Sadhana, as a noun, means an act of accomplishing a goal. Even though this word is often associated in context of Spirituality, its equally applicable to any Material aspects of our lives thats worthy of an individual’s focus. Principles guiding an aspirant to achieve material or spiritual goals are no different. If former can be likened to a ‘comma’, the latter is a ‘period’ in a statement when it comes to achieving goal of contentment. Sanatan Dharma lays out full spectrum of life (philosophy, medicine, economics, astronomy etc), its experiences and also efficient means to attain them.
Its said that after many lifetimes of worshipping other Gods and Goddesses, one will be inclined to find means to learn and practice Sri Vidya, which is known for Sadhus spending hours at length worshipping Divine Mother in form of Sri Yantra. This article is a humble attempt at briefly highlighting important aspects of this sadhana so aspiring sadhaks can spend time wisely to achieve their objectives in this path.
Body needs atleast that much attention to host our Jeevatma so it can take us through our destined experiences with less pain.
It could be challenging initially when we just begin to put in more efforts to sit longer at altar, whether it be 10 mins, 30 mins or more. This is due to lack of fitness in body and mind. We discussed in Beginner’s course of how to make body fit daily by practicing minimal set of Hatha Yoga practices which can done in 15 mins. Consistency in doing these daily is more important than spending long hours in bursts on few days. This 5-element body needs atleast that much attention to host our Jeevatma so it can take us through our destined experiences with less pain.
When it comes to our mind: Chitta-suddhi, i.e cleansing of consciousness, is our objective so we might perceive God even in small things we do daily. Mantras have their effect no matter who we are but the question is how long their positive effects last which is determined by our consciousness when we chant them. Journey begins with paying complete attention to God whether its in form of Murti, Yantra or just Japa. This lets us develop Bhavana, intuitive feeling towards God, which is very important and the means to achieve it differs between sadhaks based on their personalities.
What we do outside our Altar-room impacts the quality of what we do when we’re inside it and, vice-versa
Those who are emotional by nature tends to find it easy to relate to God with bhavana but might not hold it longer initially as the same nature gets diluted when they get angry or upset with things outside altar. What we do outside our Altar-room impacts the quality of what we do when we’re inside it and, vice-versa. Patience and forbearance goes a long way in helping us maintain purity of our emotions so they can be converted to devotion for God.
Sadhus who are more intellectually inclined would find it very beneficial to learn Sanskrit and let the language and translations steer their bhavana towards God. When spending few hours daily talking to God in a language that one don’t understand, its prudent to put in efforts to learn it.
Always align our Sadhana compass towards Quality of time spent at altar than Quantity
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