are all formed in the mind and are then expressed through the organ of speech. Although all forms of action emanating from the mind alone, they do not always stop there. They may manifest through various means of expression. But in dhyana, the activity is born of the mind and remains in the mind; therefore, it is purely a mental action, manasa-vyapara मनसा-व्यापारा an activity that is a sadhana, a means, a yoga.
Any worry is also a mental activity. But, can a person who worries constantly say, ‘I am doing meditation?’ No, he cannot say that. Dhyana is a mental activity in which the subject matter is predetermined. It is an activity whose subject matter is Sagun brahma – God with attributes. This is one definition of meditation.
Sagun brahman सगुण ब्रह्मन् means limitless Brahman, Satyam-jnana-Ananta-brahman सतय्म्-ज्ञ्नान् -अनन्त्-ब्रह्मन् as Ìsvara इश्वर, the cause of the world. Sagun brahma is the object of a mental activity called meditation. Now, suppose I think of Sagun brahma for half a minute every morning at nine o’clock and then again at twelve o’clock for another half minute. Is this dhyana? It is a mental activity, no doubt; I think of the Lord and then the thought goes away. But, even though this thinking occurs in the mind and resolves there, it is not dhyana. Therefore, the mental activity, called dhyana, is defined still further as a mental activity where all the thoughts other than those concerning the chosen object are removed, and only those concerning the chosen object flow for a length of time, then there is dhyana.
Bringing back a wandering mind is part of the meditation
Another aspect of dhyana that you must know is that when the mind moves away from the object of meditation, it should be brought back to the object of meditation. This ‘bringing it back’ is a part of the definition of dhyana. It is not going away from dhyana, as you may think. Many times people say to me, ‘Swamiji, when I meditate, my mind goes away!’ Going away is not a distraction to meditation; it is a part of meditation. In fact, thinking that it is a problem is the problem. When the mind goes, you simply bring it back. Bringing the mind back is a part of the definition of dhyana. The mind running away is definitely a characteristic of dhyana and when it does you bring it back. If the mind does not run away at all, it is called samadhi.
Difference between meditation and contemplation
When the mind wanders away, we bring it back to the object of meditation, the Sagun brahma, the ista devta इष्टदेवता. This is one definition of dhyana. The other is the mental activity involved when the object of meditation is Brahman with no attributes – nirguna-brahma-visayamanasa-vyapara निर्गुण ब्रह्मन् विषयमन्सा-व्यापर – wherein saguna brahma is substituted by nirguna-brahma निर्गुण ब्रह्मन्. This mental activity is called nididhyasana निदिध्यासन, contemplation.
Both dhyana and nididhyasana are manasa-vyaparas, mental activities. In the former, there is saguna-brahma and in the latter, there is nirguna-brahma, meaning svarupa-dhyana, contemplating on the truth of Brahman. In this nididhyasana, you contemplate on certain words or statements such as, ‘I am the whole, aham-purnah’ अहम् पूर्णः or ‘my nature is nothing other than existence-consciousness-limitlessness’, aham-satyam-¡naana-ananta-svarupa अहम्-सत्यम्-ज्ञ्नान-अनन्त-स्वरुप. This contemplation implies thought because, you bring up a word and you see its meaning. Therefore, there is manasa-vyapara, mental activity, but, at the same time, it is different than the mental activity involved in saguna-brahma-visaya-manasa-vyapara सगुण-ब्रह्मन्-विषयमन्सा-व्यापर, which is why it is called contemplation rather than meditation.
The topic of contemplation is naturally preceded by all types of meditation or internal means, antaraga-sadhana, for gaining moksa मोक्ष्. Therefore, any prayerful meditation, which is saguna-brahma-visaya-manasa-vyapara, and nididhyasana, which takes the form of quiet contemplation, should be taken as dhyana. The dhyana discussed in the sixth chapter, immediately after Kirshna talked about sannyasa, is mainly the second type of dhyana, that is, nididhyasana — which we shall see as we proceed.
Meditative disposition is not created by will
Even though meditation is something that one can do by one’s will, it is not effective unless the mind is ready for it. The mind’s capacity to stay with itself or with the object of meditation is what we call dhyana-yoga. Karmayoga कर्मयोग is the means for preparing the mind and is, therefore, a means for dhyana-yoga. Thus, there is a connection between karma yoga and dhyana-yoga, the external and internal means for moksa.
A meditative or contemplative disposition is not created by your will, although you can “will” yourself to sit in meditation. Such a disposition happens when you are ready for it and that readiness is what is meant by the preparedness of the mind. Gaining this preparedness is not given over to the hands of time, but is created by living a life of karma yoga.
We see that the external means, karma yoga, for gaining moksa is not unconnected to the inner means, dhyana-yoga ध्यानयोग. In fact, it is very much connected; it is a part of the whole thing. Karma yoga becomes the sadhana, the means, for the person who wishes to mount the horse of dhyana-yoga, the capacity to contemplate. Once this capacity is gained by living a life of karma yoga, the person is called yoga-arudha. Only then, sannyasa संन्यास, giving up of all actions, takes place.
Karma yoga itself does not make a person a yoga-arudha योग अरुढस्य (a person engaged in deep meditation). By living a life of karma yoga, the person first becomes contemplative; then, he develops complete dispassion or detachment towards all activities that make one a yoga-arudha. This complete detachment — complete withdrawal from all activity, comes only through knowledge.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Manifesting the Divinity within! 