Dhyana
dhyānaMeditation. The seventh limb, and the direct ancestor of the words "Chan" and "Zen."
The Yoga Sutras define meditation in one line, as what attention becomes when it stops flickering:
Meditation (dhyāna): when attention on that one place stops breaking and becomes a single sustained flow rather than repeated effort.
“An unbroken flow of knowledge in that object is Dhyāna.”
The original Sanskrit
tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam
The Bhagavad Gita reaches for an image instead of a definition, and it is one of the most famous in the tradition:
The classic image of the meditating mind is a lamp flame in a windless room: lit, steady, undisturbed.
“"As a lamp in a spot sheltered from the wind does not flicker,"—even such has been the simile used for a Yogi of subdued mind, practising concentration in the Self.”
The original Sanskrit
yathā dīpo nivāta-stho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā | yogino yata- cittasya yuñjato yogam ātmanaḥ