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Sutra 3.3 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,
translated and with commentary by Vasyl Vernyhora
3.3. It is precisely (eva) that (tad) [state], which highlights (nirbhāsa) only (mātra) the object (artha) [of meditation and] as if (iva) devoid (śūnya) of its own form (svarūpa), that is samadhi (samādhi).
The noun "samadhi" has two primary meanings in Sanskrit—"collectedness" and "balancedness", and it implies a mirror-like (clear, "polished" by the previous practice of dharana and dhyana, accompanied by pratyahara), collected (focused), and balanced (not agitated, and without "astigmatism", that is, without the uneven curvature of the "mirror") state of the chitta ("mirror of the mind"). Because the Sanskrit word "samadhi" cannot be translated into a single word in any Western language (like, for example, the words "karma" or "samsara"), and because of the exceptional importance of this key aspect of the teachings of Patanjali and the Buddha, it will be transliterated rather than translated in this book. Those who wish to become more familiar with the etymology of the word "samadhi" and a detailed description of this term can refer to chapter 2.2 of my book "Meditation in raja yoga, Buddhism and according to neurophysiology: A practical guide".
Sutra 3.3 becomes clearer when considering sutras 1.43–45, and especially the first of them. These sutras will be examined in detail later. Here, it can be briefly noted that during samadhi meditation on the nature of the mind (which is the culmination of meditation on specific objects), that is, monitoring and ceasing thoughts and other mental distractions at increasingly initial stages of their manifestation and in their increasingly subtle forms, the object of such meditation—the mind—becomes as if devoid of its own "form"-content, just as a white movie theater screen by itself, that is, in the absence of a projector, is devoid of the content of the images projected onto it. At the same time, the meditator is not faced with the task of investigating the nature of such a "screen"-mind cleared of images, since, as it is said in sutra 4.3, the purification (cleaning) and clarification of the mind is an "instrumental cause" that merely removes obstacles to the manifestation of the "productive causes", that is, to strengthen the flow of kundalini, which occurs naturally with careful observance of the requirements of the practice of samadhi.
Interestingly, sutras 3.3 and 1.43 repeat the phrase "as if devoid of its own form" in the context of samadhi practice. Here, it's worth noting that neuroheadset users may have noticed a sharp decline in their meditation level in situations where the meditator's mind, having been in a calm, one-pointed state of samadhi for some time, gradually succumbs to a growing agitation (or even just a fleeting, random disturbance) and, as a result, abruptly slips into an overly focused, coarse-grained tracking of its state, which can be compared to the overly coarse guardian effort of smriti ("remembering").
This coarsening of tracking signifies a departure from the state of one-pointed collectedness, when the mind, which had previously been "transparent" in the state of samadhi, seems to acquire its "own form" in the form of agitations on the surface of its "mirror". This emergence of "self-form" can be likened to the change in the optical properties of water on the crest of a sea wave, when previously transparent water, under the influence of swirling gusts of wind, fills with air bubbles, forming whitecaps on the surface of the sea. These whitecaps temporarily obscure the water's transparency and distort the view through them with their swirling, curved surfaces, similar to what is observed in astigmatism (the presence of more than one focal point due to a defect—non-unidirectionality—of the eye's crystalline lens).
In beginners, this slippage into excessively coarse tracking of the state of mind is one of the reasons why they are unable to enter the state of samadhi from the very beginning of a meditation session. This issue is discussed in more detail in the section "Samadhi is a state of collectedness of a clear silent mind, and not of gross concentration" in subchapter 2.2 of my book "Meditation in raja yoga, Buddhism and according to neurophysiology: A practical guide".
The phrase "only the object of meditation is highlighted" in the context of the phrase "as if devoid of its own form" signifies the engagement of one's full attention without the diversion of awareness to anything else. This, in turn, indicates the already occurring disappearance of the guarding efforts of smriti (remembering) and samprajnata (vigilant awareness) at this stage of samadhi practice. In other words, we are essentially talking about achieving the second rupa-dhyana and higher, when it is no longer necessary to devote some of the mind's "computing power" to the guarding efforts of smriti and samprajnata. This facilitates the attainment of the highest possible one-pointedness of the "empty" (noiseless) mind, which, in turn, ensures the goal of samadhi practice—the strengthening of the flow of kundalini, which leads to the accelerated development of the supramental structures of the superconsciousness.
Furthermore, judging by the meaning of this ("as if devoid of its own form"; literally "empty form") and the following (3.4) sutra of Patanjali, the stage of practice described in this sutra may in fact correspond both to simply training in maintaining a state of samadhi for many hours, and also to the practice of the five objectless states—"stations" of consciousness, which in the Pali Canon are called arupa-ayatanas. In modern Buddhism, they are often called jhanas/dhyanas from the fifth through the ninth (arupa-dhyanas, or objectless dhyanas), placing them after the four rupa-dhyanas.
In arupa-dhyanas, one-pointed concentration still takes place, that is, the practice of samadhi/shamatha, but the main “object” of concentration is still the same empty nature of the mind, that is, the introverted-recursive process of eliminating increasingly subtle distractions and drowning the mind continues.
After attaining the fourth dhyana, one becomes an arhat, that is, one embarks on the path of manifesting superconsciousness within one's own consciousness. Superconsciousness inherently possesses supernatural powers-siddhis. Arhats are already capable of performing miracles, although this ability is only just beginning to manifest, perfecting itself as they attain successive arupa ayatanas.
