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Dhyana Yoga...The Purpose of Meditation

© Jennifer M. Witkowski

As previously mentioned, yoga is far more than a physical practice, although here in the west it is primarily practiced for its physical benefits. But thousands of years ago, yoga evolved as a pursuit for spiritual perfection, with the physical exercises serving as only a doorway for spiritual pursuit.

In most yoga classes, a portion of time, usually at the end of class, is set aside for "meditation." It can take the form of guided imagery at the instruction of the teacher, or it can be a quiet and personal time. If you are practicing yoga at home, a period of silent meditation will greatly enrich your practice.

But what is meditation? What is its purpose? True meditation is more than just sitting quietly (kind of like that "moment of silence" many of us remember from our school days). In fact, meditation, by benefiting our spirit, can directly improve our mental and even our physical health as much as the hatha yoga exercises do. I am always a little discouraged at the end of a beginner's yoga class I teach at a local health club, when class members get up and leave during the "meditation" portion of our class. In some ways, the purpose of the whole class is to lead us to the point at which we are ready for meditation. It is not wasted time...in fact it may be the most important time of the whole day.

Meditation allows us to do two things. It allows us at once to remove from ourself all thought and outside perseption of time and space and other physical restraints to expose our core selves. Everything is stripped away, even our normal thinking, and in the silence that remains we are at one with our core self. At the same time that we are focusing inward to our core self, or spirit, we are also opening ourself to the divine. We are opening ourselves to be receptive to God, as we know him or her, or to the greater spirit of the universe. At the same time we are exposing our very core individual spirit, we are opening ourself to all of the power and divinity of the universe. Meditation is a way of coming to know ourselves, and at the same time coming to know God.

Meditation is difficult to explain, and difficult to teach. The key matter in meditation is focus. All of the physical exercises practiced in the different asanas, and all the breathing exercises serve to aid and enhance this focus. The physical part of yoga allows all of our outside concerns to fade away, so that we can reach that point of silence within ourselves where we are open to recieve the messages around us. Meditation is a centering. Although you are conscious, you are not consciously thinking anything. Your mind is open, and becomes a vessel to messages from the divine.