Atmabodh; Self Realization

Dhyan Dhyan in Sanskrit or Jhana in Pali refers to a type or aspect of meditation. It is a key concept in Hinduism and Buddhism. Equivalent terms are "Chán" in modern Chinese, "Zen" in Japanese, "Seon" in Korea, and Samten in Tibetan.Dhyana's beginnings are traced to Hinduism, where it is considered to be an instrument to gain self knowledge, separating maya from reality to help attain the ultimate goal of Moksha.The Bhagavad Gita, thought to have been written some time between 400 and 100 BCE, talks of four branches of yoga:Karma yoga: The yoga of action in the worldJnana yoga: The yoga of Wisdom and intellectual endeavorBhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion to GodDhyana yoga: The yoga of meditationDhyana in Raja Yoga is also found in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Depictions of hindu yogis performing dhyana are found in ancient texts and in statues and frescoes of ancient India temples. Kshatriya Siddhartha Gautama studied dhyana during his early years away from his kingdom.In the Pali Canon the Buddha describes four progressive states of absorption meditation or jhana. The jhanas are said by the Buddha to be conducive to detachment but they must not be mistaken for the final goal of nibbana. The jhanas are states of meditation where the mind is free from the five hindrances (craving, aversion, sloth, agitation, doubt) and incapable of discursive thinking. The deeper jhanas can last for many hours. When a meditator emerges from jhana, his/her mind is empowered and able to penetrate into the deepest truths of existence.There are four deeper states of meditative absorption called the immaterial attainments. Sometimes these are also referred to as the "formless" jhanas, or arupajhana (distinguished from the first four jhanas, rupajhana). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word jhana is never explicitly used to denote them, but they are always mentioned in sequence after the first four jhanas.