What is the number of meditations within classical yoga? (And we are not talking about objects of meditation, but about different types of conscious psychological activity)
We counted around 70, regardless of synonyms.
70 techniques, each of which has its own name and a specific manner of performing, references in classical texts and a specific purpose.
In Vijnana Bhairava Tantra alone there are 4-5 different types of meditation, just like in Vishuddha Magga.
In a wide sense, meditation (psychopractice) is first of all an exercise (abhyasa). According to Patanjaly, each abhyasa (exercise) contains repeatability, constancy and duration of effort.
The most important thing is effort. Shiva Sutra says:
However, what should you focus your efforts and exercise on?
We can distinguish three places which are the three levels of mind, which correspond to the three levels of the psyche in the broadest sense of the word.
The first level is “physiological”, determined by the genotype and partly by activity in early childhood.
At this level, there are the qualities of various mental functions:
The second level is functional or methodical. It is not about mental physiology, but about the skills of correct performing certain interpsychic operations. Example:
Correlation of levels is quite obvious – a person with a good speed of thinking is effective if he/she thinks methodically correctly. Otherwise, it drives the “processor” in vain. Although, provided a person has the right techniques, he/she is more effective than an untrained person.
Meditations at this level are the development of the internal culture of memory, thinking, emotions, etc. The practices on this level also affect the first level due to the plasticity of the brain.
The third, highest level is existential. Here we have:
This level is the most important one, but is unattainable without the previous ones. No wonder the “Yoga Sutra” begins not with “subtle” meditations, but with an epistemological description of the correct methods of cognition belonging to the second level…
In classical yoga, there are sets of meditations that correspond to each of these levels.
The source is Andriy Safronov’s Telegram channel “Notes in the Margins of Ancient Texts”
Among the type of meditations related to the control of attention (dharana) there is a very interesting practice mentioned by Shivapadhyaya in the commentary on the Vijnana-bhairava-tantra. According to the commentator this meditation can be called samdharana:
In Latin mysticism, namely in the practices of monks, 3 main techniques were distinguished: meditation, contemplation, and cogitation.
Meditation is a careful, detailed reflection on the words of philosophical and sacred texts to the state when it is impossible to think about anything else. In this, we recognize dhyana.
Contemplation is direct feeling. Which is similar to bhavana.
Cogitation (cogo = cum+ago — to collect together, to connect) — clarification of ideas through discursive cognition. Samadhi (sam- +ā- +dha+ i — to gather together) is a complete knowledge of an object as a result of dhyana.
We recognize smarana in the practices of reminiscence (conscious recollection), which were described by Aristotle.
When we recognize that we are in a state of mudha, then we have the opportunity to activate the mind, or at least to stop activities that are no longer useful. Perhaps there is indeed fatigue and it is worth changing the type of activity or simply resting, and then continuing. Interestingly, many social institutions instill this state and "train" people to be in it. For example, the education system is obviously overloaded with unnecessary information, which "trains" to fall asleep during lectures. The TV at home works in the same way."
In one of the articles, I mentioned a fundamental aspect of understanding meditation (dhyana).
Namely, the fact that "meditation is a question." In the sense that true meditation is an attempt to find an answer to a certain question. The answer brings the person into the metacontext of the situation he is considering and changes the emotional evaluation of the situation itself.
The reverse change — a change in the state of consciousness under the influence of pranayam — would be impossible to accomplish within the framework of the scientific method, because it is impossible to objectify the state of consciousness. Therefore, here we, like the ancient yogis, remain empiricists in trusting our experience, which, in agreement with Patanjali, says that when the breath is balanced, the consciousness becomes more collected.
The word “meditation” is one of the brands that the mass consciousness has inseparably linked to yoga, spiritual practices and person’s development. And this opinion is justified: yoga is not yoga without psycho-practices, since it was yet in Hatha Yoga Pradipika that they wrote that “All the methods of hatha are meant for gaining success in Raja-yoga”.
