Jangama dhyana
Encyclopedia
Jangama dhyana is a meditation
technique, which has been practiced by various Sages over the centuries. In modern times, it has been used by Shri Shivabalayogi
Maharaj and his direct disciple Shri Shivarudra Balayogi
Maharaj to achieve Self Realization. The technique is currently taught by Shri Shivarudra Balayogi. Jangama means 'eternal existence' and dhyana
means 'meditation.' Hence Jangama dhyana is 'Meditation on the Eternal Existence (of the Self
).'
: Yoga Sutras, III: 1) necessary for the mind to go introverted in meditation (dhyana: Yoga Sutras, III: 2). In deeper practice of the Jangama dhyana technique, the mind concentrated between the eyebrows begins to automatically lose all location and focus on the watching itself. Eventually, the meditator experiences only the consciousness of existence and achieves Self Realization. Swami Vivekananda
describes the process in the following way:
The point between the eyebrows is referred to as the bhrikuti
and symbolically as the ajna chakra, which means 'commanding circle.' When the mind becomes totally concentrated at this point, one becomes the commander of one's mind. Until then, the meditator will not have achieved self-mastery. The Bhagavad Gita
describes the process and benefits of the meditation technique as follows:
In modern times, the 19th century Yogi, Shri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa, practiced meditating between the eyebrows in order to achieve Nirvikalpa Samadhi (bringing the mind to a complete standstill, beyond imagination). Though he was able to withdraw his mind from all external sensations and objects, he initially could not go beyond the vision of goddess Kali
, which his mind had become totally concentrated upon during his long period of devotional tapas
. Shri Ramakrishna
recounts how his Guru
on the path of Advaita Vedanta
, Totapuri, gave him further instruction in the meditation technique to overcome this obstacle:
Later Shri Ramakrishna was to give the same instruction in meditation to his illustrious disciple Swami Vivekananda
.
Today, the technique is associated with Shri Shivabalayogi
Maharaj and his direct disciple Shri Shivarudra Balayogi
Maharaj. Shri Shivabalayogi was initiated into the technique at the age of fourteen. On 7 August 1949, he experienced a vision of a tall Jangama Sage (ancient order of ascetics) with matted hair, who told him to sit in padmasana (lotus posture), and close his eyes. The Sage then touched the young boy between the eyebrows and instructed, 'Watch here.' Thus, Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj sat in tapas
(deep, prolonged meditation) for twelve years, meditating for 23 hours a day for eight years and around 12 hours a day for the remaining four years. After this period, he initiated tens of thousands of people into the meditation technique he had used to achieve Self Realization.
In 1994, Shri Shivalabalayogi initiated his direct disciple, Seenu, into tapas using the Jangama dhyana technique. He achieved Self Realization in November 1999 and was given the name Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj, after meditating for around 20 hours a day over five years.
ashram
one night with his direct disciple, Seenu, who was later to become the Enlightened Yogi, Shri Shivarudra Balayogi. He suddenly turned to Seenu and said:
Today, initiation into this technique is given by Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj. He identifies the greatest secret of meditation as not analyzing any thoughts or visions that may appear:
Visions and experiences are not important in meditation. The only symptom of progress is greater peace. After being totally cleansed through meditation, the mind becomes pure consciousness capable of realizing through deeper meditation (Samadhi) its existence beyond imagination as the eternal Self
. This state is known as Self Realization or Enlightenment
.
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
technique, which has been practiced by various Sages over the centuries. In modern times, it has been used by Shri Shivabalayogi
Shivabalayogi
Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj was a self-realized master of meditation in the tradition of the ancient and modern yogis of India. He attained Self realization through twelve years of arduous tapas, meditating in samādhi for an average of twenty hours a day...
Maharaj and his direct disciple Shri Shivarudra Balayogi
Shivarudra Balayogi
Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj , born Srinivas Dikshitar in Kolar in the South Indian state of Karnataka, is a Self Realized Yogi and direct disciple of Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj....
Maharaj to achieve Self Realization. The technique is currently taught by Shri Shivarudra Balayogi. Jangama means 'eternal existence' and dhyana
Dhyana in Hinduism
According to the Hindu Yoga Sutra, written by Patanjali, dhyana is one of the eight limbs of Yoga, ....
means 'meditation.' Hence Jangama dhyana is 'Meditation on the Eternal Existence (of the Self
Self
The self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions.-Philosophy:...
).'
Origins
Jangama dhyana is an ancient meditation technique which involves concentrating the mind and sight between the eyebrows. According to Patanjali, this is one method of achieving the initial concentration (dharanaDharana
Dhāraṇā is translated as "collection or concentration of the mind ", or "the act of holding, bearing, wearing, supporting, maintaining, retaining, keeping back , a good memory", or "firmness, steadfastness, ... , certainty"...
: Yoga Sutras, III: 1) necessary for the mind to go introverted in meditation (dhyana: Yoga Sutras, III: 2). In deeper practice of the Jangama dhyana technique, the mind concentrated between the eyebrows begins to automatically lose all location and focus on the watching itself. Eventually, the meditator experiences only the consciousness of existence and achieves Self Realization. Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
describes the process in the following way:
When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called dhyana. When one has so intensified the power of dhyana as to be able to reject the external part of perception and remain meditating only on the internal part, the meaning, that state is called Samadhi.
