Sadhana, What it Means, and How it Benefits.
If there is something
that is fail-safe, and that can be trusted to bring us face-to-face, whether
metaphorically or literally, with God, it is Sadhana. Nothing, not even vast
knowledge of all authoritative scriptures, pilgrimage to holy places, maybe to even
Vaikunta or Siva-loka, leading an austere life, listening to profound satsangs
by Mahatmas, and becoming an eloquent Vedantic discourser par excellence can rival Sadhana for procuring the Goal of life - Kaivalya[1],
the final Beatitude.
Amritabindu Upanishad[2] says, “Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandha moksha”. To wit, as the mind
is, so is a person’s bondage or liberation. On the same score, a Vedic
proclamation says, “Yena mano jitam jagat
jitam tena”: as you think, so you become. The ancient seers, who had
psychological insight into human psyche, had recognised the mind as the genesis
of everything about human life on earth: it controls our life, and our
happiness and misery, success and failure; liberation and rebirths, too, are
very much dependent upon it. The rishis observed that it is, therefore, highly
imperative to control, train, subdue and overcome the mind, sublimate its
tendencies, and make it work for our ultimate journey out of the vicious cycles
of births and deaths.
Without
Sadhana, we cannot subjugate the vagaries of the mind that obdurately stand
between us and God, covering and disguising life’s ephemerality, with
attractive appearances, imparting verisimilitude to the definition of earthly
life. It is the mind, the ancillary of Maya that gives us the false feeling
that we are apart from God, putting us in Ptolemaic centre of life, with everything
and everyone moving in obedient orbits within surrounding concentric spheres of
our chimerical influence. It is this thought of “I” that is the cause of
bondage, calamity and agonies. So long as we insouciantly remain in this inert
state of self-approval, we cannot fathom the purpose of life, the reason for
which we have sojourned to this dukhaalayam[3]
(=place of miseries), which is in every way Asasvatam
(=temporary).
The ancient
rishis knew the way of the mind, its nature and subtle workings, and they constructed
telling methods to destroy this arch-enemy of Self-realisation, which has many
modifications, ramifications, manifestations and grosser by-products. The cardinal
cause of all our problems is the cognising principle of wrong identification
with the body, which the scriptures
call Adhyasa[4]. This identification with the body is the element
that gives rise to the following errors:
a. I am a Londoner.
b. I am an engineer.
c. I am rich.
d. I am a heterosexual
e. I am a commoner
f. I am unhealthy
g. I am fat
h. I am dark
i. I am fat
j. I am clever
k. I am young, etc.
These
adhyasas are so insidiously woven into our consciousness that, in spite of our
having boned up on heavy spiritual tomes, and despite our having listened to
innumerable satsangs by self-realised masters like Amma, we cannot slough off
the false identifications. One reason for this is, it starts right from the
moment of birth, even before the intelligence commenced in our infancy. We grow
in this self-hypnotism, which requires potent counter-measures to extirpate the
egregious misapprehension. That is why and how Sadhana
came into being.
As we are
enveloped by dehabhimana[5],
the identification with the body, we are all tossed and dashed about like the
flotsam and jetsam that rise with the crest and fall with the trough of life’s
ocean. Although we know that we exist, validated by our senses and the presence
of life force in us, we do not, however, ask, “Why we exist?” and “What is the
purpose of human life”. Spiritual texts, erudite discourses, satsangs, and
long-drawn-out insipid conjectures and speculations would not at all provide
any clue to this existential conundrum. Only Sadhana helps to unravel the cat’s
cradle of life’s enigma.
There is
generally the misapprehension that when one has accepted a self-realised master
as a Guru, one has no other responsibilities in regard to one’s striving for
emancipation. It has, however, to be remembered and underscored that a Guru’s role
is only to show the path to liberation, remove virulent doubts that scupper our
efforts, and give inspiration. Having acquired the instructions, we become our
own redeemers, our own saviours, plodding on in the spiritual path, placing
each step ourselves, with the Guru mantra on our lips, on the spiritual path.
It is preternaturally preposterous, thus, if anyone imagines that the
enlightened master will do Sadhana for us.
Echoing this sentiment, Bhagavan Sri Krishna pronounced in chapter 6 of the
Gita that:
“Let
a man lift himself by his own Self alone; let him not lower himself, for
this self alone
is
the friend of oneself and this self alone is the enemy of oneself.” (verse 5)
“The
self is the friend of the self for him who has conquered himself by the
Self, but to the
unconquered
self, this self stands in the position of an enemy like the (external) foe.” (verse 6)
God and Guru
are prepared to give us anything-virtually everything: Lord Vishnu was a gatekeeper for
His devout Bhakta, while Sri Krishna bestowed wealth upon His dearest friend
and devotee, and He was a humble emissary to the people who surrendered to Him,
Sage Vishvamitra created his own version of heaven for a chandala, while Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sought to punish Jagai and
Madhai on account of His beloved disciple, Nitai, and Sri Ramanuja, despite the
pain of incurring sins, unreservedly shared His Guru mantra with His disciples.
When it comes to liberation or emancipation, however, it is not readily “given
out” by God and Guru. It has to be painstakingly earned, by our own manful
efforts at performing our Sadhana over a long period of time.
What is
Sadhana, then?
The
etymology of the term, ‘Sadhana’, comes from the Sanskrit root ‘sadh’, which
means ‘to exert’ or ‘to aim at arriving at a particular result’. The two
morphemes ‘Sadh’ and ‘ana’ together denote ‘going straight to
the goal’ --- the goal of self-realisation, the supreme knowledge that takes us
beyond worldly bondage of multitudinous diversities.
