Samyama

So vast are the powers of the mind that it is easy to get distracted even at the highest level

- Murarilal Dhanuka

The third chapter of Patanjali Yoga Sutra describes the powers of the mind. The first Sutra explains 'Dharana' as ‘Dharana is holding the mind on to some particular object.’ The object may be in the body or outside the body and one holds one’s self in that state. The second Sutra of the third chapter says that an unbroken flow of knowledge of that object is 'Dhyana'. Swami Vivekananda explains, “The mind tries to think of one object, and holds itself to one particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if the mind succeeds in receiving the sensations only through that part of the body, and through no other part, that would be Dharana (concentration), and when the mind succeeds in keeping itself in that state for some time, it is called Dhyana (meditation).”