In the syllabus of Yoga Pravesh, one Upasana Program was included. It contained Japa (continuous recitation) of Om as the study of the Dhyana Process. If we study Ashtang Yoga, it is seen that Dhyana as a process comes later in the study. Dharana comes before Dhyana process. Yoga Pravesh syllabus did not cover a thorough study of Yoga and as such the word Dhyana was used only as a popular term. In fact, though termed as Dhyana, it was just a stage, which comes even before Dharana.

In this syllabus, we will study the process of Dharana as described by Patanjali. However, before doing so, it is advisable to go through the chapter of Prarthana and Dhyana in the Yoga Pravesh text.

While describing the eight aspects (angas) of Ashtang Yoga, Patanjali has stated Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi as the last three aspects. It is also stated by him that all the three aspects are collectively termed as " Sanyam " (Control). This implies that all the three aspects should be considered together. We should also bear in mind while studying that Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are progressively advanced stages of concentration. The highest stage of mental concentration described by the modern psychologists is more or less similar to the description of Dharana i.e. the primary stage of concentration as described by Patanjali.
This indicates the thoughtfulness of Patanjali while describing the three stages.

Another characteristic of these three stages is that there is no dividing line in between these stages. When certain progress is made in the studies of Dharana, Dhyana stage is automatically entered into and with the progress in Dharana stage, Sadhaka automatically enters in the Samadhi stage. The three stages mingle into each other as easily as three colours are mixed into each other on the canvass of an artist. During this syllabus we will not study all the three stages. We will consider only the first stage Dharana. We had studied this topic generally during the Yoga Pravesh syllabus. Now we will study Dharana as an independent process.