This sutra speaks of direct awareness, of pure meditation, when the mind in the state of purest shamatha is no longer an obstacle to the light of superconsciousness. Moreover, at this stage, the mind-manas is no longer the only cognitive tool available to humans. The energy of superconsciousness, acquired in the state of samadhi/shamatha, enables the manifestation of new cognitive tools of consciousness, that is, the supercognitive tools of superconsciousness—vijnanamaya-kosha/buddhi and, more importantly, anandamaya-kosha/sambhogakaya.
The fifth arupa-ayatana is called nirodha-samāpatti. In the Pali Canon, the word "samāpatti" is usually used synonymously with "samadhi", as the terminology was not yet established at that time, and "samadhi" had not yet supplanted other similar terms. The word "nirodha" in the title of the fifth arupa-ayatana is usually translated as "cessation" or "complete restraint". In modern Buddhism, "nirodha-samāpatti" is traditionally translated as "cessation of perception, sensation, and awareness" and "complete cessation of the agitation of dharma particles".
Here we can recall that in modern Buddhism, the original meaning of the terms "vitarka" and "vichara" as aspects of the first rupa-dhyana, which in the time of the Buddha corresponded to the guardian efforts of "smriti" and "samprajnata" respectively, has been practically lost (nowadays, Buddhists put forward all sorts of intricate concepts such as "self-unfolding of thought" as an interpretation of them).
From the context of the descriptions of the four dhyanas and five arupa ayatanas, it follows that nirodha-samapatti signifies the culmination of samadhi practice to the point of maximum restraint/cessation of even the most subtle distractions and the drowning of the mind. In other words, nirodha-samapatti is the attainment of the most subtle and highest state of samadhi/shamatha with its maximum energetic effect, which ensures the fastest possible attainment of the highest level of superconsciousness. Attaining the fifth arupa ayatana effectively signifies the attainment of Buddhahood (buddha consciousness).
In the context of sutras 3.2-4, in sutra 3.3, Patanjali speaks not so much of the practice of samadhi from beginning to end, but rather of the final stage of samadhi practice—the practice of samadhi upon attaining the arupa-ayatana, and especially the fifth arupa-ayatana. Attaining this stage of practice, that is, its result, allows Patanjali to move on to further descriptions related to the application of the achieved highest level of consciousness, that is, superconsciousness.
It should be noted that isolating dharana (described in only one short sutra) as a separate part of the eight-limbed yoga seems somewhat redundant (as does singling out asana—the "sitting pose"—for the practice of samadhi). Although the dharana stage does indeed occur at the beginning of each samadhi/shamatha meditation session (during the volitional cessation of the flow of thoughts, with a focused and clear mind), nevertheless, for those meditators who are capable of maintaining a state of genuine samadhi meditation for at least a minute, the state of dharana-concentration slips through in a split second at the very beginning of a meditation session.
By the way, the same can be said about the state of dhyana from sutra 3.2—it also slips through an experienced meditator in a split second at the very moment of the volitional cessation of the flow of thoughts immediately after dharana—concentration of the mind on the idea of meditation practice.
Dhyana is a kind of unstable samadhi, where thoughts can still occasionally slip in due to an incomplete degree of control of the mind, along with periodic loss of concentration of the mind due to Still with the same incomplete degree of control. But if the meditator has already trained their ability (or, in other words, has achieved an energetic pumping) to remain in a state of yogic samadhi for at least a few minutes, then at the beginning of a meditation session, the actual dhyana phase will last only a fraction of a second, immediately following the equally fleeting dharana phase.
If a beginning meditator does not have any particular problems with concentration, such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and if he is able to concentrate on any single task, such as reading any (even not very interesting) text for at least several minutes at a time, then there is no point in making a fuss out of a separate dharana practice, spending months or even years on individual concentration exercises, without ever moving on to the actual practice of samadhi/shamatha meditation, for which the person is actually already ready.
The point is that samadhi/shamatha meditation is not coarse concentration, and this is described in detail in the section "Samadhi is a state of collected, clear, silent mind, not coarse concentration" in subchapter 2.2 of my book on meditation in yoga and Buddhism. It is the practice of samadhi (not concentration) that constitutes the essence and key method of accelerated self-development in the teachings of Patanjali and Buddha. While the practice of dharana can be very diverse (for example, continuously gazing at one point while thinking or even speaking), it is recommended from the very beginning to choose maintaining a state of absence of thoughts as a method for training concentration, in order to simultaneously begin the practice of meditation—dhyana and subsequent yogic samadhi.
To summarize, it can be noted that the separation of pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana, so poorly described in the Yoga Sutras, into separate parts of the eight-limbed yoga can be explained by the fact that they are, after all, necessary aspects of the practice of samadhi, being the equivalent of samprajnata, ekagrata, and smriti in Buddhism. In this case, they are precisely aspects, that is, parts of the practice of yogic samadhi, and not its stages. And it is precisely as parts of Patanjali’s yoga—and not as steps—that they are treated today. And this is yet another argument in favor of their constituting the cumulative/holistic (aggregate) structure of the psychopractical method known as samadhi, not being separately practiced psychotechniques or psychopractices.
The full version of the book "The True Practical Essence of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" with a translation of all 196 sutras of the Yoga Sutras with commentaries on all important and/or complex sutras: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G6GT6M8B.
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