Anyone cultivating spiritual concentration will perceive subtle changes taking place in his nerves and a development of higher faculties takes place in him after Pranayama is attained.
PRATYAHARA : The next step after Pranayama is Pratyahara which means the restraining of the senses from gratification in many ways. Our uncontrolled senses are the root cause of all evils. They freely roam about in the objects of senses and distract the mind which is ever ready to get itself to their objects. Every little sound, sensation, and impression from the organs of sense disturb the peace of mind necessary for the achievement of Yoga. By a control over the senses, we do away with the means that convulse the mind. By a constant practice of withdrawing our senses from the objects of desire, be they interval or external, we force to steady the mind and ultimately make it blank and fit for achieving further steps of Yoga. This step coming after Pranayama becomes easy of achievements.
DHARANA, DHYANA AND SAMADHI : Next comes Dharana, i.e., the holding and fixing the mind on certain points to the exclusion of all others, that is, the fixing of the attention on the heart (Hridaya) or an image of God. Dhayana is the next step in Yoga and means contemplation of the Self. When the mind is freed from the thraldom of the senses, it is not allowed to wander outwards but is employed in the contemplation of the Self and Atman. Dharana and Dhyana naturally leads to Samadhi which is the state of Self-violation (Savikalpa) or with loss of violation (Nirvikapa). In this state, the Soul is able to enjoy its own Self, which is Entire Bliss.
SIGNIFICANCE F THE VARIOUS STEPS OF PATANJALI : The various processes suggested by Patanjali form a royal road for the attainment and realisation of Eternal Bliss. The conscious mind acts as a gate closing this road and one may say that it requires eight keys to unlock it. With the first of these, Yama, the flow of the mind is regulated in such a way that it will be purificatory in action and raise the moral tone. Patanjali, to begin with, does not restrict one’s actions. He advises action but action in such a way as not to cause injury to others, allows one to speak the truth, instructs on to hear, but to hear only what is good and urges one to practice courage but to practice it only when in difficulty. In fact, with this key one is able to achieve control of spiritual activities – Satva-guna – in the mind. With the second key Niyama one is advised to restrict the activity of the mind completey in a particular desire and its manifestation. The third key is called Asana. This controls all the physical activities, the energy of control being utilised in maintaining a particular pose. This is necessary because the unchecked restlessness of the body might otherwise dissipate the energy of the mind. The energy controlled by Yama, Niyama, and Asana, is then directed towards exciting a subtler side of the mind by exercises of rhythmic breathing of a particular order. This key is called Pranayama. The fifth key is called Pratyahara by which the activity if the conscious mind is completely restrained from flowing out of the organs of sense. The restrained senses are then directed inwards in search are then directed inwards in search of the subtler or subconscious side of the mind, by concentrating restraint on an organ like the heart, an involuntary organ, which works through the subconscious mind. The sixth key is called Dharana. When the attention has been thus fixed on a point in the body, meditation on it is necessary in order to realise the energy through which it is working. The seventh key is known as Dhyana. By continued mediation, consciousness of the subtler side of the mind, the subconscious force in the body, is achieved and the conscious mind becomes merged in it. The eight key Samadhi by means of which one can obtain anything, material or spiritual. If the object be material gain, there is a violent return to the conscious mind in order t gain the object of desire. However if the object be spiritual, a stage called Nirvi-kalpa Samadhi is entered into, which when attained, all longings are consumed and eternal freedom from this physical world is obtained.
Some of these keys are easy to handle by practice but others have become so rusty by disuse, that they will not fit into the lock and the gate of Liberation will refuse to open. One might by force of will and practice, attain control over the physical activity, though it is not so easy as it may appear. All voluntary actions are under the control of the cerebro-spinal nervous system over which there is conscious control. It is through this system that we manifest our desires, thoughts and emotions which are of a subconscious origin. Our conscious activities are more or less results of education to nervous system to perform certain actions by force of habit. They vary in different periods of life or in succession of lives. Our subconscious activities, on the other hand, are eternal : they are similar in nature in different periods of life, and in all lives past and future. They are only modified by the web of impressions gathered during the period of successive embodiments. The subconscious is the presiding deity of the body; it is forceful in its action and perpetual.
So far I have explained the different steps necessary for the attainment of Yoga, and their significance. Of these steps, Dharana is an important step from the medical point of view. A Yogi, when he is in this state, develops what he calls an internal vision, and is able to see what is going on in his body or in nature not perceived ordinarily. In fact, everything in nature is an open book to him; there are no secrets left to him. He sees into his body, how the different organs work, how Prana or the vital force is transmitted in the body, how it encounters different Chakras (plexuses of nerves); how Chakra, the different organs are interfered with, producing activity or sluggishness. All these are recorded by seers as axioms and the happenings are said to be automatic.