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Thread: Why is daily sadhana important?

  1. #21
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    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Dear friends ,
    sadhana is for controlling the mind . In the initial stages it makes the mind disciplined .As it progresses sadhana becomes a part of the breath.Here by sadhana I do not mean exactly daily ritual of puja , or reciting of sthothras ( though it is not unimportant). It is contemplation on 'om'. OM is the mahamanthra There is no need to spend hours and hours . We can do that for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes before going to bed . Sadhana gives chittha shuddhi .

  2. #22

    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Dear Viraja ji,
    Namasthe!
    Please read my post again.

    To remain clam and relaxed is the aim of all sadhana.
    when you ask "why is daily sadhana important", it is because I am not calm, i have become "agitated". So i need a sadhana to make myself calm.

    why am i agitated ... i used an allegory ... i am haunted by a "shadow" which I have taken to be a ghost.

    so ... when i am agitated, its like running away from a shadow-ghost!

    I hope the story is clear with this.

    now please ponder and tell me ... what is this shadow-ghost ??

    Love!
    Silence
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  3. #23
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    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Quote Originally Posted by silence_speaks View Post
    now please ponder and tell me ... what is this shadow-ghost ??
    Dear Silence,

    The shadow-ghose would be, our own 'Vasanas' - the karmic imprints that pushes us to experience any event in some particular way unique to us and react accordingly!

    Am I right?

    Regards,

    Viraja
    jai hanuman gyan gun sagar jai kapis tihu lok ujagar

  4. #24
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    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~
    namasté

    I have read many of the posts above. It seems there is a 'one size fits all' approach to this sādhana. This is not the case.

    Some have said no sādhana is needed. This is true for the proper adhikārī¹. Some say daily practice; some say a little practice and some say a lot of practice is needed. This all depends on the native in question. Some require lots of support , some a little , and some none at all.

    Some of these ~ways~ (upāya-s) have been reviewed here:
    Please consider this HDF post http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=13352&page=2 , post 14 and 16)

    iti śivaṁ

    words
    • adhikārī is that person with adhīkāra or with capability and with adhikāra or rank or office
    • sādhana -any means of effecting or accomplishing , any agent or instrument ; a utensil or apparatus; a means, method, or approach.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  5. #25

    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Quote Originally Posted by Viraja View Post
    Dear Silence,

    The shadow-ghose would be, our own 'Vasanas' - the karmic imprints that pushes us to experience any event in some particular way unique to us and react accordingly!

    Am I right?

    Regards,

    Viraja
    Dear Viraja ji,
    You are very close.

    The shadow is what we see ... what we perceive. I would say mind itself.
    Ghost is what is made out of it by our vasanas.
    so...
    as long as the tendency to convert a simple shadow into ghost is there --- sadhanas are needed.

    Love!
    Silence
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  6. #26
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    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Vannakkam:

    I'm going to offer up an opinion that is different than what some have been expressing here, in regard to the idea that at some point sadhana is no longer necessary.

    Our sages, even after realising the Self within, still meditate, still enter samadhi, still do pujas. This idea of an end point in sadhana comes from somewhere, but not all of us subscribe to it. I personally think it's a 'dangerous' idea and may well limit the devotee from progress if they make an intellectual mistake that they're done. I've seen and heard a few people who thought that first introductory initial mystical experience was enlightenment, and than just up and stopped, foolishly thinking they had come to the end of the path, even making bold proclamations of it, form the perspective of the little ego 'i'.

    Gurus who become teachers meditate with their students, and the effects of them entering samadhi can be felt by all. They still make the effort. "You realise the Self, then a dau later, realsie it all over again, etc."

    Samadhi is a state to be entered over and over again. Not only this, but the qualified teacher knows full well that He is an example to others. If he stops meditating, stops striving, then there is the risk that his devotees do as well. Then what ... a bunch of people sitting around discussing it all from an intellectual perspective.

    Sadly, I read somewhere that this is what has happened at Ramanashram at the foot of Arunachala ... a place where nostalgia about the old days is heard everywhere, but where nobody actually sits and meditates.

    Just offering up an alternative view, not trying to start an argument.

    Aum Namasivaya

  7. #27

    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Dear Eastern Mind ji,
    Namasthe!

    Yes, Sadhana is very important for all of us. But Sadhana proceeds naturally once one gains a certain maturity or knowledge. One does not intentionally do ... it happens naturally.

    Sitting, standing, walking, talking... in all activities ... one revels as Self. I call it living in meditation. Life itself is meditation. Constant reveling as Self.

    It is not extraordinary ... but it is very difficult to reach with mere practice alone. When Knowledge or the Vision of Scriptures is well appreciated , it becomes natural and very easy. Without that it is almost impossible.

    So if one can find a good teacher ... and learn from such a person it will become so natural that you will revel in it 24 7.

    Yoga Vasishta speaks about 4 gatekeepers to liberated living ... one should get the basics right and get friendly with these 4 gate keepers and ur sadhana becomes very very natural. Here is the list:
    1. Self Inquiry, based on scriptural reasoning.
    2. Vairagya, or dispassion.
    3. Satsangha or company of holy [people who can reveal the truth]
    4. Satisfaction

    if one can gain the company of these, within no time, it becomes natural.

