Dhyana: The Seventh Limb of Patanjali’s Eightfold Path

Unpacking the Essence of Meditation in the Yoga Sutras

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Dhyana, or meditation, is introduced in Chapter 3—the chapter often referred to as the one on “Mystic Powers.” Here, Patanjali begins to shift our focus from external practices to the internal journey of yoga, guiding us toward the deeper, subtler limbs of the path.

Dharana vs. Dhyana: A Key Transition

• Sutra 3.1 defines Dharana as the ability to fix the mind on a single object or place.
  
• Sutra 3.2 builds on that by defining Dhyana as the sustained concentration where the mind continues to dwell effortlessly on that same object or place.
  

This subtle shift—from concentrating to remaining in uninterrupted concentration—is monumental. If you've been following our blog series, this marks a turning point in Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga process. The first six limbs (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, and Dharana) are external practices—actions we engage in with effort and intention. Even Dharana, though mental, involves focusing on something material, or made of matter—even if that object exists only in the mind.

In this context, "external" means anything belonging to the realm of prakriti (matter), which includes the mind itself. The soul, or Atma, by contrast, is not of matter but of pure consciousness.

From Effort to Experience

Patanjali ends Chapter 2 of the Sutras with Dharana, saying that once we have withdrawn the senses (Pratyahara), we can begin to truly concentrate. In Chapter 3, he explains that when this concentration becomes sustained and uninterrupted, we enter into the state of Dhyana.

Dhyana is not something we “do”—it is something we arrive at. It is an experience. A state of being. Just like sleep: you can’t force sleep, but you can create the right environment for it to naturally arise. Similarly, through sustained effort in the previous limbs, we prepare the ground for meditation to blossom.

Meditation: The Flow State

When we talk about meditation today, many of us say we’re “doing” our meditation. But according to Patanjali, what we’re often doing is building our capacity to focus—practicing Dharana. True meditation—Dhyana—is the experience of unbroken, effortless awareness. It’s a state where the flow of attention is smooth and consistent, like honey being poured from a jar, as some ancient philosophers describe. In contrast, Dharana is like a dripping faucet—start-stop, intermittent, effortful.

This is the state often referred to as being “in the zone” or in flow—completely absorbed, undistracted, and internally connected. The object of focus remains, but there is no strain or effort. Attention flows like a river, steadily and deeply.

The Inner Journey Begins

This is also the moment when the focus of our attention turns inward—beyond the material, toward the subtle, toward the Self. All the earlier limbs, including the ethical precepts of Yama and Niyama, have been preparing us for this inner dive. They help clear the noise and distractions that block our ability to connect with something deeper, more eternal.

Dhyana is the doorway to Samadhi, the eighth limb, where the meditator, the object of meditation, and the process of meditation all dissolve into one. But before that happens, we must experience the deep, steady connection of Dhyana—a taste of what it means to meet ourselves beyond the mind.

In Summary

In Sutras 3.1–3.3, Patanjali guides us from concentration to meditation and finally toward absorption. Dhyana is the link between practice and transcendence. It is the sustained, focused state of awareness that emerges naturally after Dharana, and it is the precursor to Samadhi.

Ultimately, Dhyana points us back to our true nature—not the external self shaped by thought and form, but the eternal, unchanging Self, the Atma.