Meditation (Dhyana)

Shri Devi said: One may meditate on a visible image, O Mahadeva. What is the nature of meditation on the invisible? Shri Shankara said: O Devi, sound, uttered by me, is the absolute. By pronoun ing a mantra !ith a devoted mind, there is invisible meditation " so forth. Maheshvari, this is true, true, self evident, undoubtedly # Matrikabhedatantra XII, 5-7 The $ularnava %antra defines dhyana in the following way: "Controlling the affliction of senses by the mind, contemplation by the inner being of the chosen deity is called dhyana". (KT XVII, !, "ai#s translation$. In the tantri% traditions, there are n&mero&s dhyanas which re'&ire intense (is&alisation s%ills, themsel(es part of the "wor% on oneself" or sadhana re'&ired by an initiate. )imply p&t, in the Bhagavad &ita, that what the mind thin%s on, it becomes. *nderlying these practices is the basic tantri% idea that the worshipper + the worshipped are one. Kali%a, )hi(a or any of the other million de(atas do not li(e in some separate place as disembodied beings who can bestow boons or c&rses. Instead, the macrocosm is, as the %odala %antra + many other te,ts state, one with the microcosm. ()ee also the abstract of the Siddhasiddhantapaddhi on this site$. -ot only is the ability to (is&alise in a concentrated manner one of the elements of sadhana, it is both a preliminary + an essential basis for many other tantri% practices, incl&ding the daily p&.a or worship, optional practices, nyasa, many yogic practices s&ch as intense (is&alisations on the inner body / la $aula'nananirnaya, the recitation of mantra, meditation of yantras, the performance of m&dras + e(en se,&al sadhana for some of the heterodo, tantri% schools.

-ot only m&st an adept be able to (is&alise sometimes (ery comple, images, b&t also be able to hold s&ch images, concentratedly, often for a long period of time. 0,ternal images, the different elements of p&.a, + repeated practice lead e(ent&ally, so the masters of these traditions tell &s, to perfection in which the meditator, the means of meditation + the meditated on are realised in their essential &nity. 1e(otion + grace may also assist towards this end. 2s with many other elements in the tantri% traditions, these (is&alisations3meditations can ha(e either a gross, a s&btle or s&preme form. "...attachment of mind to anything (raga$ is "edness. The Cons&mmation of worship (*pasti$ is meditation one#s )elf. )iddhi is attained when tho&ght does not wander from the contemplation of the identity of one#s )elf with the 4b.ect of 5orship." (2rth&r 2(alon#s introd&ction to the )ans%rit te,t of the %antrara'atantra.$ This same tantra also gi(es eg of gross, s&btle + s&preme meditations on Trip&ras&ndari. 2(alon says in his introd&ction that the relation of 6alita with the other fifteen -ityas is the gross form, s&btle meditation is when one meditates on the goddess in the si, bodily centres or cha%ras, while the s&preme form is meditation on the s&preme )ha%ti as "one, impartite + impartible whole + (is&alising the 2tma as a steady, motionless flame in a windless place". 7rom another point of (iew, the absol&te, whether seen as )hi(a, )ha%ti, or the &nion of the two, ta%es the form of an image or pratima in its gross form, of a yantra in its s&btle form, + of a mantra in its s&preme form. 2ll three represent de(ata b&t are progressi(ely more s&btle. 2n ad(anced adept will de(elop the ability to (is&alise not .&st images of "gods" + "goddesses" b&t comple, yantras s&ch as the )hri 8antra. It is clear from the foregoing, + from the many comple, eg of meditation gi(en on this 5eb site, that achie(ing a degree of s&ccess in these practices is not, necessarily, an easy thing. This brings &s to the iconography of the tantri% de(is + de(atas. The images sold in e(ery Indian ba9aar of 6a%shmi, )hi(a, :anesh + others, where tr&e to their original descriptions, are based on meditation images fo&nd in the tantras, the p&ranas + in other te,ts. The n&mber of arms + heads, the weapons held in s&ch hands, + other elements of the dhyanas, are intended to remind a practitioner of the essential nat&re of the de(ata meditated on. They often ha(e a symbolic meaning, as well as pro(iding rich imagery as ob.ects of meditation.

2rtwor% is ; <an =ailey, >??@. Translations are ; Ai%e Aagee >??@. B&estions or comments to mi%e.mageeCbtinternet.com Dome Eage