    Love!
    Silence
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  8. #28
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    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~
    namasté

    Quote Originally Posted by silence_speaks View Post
    Yoga Vasishta speaks about 4 gatekeepers to liberated living ... one should get the basics right and get friendly with these 4 gate keepers and ur sadhana becomes very very natural. Here is the list:
    1. Self Inquiry, based on scriptural reasoning.
    2. Vairagya, or dispassion.
    3. Satsangha or company of holy [people who can reveal the truth]
    4. Satisfaction
    If I may, I'd like to offer a view to the 4 that is mentioned in the Yogavasișțharāmāyaṇa, is also known as the Yoga Vasișțha, or Vasișțha's Yoga.

    Vasișțha's yoga is the conversation of vasișțha-ji (and other saints) with Śrī rāmaḥ ; a great work for the sādhu and sadhvī¹ to advance one's sādhana by knowledge and insight; offering a spiritual view of the world around you.

    This work is for the person with an eye and motivation to spiritual enquiry (vicāra).

    Vasișțha-ji says it this way - the eye of spiritual enquiry (vicāra) does not lose its sight even in the midst of all activities.
    Yet what is this enquiry? He says, one ponders and is compelled by questions of Who am I¹? How has this saṃsāra (repetition of birth and rebirth) come into being? It is the light of enquiry that there is realization of the eternal and unchanging Reality, this is the Supreme.

    Is this the only thing? No, as vasișțha-ji also mentions self-control, contentment and satsaṅg as the other 'gatekeepers' that stand at the door of mokṣa. We can review these at a later date.

    It is my good fortune to have encountered this book some years ago that has been translated by svāmī veṅkaṭeśānanda whose writing/translation ability IMHO is superb. It is divided into 6 sections or prakaraṇa¹

    iti śivaṁ

    words
    • sādhu and sadhvī - male and female person practicing sādhana
    • Who am I ? We could also write it like this, who or what is this 'I' ? The Who am I has little to do with being a butcher, student, homeowner, housewife, manager, runner, football player, citizen, and the like.
    • The 6 prakaraṇa-s
      • vairāgya prakaraṇaṃ - vairāgya is typically coined as 'dispassion' but aligns to indifference to worldly objects ; a sort of disdain grows over time ( I find this to be true)
      • mumukṣu prakaraṇaṃ - mumukṣu is a seeker with the burning desire for kaivala or mokṣa (liberation)
      • Utpatti prakaraṇaṃ - utpatti is creation, origination, generation, ~creation ~
      • sthiti prakaraṇaṃ (sthā - to stand) sthiti a state or condition, ~ existence ~
      • upaśānti prakaraṇaṃ - upāsana is the act of throwing off; upaśānti is cessation , intermission , remission ~dissolution ~
      • nirvāṇa prakaraṇaṃ - nirvāṇa = 'nir' meaning out + '' ( as in vāyu) is to blow. What is one blowing out? The cycle of birth and death, ignorance. The extinction ( blowing out) of all impressions. If we were talking the yoga sutras of Patañjali, samādhi-pāda, 2nd sutra¹, this would be called citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ or the cessation/stilling of all mental activities.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  9. #29

    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Dear Yajvan ji,
    Namasthe!

    It is my good fortune to have encountered this book some years ago that has been translated by svāmī veṅkaṭeśānanda whose writing/translation ability IMHO is superb. It is divided into 6 sections or prakaraṇa¹
    I fully agree on this. Infact, Yoga Vasishta itself says :

    अस्मिन् श्रुते मते ज्ञाते तपोध्यानजपादिकम्।
    मोक्षप्राप्तौ नरस्येह न किञ्चिदुपयुज्यते॥

    There is no need for any spiritual practise such as austerity , meditation , japa and the like for the moksha of the aspirant who has got this scripture in mind (through sravana-manana-nidhidhyasanam)

    such is the glory of this text !! Just by studying it again and again and repeatedly reflecting on its teachings -- liberated living becomes totally natural and obvious.
    Come up, O Lions, and shake off the delusion that you are a sheep

  10. #30
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    Re: Why is daily sadhana important?

    Quote Originally Posted by silence_speaks View Post
    There is no need for any spiritual practise such as austerity , meditation , japa and the like for the moksha of the aspirant who has got this scripture in mind (through sravana-manana-nidhidhyasanam)
    Namaste,

    If I may, I would like to kindly and peacefully add some input here.

    For me, the practice of austerity, meditation, japa, etc. is the means by which I eradicate sin in my life and come closer to oneness with God. I believe that the process of rigorously practicing the aforementioned is what brings us out of material contamination and into union with the Divine. I think that until you are perfect in every way, you still have to perform sadhana.

    I just find it pretentious and slothful to say, "Oh, I don't do the actual practice, I'm already enlightened, therefore I don't need to do that kind of thing." Are you claiming that you have full knowledge and full renunciation and are completely free of sin? I've never heard any reputable guru say that he has stopped meditating because it is "no longer needed". If I heard some "teacher" claiming such things I would immediately chalk him up to be a phony.

    I also find it interesting that most of the images of Shiva depict him in a meditative posture. So it appears that even the perfected beings practice sadhana (even if it is just a show of example for what we humans should do).

    Once again, this is just my personal opinion and I by no means believe it to be the final word. However, I did feel that I needed to say something, because the idea of a human claiming perfection and saying that sadhana is no longer needed seems fishy to me.

    But...in the end, to each his own. If it works for you, then by all means, keep doing it.

    Peace, Love, Harmony and Light to All

    Om Namah Shivaya

    LightofOm
    ॐ मृत्युंजयाय रुद्राय नीलकण्ठाय शम्भवे l
    अमृतेशाय शर्वाय महादेवाय ते नम: ll

    Sanātana Dharma Worldwide

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