Any
spiritual practice that secures steadiness of the modifications of the mind, making
it look inwards, destroying all its outgoing proclivities, gradually driving it
towards Hridaya-Guha[6],
to finally arrive at the primeval source, is called Sadhana, which, in essence,
is any spiritual practice that helps the aspirant to realise God, the goal of
human life.
In order to
see its full value and efficacy, Sadhana has to be unremittingly practised with
devotion and patience for a considerable period of time, completely bereft of
expectations, and unmindful of any outcome. Whatever Sadhana that one
undertakes to do daily, whether it is japa, pranayama, dyana, Karma or Nyana
yoga, one has to do it systematically, determinedly, regularly and diligently:
regularity is of paramount importance. Haphazard and inconstant efforts at
spiritual practices, or doing Sadhana in fits and starts can never yield the actual
spiritual fruits of one’s efforts. Anyone who has recognised the ephemerality
of earthly happiness, the transitory nature of existence and evanescence of all
forms of attachment to the world will naturally seek for answers in
Sadhana. That is the reason why, Amma has said, “Sadhana
should become a part of our life[7]."
In my many
years of having known Amma, I have realised that the very first step in regard
to this counter attack is Sravana: every
day, I pore over Her texts and satsangs, imbibing the teachings, constantly
hearing within myself Upanishads’ stellar declarations like, “I am not the body; neither am I the mind
that doubts truisms, and I am also neither sleeping nor in a wakeful state. I
am the Self.” But merely parroting these truisms, as Amma has frequently
warned, does not make us realise their inherent truths. Therefore, I reflect
upon these assertions (keeping in mind my senses’ contrary proofs), keeping up
with this manana, again and again,
crawling back to Amma’s texts and the ancient scriptures, even those that I
have perfunctorily read but have unsurprisingly forgotten. This is the second
stage, which realised masters generally called Svadhyaya. Every morning, at 3.55, I rise at Brahmamuhurta, quickly
perform my ablution, and get to do my Sadhana at 4, meditating upon these mahavakyas, before I begin my Japa.
In order to
remain steadfast in Sadhana, and to benefit from it, as a Sadhak, I have
realised that I ought to guard myself against upadhis or adjuncts, which have the iniquitous propensity to
constantly stimulate and excite my subtle ego with regard to societal
hegemonies like profession, wealth, attire, fashion, habits, physical cravings,
talent, fame, name, powers, environments, friendship, etc.
These upadhis become the gaping holes in the
vessels of Sadhana when we are unmindful of their powers. Therefore, I make
efforts to be on my toes, always wary and alert, sharp and perceptive in
detecting any upadhis that derail my plans
to progress further. This calls for pertinacious resistance to Maya’s other ancillaries:
a. Sensuality
b. Senses’ demands
c. Gross physical comforts
d. Avarice, including the
desire to amass wealth
e. Grandiose
f. Affections
g. Attachments to things,
situations and people.
The purpose
of human birth is to attain God. Nothing more. Whatever that comes with,
experienced in, acquired through human birth is ignis fatuus, which is meant to distract us from pursuing the goal to
self-realisation, to keep us trapped in this dukhalayam.
Daily Sadhana
helps us to analyse our thoughts, scrutinise our motives, remove avarice from
the heart, selfishness from thoughts, extirpate passions, and relentlessly control
our riotous indriyas. Sadhana purifies
our heart, cleanses the patina that covers our spiritual sights. As we
progress, we begin to hear Amma’s clarion calls emanating from Her innumerable
texts and countless satsangs.
Sadhana is
imperative for anyone who wants to end the misery of hypocrisy, pain,
ill-health, disappointment and human births.
[1] The
Yogatattva Upanishad 16:18, "Kaivalya is the very nature of the
self, the supreme state. It is without parts and is stainless. It is the direct
intuition of the Real-existence, intelligence and bliss. It is devoid of birth,
existence, destruction, recognition, and experience. This is called
knowledge."
[2] This
is one of the five Bindu Upanishads in the Atharvaveda.
Naapnuvanti mahaatmaanah
samsiddhim paramaam gataah.
Translation: “Having attained Me these great souls do not
again take birth (here), which is the place of pain and
is non-eternal; they have reached the highest perfection (liberation).”
[4]
The perception of the unitary brahman as the plural and finite is due to our innate
habit of superimposition, by which a “thou” is ascribed to the “I” (=I am tired; I am happy; I am perceiving).
The habit stems from human ignorance (“ajnana”
or “avidya”). When one realises one’s
identity with God, this vile nescience withers away, and so declare our
scriptures.
[5] Drg-Drsya-Viveka 30: Dehabhimane galite vijnate paramatman
Yatra yatra mano
yati tatra tatra samadhayah.
Translation: “With the disappearance of the attachment
of the body and with the realisation of the Supreme Self, to whatever object the mind is directed, one
experiences Samadhi.”
[6] Hindu
scriptures have said that the
heart is the centre of the person, and this is delineated upon in some of the
Upanishads such as the Chhandogya and the Taittiriya, wherein they speak of
what is known as the hridaya guha, or the cave of the heart, in which resides
the Supreme Reality. “Go into the cave and you find the treasures of heaven,”
says the Chhandogya Upanishad particularly in its eighth chapter.
[7] (pgs.
122-123, Awaken, Children! Vol. 1)
Source: pgs. 147-148, Amma's 65th Birth Anniversary Matruvani 2018 magazine
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