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Sadhana
Sadhana
Sadhana
The jiva’s aversion to Bhagavan is the result of his desire for sense
enjoyment;consequently, he wanders throughout this world with the hope of
attaining happiness. As long as his desire for worldly happiness does not wane,
an inclination to serve Bhagavan cannot possibly arise in him. However, with
the accumulation of abundant sukriti, or spiritual merit, his desire for worldly
enjoyment slackens. This is the result of Bhagavan’s gradual mercy upon him.
It is then that the desire for sadhu-sanga, the association of saintly persons,
arises within him naturally.
Sraddha, or transcendental faith, arises by discussing topics about Krishna in
sadhu-sanga. With the jiva’s increasing effort to engage in the cultivation of
activities related to Krishna, a greed to attain Bhagavan appears within him. At
that time, one should accept the shelter of the lotus feet of a guru whose
character is spotless and who has full knowledge of philosophical truths. One
should learn the art of bhajana from such a guru. Only by the strength of his
bhajana does the jiva attain the complete mercy of Bhagavan.
The process of sadhana is nothing but the art of increasing one’s thirst to
attain Bhagavan. A person receives the mercy of Krishna in proportion to the
intensity of this thirst, which develops by performing sadhana marked by care
and eagerness. When such sadhana is fully matured, Krishna manifests Himself
to that person. He cannot withhold Himself.
The conditioned jiva will never achieve success if he relinquishes the activities
of sadhana; he must embrace them with great care. He will approach
perfection to the extent that he performs sadhana with honor.
What is sadhana?
Sri Mahaprabhu also spoke the following words to Sri Sanatana Gosvami:
Among the various methods of performing bhajana, the best is to execute the
nine prescribed processes of bhakti. These processes carry the outstanding
potency to bestow both krishna-prema and Krishna. Among the nine processes
of bhakti, chanting the holy names is foremost. If one chants without
committing any offenses, one easily receives the treasure of pure love for
Krishna. (Sri Caitanyacaritamrita, Antya-lila 4.70–71)
In this Kali-yuga, there is no other refuge for the jiva than chanting the names
of Hari. Indeed, harinama is the only sadhana, and the other limbs of sadhana
are accepted as its assistants.
In sastra we find the statement “‘eka’ anga sadhe, keha sadhe ‘bahu’ anga –
some practice a single limb, whereas others practice many.” However, no one
should think he can attain perfection by taking shelter of any limb other than
harinama. When a sadhaka understands harinama to be the topmost sadhana
and takes one-pointed shelter of nama, he can also perform the other limbs of
sadhana. Sastra clearly declares:
O Arjuna, yoga cannot be perfected by one who eats too much or too little, or
who sleeps too much or too little.
yuktahara-viharasya
yukta-ceshtasya karmasu
yukta-svapnavabodhasya
yogo bhavati duhkha-ha
For one who is moderate in eating and recreation, balanced in work, and
regulated in sleeping and wakefulness, his practice of yoga destroys all
material miseries.
The meaning here is that one who eats too much or hardly eats at all, who
sleeps a lot or does not sleep enough, is never able to use his body and senses
to perform the activities of sadhana. If a person does not allow his body to
become unhealthy or his senses inactive – by regulating all his endeavors
including his eating, recreation, sleeping and waking – then his sadhana will be
executed exquisitely and it will destroy all his miseries.
The implication is that one must engage one’s internal sense, the mind, in
remembering and meditating upon sri nama, by protecting it from the four
anarthas, or impediments to spiritual progress. These impediments are
misconceptions about reality (svarupa-bhrama), the hankering for temporaty
objects (asat-trishna), weakness of the heart in adopting the process of bhakti
(hridayadaurbalya) and offences (aparadha). Moreover, one’s external senses
should be protected from becoming habituated to activities that are
unfavorable to one’s bhajana, such as over-eating, over-sleeping and
endeavoring for sense objects. Instead, they should be incessantly engaged in
the sadhana of nama-kirtana. The capacity to do so is indeed the expertise of a
sadhaka.
The underlying cause of the birth of bhakti to Sri Krishna is sadhu-sanga. Even
after krishna-prema awakens in the heart, sadhu-sanga remains the foremost
principle. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 22.83)
Incessantly accept the shelter of sri nama and pray for the mercy of sri
nama
If one can chant the holy name in the association of a pure devotee who is
attached to chanting, all his offences will be dispelled and nama-tattva will
quickly manifest in his heart. Our prayer at the lotus feet of Sriman
Mahaprabhu is that by incessantly chanting the holy name in the association of
a suddha-bhakta we may soon experience the sweetness (rasa) of sri nama.
We pray for nothing other than the mercy of sri nama.