3.2 · The Unbroken Stream

Meditation is the unbroken flow of the idea held there.

Word by word

tatra

there, in that place

pratyaya

the content of awareness; the idea held

eka-tānatā

one continuous stretch, unbroken extension

dhyānam

meditation

Where it fits

Meditation grows directly out of 3.1. It is the concentration of 3.1 when the idea held 'there', in that same place, runs on without a break. The word tatra ties the two sūtras together, and 3.3 takes the same flow one step further.

Reading

Concentration (3.1) ties the attention to one place. Meditation is what happens when the tie holds: the idea held on that object flows on without a break. Vyāsa calls it a stream of like thoughts, untouched by any other thought. The difference from 3.1 is continuity. In concentration you keep coming back; in meditation the coming back has become a flow. Nothing new is added. The same attention simply stops being interrupted.

Vyāsa

“Meditation is the unbroken focus, in that place, of the thought that rests on the object of meditation: a stream of like thoughts, untouched by any other thought.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 204.

Practice

Sit with one small object, such as a cup or a stone, for five minutes. Each time a different thought breaks in, note it silently as 'break' and return. Then try to let the gaps between breaks grow longer. Notice how the unbroken stretches feel.

A question to sit with

What would let your attention flow without breaking?

Key ideas

saṃyama (holding together), aṣṭāṅga (the eight limbs)