Dharana the Divine Awakening

DHARANA the Divine Awakening

We should never allow ourselves to be so caught up in the day to day existence that we forgot the purpose of our life. A passionate life of material progress, no matter how successfully executed, will ultimately prove to be a source of frustration because everything material that we have accumulated will eventually take away. We cannot keep anything. So why should we work so hard for something that we cannot keep? It does not make sense. We should instead focus our energies on attaining that which lies far, far beyond this temporary material existence, on awakening our original eternal divine consciousness.

DHARANA.THE BEST FROM OUR SCRIPTURES:-Dharana is holding the divine spirit in consciousness during concentration. (Amritanadopanishad 15)The withdrawal of consciousness from perceptive field and holding it in the super-conscious field is Dharana (Mandalabrahmanopanishad 1.1.8)A practitioner of yoga after practicing yama, niyama, asana, and pranayama should hold his mind on the five forms of elements in their respective centers within the body. This is called Dharana. (Trishikhi Brahmanopanishad, mantra section 133-134)

Dharana is: -
1. Holding concentration of the divine aspect of the self
2. Holding concentration on akasha (void) in the hrit center (the spiritual heart inside the Anahata Chakra.)
3. Holding concentration on the five divine forms Brahma, Vishnu, (Bridhrudra), Ishan Siva and Panchavaktra (Shandilyopanishad 1.9.1)
4. Whatever is seen with the eyes, heard with ears, smelled with the nose, tasted with tongue, and touched by the skin should be regarded as divine being. In this manner the object of the senses should be transformed into divine being and held in consciousness. (Yogatattvopanishad 69-72)
5. Concentration on big toe, ankle, knee scrotum, genitals, navel, heart, neck, throat, uvula, and nose, space between the eyebrows, breast, and head in kumbhaka (breath suspension) is called Dharana. (Gandharva Tantra, chapter 5, p.25)
6. The holding in consciousness of certain vital points while holding the breath is called Dharana (Prapanchasara Tantra 19, 21-22)
7. Concentration on six subtle centers of Kundalini (the coiled power) is termed as Dharana ((Rudrayamala Tantra Part 2, 27, 34-33)
8. Concentrating on the universal form of God, realized by concentration on mantra and then concentration on God without form is dhyana. (Dharshanopanishad 9.1.-2-3-5)
9. Concentration on the whole divine form is dhyana (meditation) while concentration only on one point at a time is Dharana (Bhutashuddi Tantra, Chapter 9, p.8)

Upanishads & Veena

1. "DARSANOPANISHAD""PRUSHTA MADHYASTHITA NADI VEENADANDENA SUVRATI SAHAMASTAKA PARYANTHAM SUSHUMNA SAMPRATHISHTITHA" "0, man of learning, the chord that rises from between the posteriors even like unto the trunk of veena, goes up to the very brain. Inside this chord you find firmly established the Sushumna nerve".

2. "SANDILYOPANISHAD" "GUDASYA PRUSHTHABHAAGESMIN VEENA DANDA SADEHABHRUTH MOORDHASTHA DEHAP ARY ANTHAM BRAHMANAADEETHI KATHYATHE / UCHCHAARAYETHPARAM SHAKTHIM BRAHMA-RANDHRA NIVASINEEM". "At the rear of the posteriors there rises a straight nervine cord even as the trunk of the veena which reaches up to the head. Inside this nervine cord, one must locate the Sushumna nadi, one must meditate upon the infinite power infusing this nadi, in other words, on the omkara which is the mysterious primeral sound.

3. "DHYANABINDOPANISHAD" "MOOLADHARAA THSUSHUMNAACH PADMATHATHU NIBASHUBHA AMOORTHOVARTHATHE NAADO VEENADANDA SAMUTHTHI TAHA" "The nervous tendril that upraises from the Muladhara as Sushumna nadi is as fine as a lotus filament and full of bliss giving potency. There vibrates in this mysterious cord the indefinite primeral sonant even as grass sounds issue from the sound of the Veena".