A Very Important Sadhana
The great sage Patanjali says
that the same goal can be reached, though with a greater effort and in a longer
period of time, by milder techniques of sadhana if intense meditation is
difficult. It is the pressure of the senses towards objects that prevents the
mind from taking to exclusive spiritual meditations. The objects of sense are
so real to the senses that they cannot easily be ignored or forgotten. The
universality of Truth is denied by the senses, at every moment of time, in
their activities towards sense gratification.
Patanjali points out that
self-control – the control of the senses, austerity, or tapas – together
with svadhyaya, or study of sacred scriptures, will consummate in the
adoration of God as the All-reality.
The very restraint of the
senses from their movement towards objects is a meditation by itself. This
energy that is thus stored up and conserved will naturally find its way in the
direction of a better aim than what is pointed out by the senses. This effort
is called tapas, austerity. Literally, the word ‘tapas’ means
heat – a heat that is generated by the preservation of energy in the system. The
radiance will emanate from one’s face, from one’s eyes, from one’s personality.
This is nothing but the very same energy finding its expression in other ways
than the sensory indulgence in which it would have engaged itself if
self-restraint had not been practiced.
All meditation is freedom from
distraction by directing the energy in one specified manner, and it is also
freedom from every other motive, purpose or incentive. If you cannot do japa
or meditation, or cannot concentrate the mind in any way, then take to a daily
practice of sacred study, or svadhyaya
– like the moksha shastra, the
study of which will generate aspiration in the mind towards the liberation of
the soul. A daily recitation – with the understanding of the meaning – of such
hymns as the Purusha Sukta and Satarudriya, from the Veda, for instance, is a
great svadhyaya. They are highly purifying by being conducive to
meditation or concentration of mind, and also in other purifying processes
which will take place in the body and the whole system due to the chanting of
these mantras.
There are various other
methods of svadhyaya. The quality of the mind will determine the type of
svadhyaya that one has to practice. If nothing else is possible, do parayana
of holy scriptures. It has to be recited again and again, every day at a
specific time, in a prescribed manner, so that this sadhana itself
becomes a sort of meditation. There are people who recite the Ramayana or the
Srimad Bhagavata 108 times. They conduct Bhagvat Saptaha. The purpose is to
bring the mind around to a circumscribed form of function and not allow it to
roam about on the objects of sense.
The goal of life in every
stage of its manifestation is the vision of God, the experience of God, the realization
of God – that God is the Supreme Doer and the Supreme Existence. If a continued
or sustained study of such scriptures is practiced, it is purifying. It is a tapas
by itself, and it is a study of the nature of one’s own Self, ultimately. The
word ‘sva’ is used here to designate this process of study – svadhyaya.
The purpose of every sadhana is only this much: to bring the mind back
to its original source.
Sometimes it is held that japa
of a mantra also is a part of svadhyaya. That is a more concentrated
form of it, requiring greater willpower. It is not easy to do japa. We
may study a book like the Srimad Bhagavata with an amount of concentration, but
japa is a more difficult process because there we do not have variety.
It is a single point at which the mind is made to move, with a single thought
almost, with a single epithet or attribute to contemplate upon. It is almost
like meditation, and is a higher step than the study of scriptures. Adepts in
yoga often tell us that the chanting of a mantra like pranava is
tantamount to svadhyaya. Take to regular study so that your day is
filled with divine thoughts, philosophical ideas and moods which are spiritual
in some way or the other.
The desire for objects of sense,
subtly present in a very latent form in the subconscious level, becomes
responsible for the doubt in the mind that perhaps there is no response from
God. This is because our love is not for God – it is for objects of sense, and
for status in society and enjoyments of various types in the world. And when,
through austerity, or tapas, we have put the senses down with the force
of our thumb, there is a temporary cessation of their activity.
Austerity, tapas, does
not merely mean control of the senses by putting an end to their activity but
also an end to even their tendency towards objects; otherwise, they will create
a twofold difficulty. Firstly, they will find the least opportunity provided as
an occasion for manifesting their force once again; secondly, they will shake
us from the core of all the faith that we have in God and the power of
spiritual practice.
Even a little good that we do
in this direction has its own effect. There should not be a doubt whether it
will yield fruit. The frustrated feelings are the subtle longings of the mind,
deeper than the level of conscious activity, which create a sense of disquiet
and displeasure in the mind. We have not withdrawn our senses from objects
wantonly or deliberately, but we have withdrawn them due a pressure from
scriptures, Guru, atmosphere, monastery, or other conditions.
Because the heart is absent
there, naturally the feeling of happiness is also not there. That is why it is
suggested that the sadhana of self-control, or control of the senses,
should be coupled with a deep philosophical knowledge and spiritual aspiration,
which is what is indicated by the term ‘svadhyaya’, and the other
term ‘Ishvara pranidhana’, which is adoration of God as the ultimate
goal of life.
Vijatiya vritti nirodha
and sajatiya vritti pravah – these two processes constitute sadhana.
Vijatiya vritti nirodha means putting an end to all incoming impressions
from external objects and allowing only those impressions which are conducive
to contemplation on the Reality of God. Vijati means that which does not
belong to our category, genus, or species. Sajatiya vritti pravah is the
movement like the flow of a river, or the pouring of oil continuously, without
break, in a thread of such ideas which are of the character of the soul – which
is universality.
This threefold effort –
namely, a positive effort at the control and restraint of the senses from
direct action in respect of objects outside, deep study of scriptures which are
wholly devoted to the liberation of the spirit from the beginning to the end,
and a constant remembrance in one’s mind that God is All with a surrender of
oneself to His supremacy – constitute a very important sadhana by itself.
Excerpts from:
A Very Important Sadhana – Chapter 53 The Study
and Practice of Yoga by Swami KrishnanandaArchives - Blog
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