Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi terms: Links with Sanskrit, Hindi and English translations of related 3 key verses from Patanjali Yogasutra; Related FB posts

The links of patanjaliyogasutra.in site given below have nice Sanskrit and Hindi explanation of related 3 key verses from Patanjali Yogasutra. I think the English translations in the site could be better.
[Due to copyright, I am not sharing the Hindi and English text from the above site. The Sanskrit text surely must be out of copyright and so I have shared it.]

This book seems to be out of copyright: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by Charles Johnston, [1912], at sacred-texts.com, https://sacred-texts.com/hin/ysp/ysp06.htm . Its English translations for the verses are:
  • Dharana: Verse 3.1, [Sanskrit: देशबन्धश्चित्तस्य धारणा ] English: The binding of the perceiving consciousness to a certain region is attention (dharana).
  • Dhyana: Verse 3.2, [Sanskrit: तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम् ] English: A prolonged holding of the perceiving consciousness in that region is meditation (dhyana).
  • Samadhi: Verse 3.3, [Sanskrit: ‌तदेवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यमिव समाधिः ] English: When the perceiving consciousness in this meditative is wholly given to illuminating the essential meaning of the object contemplated, and is freed from the sense of separateness and personality, this is contemplation (samadhi).
In this context, I would modify the above translation as follows:
Note: I am using the word mind for the original Sanskrit word, chitta used in the first verse. I think in this context, this meaning of chitta is appropriate: "(Chitta) refers to the mind or consciousness, encompassing thoughts, emotions, memories, and perceptions", Ref: https://www.micro-movement.com/yoga/what-is-chitta/ . Also, the third verse uses the Sanskrit word, Shunya which means zero or emptiness.
  • The binding of the mind to a certain object/point/region is Dharana.
  • A continuous and steady holding of the mind on/in that object/point/region is Dhyana.
  • When the meditator completely forgets himself/herself (sensing of body & mind becomes zero) and gets absorbed in (becomes one with) the object/point/region being meditated upon, that state is Samadhi.
On a personal note, I would like to mention that I have been able to get into Dharana and Dhyana states in my meditation sessions but have never lost sense of my mind or body and so have never experienced any Samadhi state.

In the context of my share-comments on the Robert Adams Facebook post mentioned below, I think we could say that Less-mind is Dharana, Silence (no thoughts) is Dhyana and Dissolution is Samadhi.
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Given below are the contents of some related Facebook miscellaneous posts:

Don't know how accurate this is. But I like the way the spiritual teacher and writer, Robert Adams, delineates the stages: No-mind (or should we say Less-mind), Silence (no thoughts come to bother you) and Dissolution (of mind or ego I into spiritual heart).

In this context, I am reminded of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba telling Hislop, "Above you—nothing, below you—nothing; to the right of you or to the left of you—nothing; and dissolve yourself into that nothingness—that would be the best way you could explain the realization of the Self, and yet that nothingness would not be the absence of something like nothingness. That nothingness is the fullness of everything, the power of the existence of that appears to be everything.” Ref: (my blog post) https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2023/01/sathya-sai-to-hislop-on-self.html .

I must also say that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's: 'Dissolve into (the divine) nothingness within' teaching (my interpretation of Bhagavan's above words), jells very well with me now in my meditation practice.


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Very interesting to me! The "right behind the darkness that you perceive with closed eyes" part aligns well with some of the meditation sadhana that I do now. However, in my case, as of now,  in these aspects of my meditation practice, I have only limited experience of great peace and of the ever-present and changeless beingness/awareness (truth) that is my core reality. "Kingdom of God" implies something far more and that I have not experienced so far.

FB post:  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/pfbid02YWGoJcMYFqsuSw4ypsePpbESpd6vamd6348RtnWMQaXuAGZQiBUMwr2Q8GpawKGel shares a post having a quote of Paramahansa Yogananda: "The kingdom of God is not in the clouds, in some designated point of space; it is right behind the darkness that you perceive with closed eyes."

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