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Sadhana – Spiritual Practice
Mundane human convention means: "I'm not a practicing Jew, Sufi, Christian, Hindu," etc.  Why not?  Practice is what keeps us on the cutting edge of realization.  Without it one feels dull, becomes worldly.  Something is missing.  Krishna states, "What is like poison at first and becomes nectar in the end – this is sattvic; this is what we want.  So accomplish what is hard now and be blissful later.

The desire for Freedom leads one to sadhana.  This is not perfect, no doubt.  One is already perfect, yet one is doing sadhana to get perfect; it is a sort of contradiction.  So think, therefore, that the Self is perfect but one has to purify the mental mechanism in order to realize It.  In other words, sadhana is for the mind, not the Soul.

Right orientation is essential for sadhana.  Some people meditate at retreats for eight hours for thirty days.  But they are not enlightened thereby.  Most just get blown out of the water.  On the other hand, if they meditated in the proper spirit on the mantra and Ishtam for fifteen minutes, they would soon realize God.  Further, do they come out of meditation and serve others?  Most just put it on their resumes.  God exists with eyes closed and with eyes open.  Meditate in the manner of service.

Children learning to swim stay on the surface of the water.  They do not yet swim under water.  Then they get a mask and snorkel but still do not go under water, yet they can now see the depths.  Next, they learn to shallow dive in a tiny arch.  Finally, they get a teacher who teaches them to tuck and dive straight down.  Similar to this, beginning spiritual aspirants remain on the surface of realization.  Soon, they can see the depths, but not go there yet.  After some strong practice, they can tuck and "dive deep into the ocean of God's beauty, coming forth with the gems of love and wisdom."

It is very important to meditate on the chitta.  Called the "stuff of the mind," chitta means one's thoughts.  But thoughts, left unmined and unrefined, only result in coagulation, density.  Then one is "stuffed" with errant thoughts or, "full of it," as the saying goes.  Rumination, contemplation, lucubration, meditation – these processes assay the gold of the mind while purifying the dross in thought.  Pure thoughts rise, like hot air balloons.  Negative thoughts sink, like rainwater, to the lowest level, and stagnate there.  As the great teaching of Lord Buddha puts it, "Errant thoughts are liberated in the dharmakaya."  The dharmakaya is the body of wisdom teachings that inform and purify the mind and its thoughts.  Therefore, a great formula for life among those who are fit and ready for spiritual practice is that you need two things: All is Brahman, and the wisdom teachings.  Leave all else aside for now, and immerse mind and its thoughts into these two.....

What is knowledge if it is not for bliss?  Whether one is a beginner or an adept, bhakti (devotion) is to be cultivated.

Be about delimiting your mind so you do not limit Reality/Soul, which is unlimited.

Truth will not attract worldly people because, to paraphrase Sri Ramakrishna, they have the rust of ignorance on the magnet of their mind.  Only a salt solution will take rust off.  So cry tears of yearning for God and purify the mind.

Seek the wisdom teachings and you will avoid false and conventional religion.

There are four appropriate topics for satsang: Brahman, Ishvara, Sadhana, and if you have to bring it up, Maya (the world and its suffering, evil, and misery).

The revealed scriptures talk about:
Brahman – as Brahman
Ishvara – God coming into the human tabernacle
Sadhana – there must be a way to realize That
Maya – what stands in our way

The real yogic masters come to earth and see that the people of our culture have no time to practice Yoga, so they give mantra and Ishtam to meditate upon.  These are swift and efficient of practice.

At first, when I practiced my mantra, I found it to be a protective coating.  Then it became a bubbling spring of ambrosia.  Now I cannot stop repeating it.

The Three Alluring Offerings are bhajan (devotional singing), arati (devotions at the altar), and puja (ceremonial worship).  This means that God takes up residence in the human body.  As Sri Ramakrishna has stated, "God is with form, formless, and beyond both form and formlessness."

Qualification is King
If one has not qualified oneself, then spiritual life does not go well.  People fail their path and then try another and fail that one too.  They develop a habit around failing the spiritual goal and this becomes a samskara around failure and backsliding.  It is difficult to overcome this.  So get qualified.

If one does not accept "suffering is," then one has not set foot on the path in Buddhism.  If one thinks the world is one's oyster – that one can be fulfilled here – then one has not even started to qualify oneself for Buddhism.  Christ said, "Birds have nests, and foxes have holes, but the son of Man has no place to lay his head."  He also instructed us to store up riches in heaven, not on earth.  Accepting the truth of suffering is equal to spiritual awakening.

In Vedanta and Yoga, one is going to contemplate the alambanas (cosmic principles) and get mastery over them.  These will then be incapable of causing fear anymore, and one can renounce them.

Mastery conquers fear and leads to enlightenment.

In order to enter Samadhi, one will have to get a divorce from Nature.  This cosmic document, form "K-108" in the akashic registry, is called Kaivalya – isolation from all forms.  When one realizes the interconnectedness of all things, one will separate oneself from Nature.

Most peoples' lack of progress is due to not making a conclusion, a siddhanta.  They live in a state of indeterminacy.

Before sitting in ekasana, one should have acquainted oneself with the yamas and niyamas.
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