The wayward mind wanders hither and thither; but it is possible to fasten it on one fixed point by means of steady discipline and persistent training in Sadhana. This is the condition called Ekagratha, one-pointedness. It is also referred to as single-mindedness or Dharana. The uninterrupted flow of oil from one vessel to another is a fine symbol of the mental process called Dharana. For novices in Sadhana, Dharana appears to be very difficult of attainment since, after some progress is won, they do not usually keep up the practice. Instead, they give it up; even though on those days on which they desist from Sadhana, they will not have peace of mind. Dharana endows man with divine joy, wisdom beyond measure, the inner vision, the insight into the deeper truths, clearer understanding and unison with the Godhead. This science of Sadhana is more wonderful than the three Worlds!

The mind plans and executes innumerable deeds and roams over vast expanses, all in the twinkling of an eye! It operates with unimaginable speed. It conceives an object and dallies with it a little, but it soon discards it for another more attractive object towards which it flees and about which it begins to worry!

The Sadhaka has to be ever watchful of this tendency of his mind. When mind flits from object to object, he must bring it back to the right path and the right object. That is the correct spiritual Sadhana, the path of Dharana and Dhyanam. If, however, the Sadhaka does not struggle to achieve this one-pointedness but leaves the mind to itself, following its vagaries from this to that and that to this, the process deserves to be called Markata Dhyanam, or monkey-meditation; a type of meditation very harmful indeed to spiritual progress.

In short, the chief purpose of Dharana and Dhyanam is to minimise the travels of the mind and force it to stay in one place. Holding it on that fixed stage, one should continue Sadhana for a long time. Then there is no limit to the peace and joy that one can have. When for example, you meditate on a table, your thoughts dwell on the wood, the size and measurements, the style, the mode of manufacture etc. No other thought pertaining to anything else should be allowed. If the thought hovers round a cot, the idea of the table becomes hazy; and the cot too is imagined incompletely. Both get confused. The state of mind must be single-pointed. So too, when the Lord's Form is meditated upon, the mind must dwell upon the form of each part and its beauty and splendour; and these ideas must be co-ordinated and combined into the completed picture.