The Course of Sadhana

[Guest guest]

AUM gaNapataye namaH

 

Doing sadhana can be as much of a trap as any other melodrama. It is

useful to have some perspective about the path in order to keep

yourself from getting too caught up in the stage in which you are

working. These pointers may help:

 

1. Each stage that one can label must pass away. Even the labelling

will ultimately pass. A person who says, "I'm enlightened" probably

isn't.

 

2. The initial euphoria that comes through the first awakening into

even a little consciousness, except in a few very rare cases, will

pass away ... leaving a sense of loss, or a feeling of falling out of

grace, or despair. "The Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the

Cross deals with that state.

 

3. Sadhana is a bit like a roller coaster. Each new height is usually

followed by a new low. Understanding this makes it a bit easier to

ride with both phases.

 

4. As you further purify yourself, your impurities will seem grosser

and larger. Understand that it's not that you are getting more caught

in the illusion, it's just that you are seeing it more clearly. The

lions guarding the gates of the temples get fiercer as you proceed

toward each inner temple. But of course the light is brighter also. It

also becomes more intense because of the additional energy involved at

each stage of sadhana.

 

5. At first you will think of your sadhana as a limited part of your

life. In time you will come to realize that everything you do is part

of your sadhana.

 

6. One of the traps along the way is the sattvic trap -- the trap of

purity. You will be doing everything just as you should -- and get

caught in how pure you are. In India it's called the "golden chain."

It's not a chain of iron, but it's still a chain. You'll have to

finally give up even your idea of purity if you expect to do it all in

this life-time.

 

7. Early in the journey you wonder how long the journey will take and

whether you will make it in this lifetime. Later you will see that

where you are going is HERE and you will arrive NOW ... so you stop

asking.

 

8. At first you TRY. Later you just do your sadhana because, "What

else is there to do?"

 

9. At certain stages you will take your sadhana very seriously. Later

you will see the wisdom of the statement of Jesus that to seek the

Lord, men need not disfigure their faces. Cosmic humor, especially

about your own predicament, is an important part of your journey.

 

10. At some stages you will experience a plateau -- as if everything

has stopped. This is a hard point in the journey. Know that once the

process has started it doesn't stop; it only appears to stop from

where you are looking. Just keep going. It doesn't really matter

whether you think "it's happening" or not. In fact, the thought "it's

happening" is just another obstacle.

 

11. You may have expected that enlightenment would come ZAP!

instantaneous and permanent. This is unlikely. After the first "Ah Ha"

experience, the unfolding is gradual and almost indiscernible. It can

be thought of as the thinning of a layer of clouds ... until only the

most transparent veil remains.

 

12. There is, in addition to the "up and down" cycles, an "in and out"

cycle. That is, there are stages at which you feel pulled to do inner

work and all you seek is a quiet place to meditate and to get on with

it. Then there are some times when you turn outwards and seek to be

involved in the marketplace. Both of these cycles are part of one's

sadhana. For what happens to you in the marketplace helps in your

meditation and what happens in your meditation helps you to

participate in the marketplace without attachment.

 

13. What is happening to you is nothing less than death and re-birth.

What is dying is the entire way in which you understood "who you are"

and "how it all is." What is being reborn is the child of the Spirit

for whom all things are new. This process of attending an ego that is

dying at the same time as you are going through a birth process is

awesome. Be gentle and honor him (self) who is dying as well as him

(Self) who is being born.

 

-- from "Be