Meditation and Attention: A Comment on a Recent Article

Abstract

Meditation and attention are considered associated in different ways. For example, contemporary concepts state that to meditate, a practitioner has either to (i) focus attention on the object of meditation (FA) or (ii) maintain vigilance and disengage their attention consciously from all distracters (OM). The Indian sage Patanjali (circa 900 B.C.), mentioned that there are two stages of meditation, which differ subtly from the descriptions of FA and OM. One stage is called dharana, or focusing attention on the object of meditation. Another stage is called dhyana, during which all thoughts remain effortlessly directed to the object of meditation, excluding all other thoughts. Vigilance and attention are not required during dhyana, which is the actual phase of meditation. In a previous study, participants who practiced dharana performed better in a task for selective attention than those who practiced dhyana. Brainstem auditory evoked potential changes during the two states differed. Descriptions of yoga practices from ancient texts can give added insights about meditation and attention, supported by objective assessments.