waves. Concentration is one big wave. Bring many to one. Subsume
the many in the one, then calm the one for meditation. You can't calm
many waves. I explained that in an asana we send our attention,
which is a wave, to our right knee, left knee, arms, right inner knee,
left outer, etc. Gradually, awareness spreads to the whole body. At this
moment, our awareness is unified. We have brought all the disparate
elements under the control of one flow of intelligence. This is con
centration or one powerful thought wave. This is the big thing we
learn by learning many little things. A mind that can learn to concen
trate in this way, to bring unity out of diversity, can now aspire to
ward serenity, which is the meditative state where even the big wave
of concentration is brought to a state of tranquility. There is no way
to circumvent this process. You can't count back from ninety-nine (di
versity, multiplicity) to zero (a calm meditative state) without passing
through one (concentration).
When each new point has been studied, adjusted, and sustained,
one's awareness and concentration will necessarily be simultaneously
directed to myriad points so that in effect consciousness itself is dif
fused evenly throughout the body, a penetrating and enveloping con
sciousness illuminated by a directed flow of intelligence (subject) and
serving as a cognitive and transformative witness to body and mind
(object). This is dharana, a sustained flow of concentration leading to
an exalted awareness. The ever alert will continually adjust and create
a total self-correcting mechanism. In this way, the practice of asana,
performed with the involvement of every element of being, awakens,
sharpens, and cultures intelligence until it is integrated with senses,
mind, memory, and self. Thus the self assumes its natural form, neither
bloated nor shrunken. In a perfect asana, performed meditatively and
with a sustained current of concentration, the self assumes its perfect
form, its integrity being beyond reproach. This is asana pcrfornll·d at
the sattvic level, where luminosity infuses the whole pose. It is thl'I'C'
fore also a meditative asana. I do not say, "I am meditatin�-:." I am not.
WI·' II I I M I' II F I N I' 1'. I. I. 1'. I' I'\ I A I. II I IllY ( I' I/ N .1 N .1 I