The point between the eyebrows is referred to as the bhrikuti
Bhrikuti
The Nepali Princess Bhrikuti Devi, known to Tibetans as Bal-mo-bza' Khri-btsun, Bhelsa Tritsun or, simply, Khri bTsun , is traditionally considered to have been the first wife of the earliest emperor of Tibet, Songtsän Gampo , and an incarnation of Tara...
and symbolically as the ajna chakra, which means 'commanding circle.' When the mind becomes totally concentrated at this point, one becomes the commander of one's mind. Until then, the meditator will not have achieved self-mastery. The Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
describes the process and benefits of the meditation technique as follows:
Shutting off sense
From what is outward,
Fixing the gaze
At the root of the eye-brows,
Checking the breath-stream
In and outgoing
Within the nostrils,
Holding the senses,
Holding the intellect,
Thrusts fear aside,
Thrusts aside anger
And puts off desire:
Truly that man
Is made free for ever.
In modern times, the 19th century Yogi, Shri Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
Paramahamsa, practiced meditating between the eyebrows in order to achieve Nirvikalpa Samadhi (bringing the mind to a complete standstill, beyond imagination). Though he was able to withdraw his mind from all external sensations and objects, he initially could not go beyond the vision of goddess Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, which his mind had become totally concentrated upon during his long period of devotional tapas
Tapas
Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....
. Shri Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
recounts how his Guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
on the path of Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...
, Totapuri, gave him further instruction in the meditation technique to overcome this obstacle:
He cast his eyes around. Finding a piece of glass he took it up and stuck it between my eyebrows... 'Concentrate the mind on this point!' he thundered. Then with stern determination I again sat to meditate... The last barrier fell. My spirit at once soared beyond the relative plane and I lost myself in Samadhi.
Later Shri Ramakrishna was to give the same instruction in meditation to his illustrious disciple Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
.
Today, the technique is associated with Shri Shivabalayogi
Shivabalayogi
Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj was a self-realized master of meditation in the tradition of the ancient and modern yogis of India. He attained Self realization through twelve years of arduous tapas, meditating in samādhi for an average of twenty hours a day...
Maharaj and his direct disciple Shri Shivarudra Balayogi
Shivarudra Balayogi
Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj , born Srinivas Dikshitar in Kolar in the South Indian state of Karnataka, is a Self Realized Yogi and direct disciple of Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj....
Maharaj. Shri Shivabalayogi was initiated into the technique at the age of fourteen. On 7 August 1949, he experienced a vision of a tall Jangama Sage (ancient order of ascetics) with matted hair, who told him to sit in padmasana (lotus posture), and close his eyes. The Sage then touched the young boy between the eyebrows and instructed, 'Watch here.' Thus, Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj sat in tapas
Tapas
Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....
(deep, prolonged meditation) for twelve years, meditating for 23 hours a day for eight years and around 12 hours a day for the remaining four years. After this period, he initiated tens of thousands of people into the meditation technique he had used to achieve Self Realization.
In 1994, Shri Shivalabalayogi initiated his direct disciple, Seenu, into tapas using the Jangama dhyana technique. He achieved Self Realization in November 1999 and was given the name Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj, after meditating for around 20 hours a day over five years.
Name
The name for the technique was coined by Shri Shivabalayogi while walking around the DehradunDehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
one night with his direct disciple, Seenu, who was later to become the Enlightened Yogi, Shri Shivarudra Balayogi. He suddenly turned to Seenu and said:
Perhaps it would be nice to name the meditation technique we are teaching worldwide as Jangama dhyana. Lord Shiva first appeared to me in the form of a Jangama Sage to impart the technique, and Jangama means 'Eternal Existence'; so Jangama dhyana would mean 'meditation on the Eternal Existence of the Self.'
Technique
The Jangama dhyana technique is as follows:
Sit, closing the eyes.
Concentrate the mind and sight in between eyebrows.
Keep watching there by focusing the attention.
Do not repeat any mantra or name.
Do not imagine anything.
Do not open eyes until the duration of meditation is over.
Today, initiation into this technique is given by Shri Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj. He identifies the greatest secret of meditation as not analyzing any thoughts or visions that may appear:
This meditation is a purification process, but this purification doesn't occur quietly. During the purification, visions and thoughts come. It is just like when you are washing clothes; you see the dirt coming out into the water. In the same way, when the mind is going through the purification, then thoughts and visions occur. But they occur only for a moment, and then they disappear. That is why we need to be so careful in this regard, because if you are watching, then the mind can very easily get involved in the thought, and if it gets involved it can further acquire new imprints. This re-acquiring is so subtle. This is why it is so important not to analyze thoughts during meditation, and this is also why the total cleansing of the mind takes time.
Visions and experiences are not important in meditation. The only symptom of progress is greater peace. After being totally cleansed through meditation, the mind becomes pure consciousness capable of realizing through deeper meditation (Samadhi) its existence beyond imagination as the eternal Self
Self
The self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions.-Philosophy:...
. This state is known as Self Realization or Enlightenment
Enlightenment (spiritual)
Enlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
.
Resources
- Hopkins, Charles and Carol, 2007, From the Heart of Peace, (ISBN 1-59975-866-0).
- M., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna Math, Madras, India.
- Swami Prabhavananda and Christoper Isherwood, 1987, Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God, p. 133.
- The Life of the Swami Vivekananda, Volume I, 1979, Advaita Ashrama, p. 132.
- Swami Vivekananda, Raja Yoga, online version.
- Swami Vivekananda, Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms, / online version.
- Young, Bruce, 2008, Guru-Disciple, (ISBN 978-0-9758478-3-1).
- Official Website of Shri Shivarudra Balayogi, www.srby.org.