By Ozlem
Sadhana in Sanskrit means spiritual disciplines taken on voluntarily. When you take on a sadhana, you do something diligently, on a regular basis with intentionality, mindfulness, and heartfelt joy.
What I have observed so far when I take on a sadhana and carry it forward in my life, is that after a while, it starts to feel like a burden like many other responsibilities in life. That surely is the situation in which the sadhana becomes a ritual, a compulsory, unexamined action. I never want my sadhana to go down that ritualistic route. I want it to flow smoothly with intention and along the way I do not want to lose the insight as to why I am doing this sadhana in the first place. More importantly, I want my sadhana to be a source of joy and light heartedness.
As Acharya Shunya mentions, sadhana is not only a goal but rather it is a goal driven way of life, a beautiful path through which the awareness of our sovereign self sprouts, grows, matures and gets established.
Personally, I believe that sadhana has to facilitate my spiritual pursuit by lending me a helping hand, illuminating my way and easing my mind. If and when sadhana becomes compulsive, it overshadows the path with more dos and don’ts and it begins to grow against its very purpose.
After listening to Acharya Shunya’s teachings on sadhana, I had to sit down and contemplate on the real meaning of sadhana. And to my surprise, I realized that I already had a beautiful sadhana going on in my life for quite a long time.
A few months ago, I moved to South Korea because of my husband’s job assignment. Before this move, back in my home country, I had this really meaningful, heartfelt yet simple morning routine with my tulsi plant and beloved cat. It took me several months to acknowledge that this was a real sadhana for me. It definitely did not look like a spiritual ritual that I have learned or read in a book. For all I know, it wasn’t anything fancy, but it was heartfelt, intentional, regular and it helped me to stay on the path of discovering my true, sovereign Self.
This awkwardly simple sadhana revolved around the routine of my cat waking me up before 6 am in the morning with a soft purring sound, me getting up, washing my face, and walking to the balcony to see my tulsi plant as the sun slowly rose. My cat would follow me obediently knowing that soon, I would fill up a jug to water the tulsi and she would surely get a chance to stick her head in the jug and drink some of it.
So, this was our morning sadhana; waking up early, greeting the sun, filling up a jug of water, chanting a mantra as I water my tulsi, then my cat getting really jealous and trying to drink the water that was meant for the tulsi plant. For more than a year, each and every morning, I woke up to this beautifully simple morning sadhana and as I gently patted my cat and brushed the delicate leaves of my tulsi plant with the palm of my hand, I always felt deeply present.
For me this was the best, most meaningful and regular sadhana that I had so far. With this simple routine, my tulsi plant survived two harsh winters and I survived many existentially challenging, gloomy days.
When I moved to South Korea, I sadly had to leave my cat and tulsi plant to the loving care of my parents. In a foreign land, in a new home, I am slowly cultivating the seeds of a similar sadhana. As this sadhana is shaping in my consciousness, spring flowers are blooming all around me and my tulsi seeds are sprouting like there is no tomorrow. And deep inside, I am ready to pick up my sadhana from where I had left, to purify the new physical space around me as well as my mind.
You can learn more about the study and practice of Ayurveda through Acharya Shunya's online course, Alchemy through Ayurveda.
Acharya Shunya is a globally-recognized spiritual teacher and Vedic lineage-holder who awakens health and consciousness through the Vedic sciences of Ayurveda, Vedanta and Yoga. She is the driving force behind an online wisdom school and worldwide spiritual community, and the author of best-selling book on the Vedic art of mind + body + soul well-being and health, Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom and Sovereign Self. Acharya Shunya is a keynote speaker at national and international conferences, and serves as an advisor to the Indian Government in matters pertaining to global integration and cultivation of Ayurveda and Yoga. Receive her free online teachings and browse her current eCourse offerings here or see more about her on Facebook and follow her on Instagram. Study Ayurveda with Acharya Shunya in her online course, Alchemy through Ayurveda.
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