Background

There are many ways of doing dhyaan/ meditation, both the terminologies are used interchangeably and in different contexts. I wanted to compile my learnings as I continue to learn more about dhyaan that can help me shed more karmas as per jainism.

Within Jainism, there are different sects and even within different sects there are different practices that one is exposed to, hence what I share might not fit that well with your knowledge, please try to draw parallels in those cases, since the way things are propagated and translated over centuries might lead to complete bifurcations. When you find your knowledge contrasting with what I share, please share your insights in the comment.

And at times my interpretations can be wrong too, please forgive me and correct me for that, now ofcourse it can get tricky to figure out which side is right, we might need to delve deeper into the basic principles and I am open to dig deeper, I can also contact with other wise people irl to help me with further analysis on those(it would take time but we will get down to the truth).

My Sources :

I recently stumbled upon Acharya Mahapragya Ji's attempt to revive Preksha Dhyaan the old meditation technique from Agama. He has explained things in depth using Jainism's principles and also correlating it with science.

I am currently reading:

1. "Tab hota hai Dhyaan ka janm" by Acharya Mahapragya Ji
2. "Therapeutic Thinking- A scientific meditation technique for achieving the true human potential" on Preksha Dhyaan by Arun and Mayuri Zaveri.

Acharya Mahapragya was a great scholar, and he not only studied and taught jainism but he also drew parallels with science. The authors of second book are actually followers of him and have compiled Acharya Mahapragya ji's teachings with science to make things more digestible for non jains also.
So in conclusion I feel that the first book is more on jainism with little touch-ups of science and the second book is the other way round, hence in a way complimenting each other.
The first book might be available, second book is not so popular but it explains Jainism's principles and meditation technique in simple, scientific ways while referring to the basic jainism principles too, which is super interesting and easily digestible.

So my primary source is my learnings from the above books, debates and discussions with my dad who is very practical and well versed with the concepts of janinsm and he is a man of science. That is why when I get confused or when there would be any doubts in the comments I will try to get clarity from him as well on those.

Part 1 - How to get started

Dhyaan is a state of mind, it is not something that we can read and get like knowledge. To reach that state of mind we need internal as well as external environment to be favourable.

• External environment includes - Clean and less noisy place, asanas, hand mudras, etc. There can be different combinations of asanas and mudras that can be put forth for different kind of outputs. This can be researched, learned and is easy to do.
• Internal environment This is the tricky bit, because this requires a change in the way we normally operate. As per the book below are the prerequisites for a favourable internal environment to reach a state of dhyaan:
• • Mamatva ka Visarjan - Mamatva means the feeling of attaching things to self. We have to let go of all our connections with external things that not only includes the relationships with other humans, our accomplishments, our ownership of things, but also our body!
    • • Is this even possible? - Most of us can't give it all up since we are grihasta(not a monk), the idea is to get into this state for a short period of time or to a certain degree. Both the duration and intensity can be increased by more practice.
        • How to practice this ?- The practical way to acheive it is using Kayotsarg which is similar to Shavasan, where you stay still and let go of all tension in your body but add to that the mindset of letting go of everything mentally also ie. mamatva ka visarjan. Now this is not going to be easy, because you will get an itch in your body or some thoughts about something happening around you, etc. You can find the guided kayotsarg videos and more details on it. But overall the idea is to shut down all physical movements, let go of all the physical tension in the muscles, feel light and also work on the mental state of disowning and letting go of all attachments. People often focus on their breath while doing this to keep their mind focussed on one thing.
        • So is this the state of Dhyaan? - As far as I have studied, the state of dhyaan is much more complicated to acheive, kayotsarg is a practice that will build the right neural pathways in our brains to allow us to do mamtva ka visargan properly. The more we practice, the better our first prerequisite would be.
    • Kashay Nigrah - In jainism, we talk about Kashay which refers to passions or strong emotional states that bind the soul to the cycle of birth and death. There are 4 Kashay - Krodh(anger), Maan(something in the lines of ego), Maya( something in the lines of deceit) and Lobh (greed). Limiting these are a rerequisite to the state of dhyaan.
    • • How? This is a behaviour shift. In jainism there is a concept of being Apramatt, meaning being aware and vigilant about our environment, actions, thoughts. If we try to stay apramatt our kashay will go down. This is as simple as what we say and hear others say when we see someone get angry, Take a long breath and think before you do anything wrong. Basically we all know what's the right thing to do, if only we pause and stay apramatt, we won't give into krodh, maan, maya or lobh.
    • Saiyam/Samyama - This revolves around self-restraint or control over the senses and mind. It's a core concept emphasizing discipline and ethical conduct to purify the soul and prevent the accumulation of new karmas. Saiyam is achieved through practices like non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, and non-attachment. Basically limit your desires. This just like Kashay Nigrah will make us lighter and allow our conscience to be closer to our aatma, allowing us to get into the state of dhyaan.
    • Man ka nigrah/ Manovijay

So first chapter in the book Tab hota hai dhyaan ka janm, talks about how can we get into a state of dhyaan, it differentiates Shavasan / just laying still to Kayotsarg, it emphasizes on the prerequisites and why they are required. I felt convinced arouso I have stopped reading the book and focussing on the prerequisite practice first.