Holistic Approach to Sadhana by Pujyaswami Atmanandaji

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

Poojya Swami Atmanandaji, the founder of Vedanta Mission studied under

the guidance of Swami Chinmayanandaji and he is a great Vedantin.Let

me take this opportunity to thank Swamiji for granting permission to

post this excellent article on Holistic Approach to Sadhana, Swamiji

explains basic concepts and terms of Advaita Philosophy in very clear

terms.

(Source: http://www.vmission.org/vedanta/articles/index.htm)

 

warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Holistic Approach to Sadhana by Pujyaswami Atmanandaji

 

Life is one :

Sarvam khalvidam Brahma thunder the Upanishads.

Everything is Brahman alone. It is one divinity alone which is

manifesting in multifarious ways. He who realises this

transcendendal divinity as his own Self exudes its fragrence at

all his or her levels of personality. Whether it is the experience

of the ever-existent, self-effulgent joy at the level of mind, the

vision of all-pervasiveness of oneself, the realisation of the fact

that the Self alone is the real essence behind every process of

creation etc, whether it is acting with a motivation of pure

love, or it is the natural revealing of divine qualities - the stitha

pragnya - the man of true knowledge, very naturally exhibits it

all. This has to be very obvious because afterall it is one

divinity alone expressing in various ways.

 

A man of knowledge does not have to be all, but discover

himself to be all. During the time of his sadhana he does aligns

& integrates all his faculties to facilitate the realisation of this

one non-dual reality, but later just discovers himself to be all,

even at the level of creation outside. He discovers himself to

be in the chirping birds, in the smiling flowers, in the rising sun,

in the wafting winds or in the flowing waters of streams. All are

manifestation of one eternal life - which he knows to be his real

essence. The thrust of his sadhana is only to rectify the errors

which were erroneously brought about at the various levels of

his personality. As ignorance also has pervaded at all our levels

so a concerted effort is called for to tackle the problem in a

holistic way.

 

Integral approach to sadhana :

Strangely enough a fallacious idea about sadhana is

prevelent that there are different paths to the realisation of

truth. The so called Gyana Marg, Bhakti Marg, the path of

Karma, Raja Yoga etc. All sadhanas have a role to play. All of

them are directed at completely different levels of our

personlity. Physical well being and intelligent mind are not

alternates to choose from. Both are important. We have

balanced food, multifaceted education so also has to be the

approach in ones sadhana. There has to be very clear viveka

between end & means. Just as before undertaking any journey

we are firstly clear about the nature of our goal and the

available means to attain it, so also before undertaking any

sadhana it is extremely necessary that we are clear about

some fundamentals.

 

Like a specialist one should first discern the real problem

and the means to handle that problem. There is something

called the real means and secondary means. That which is the

real means eliminates the real problem, while that which is the

secondary means helps us to get prepared for eliminating the

real problem. What is our real problem ? It is a sense of

limitation, conditionings of time & space. As this is not natural

to us there is an intrinsic motivation to be free from this

limitation. The pangs of finitude are eliminated only by

awakening to the infinite. The posibility and the methodology of

this awakening is revealed in the Upanishads. They provide us

the whole map of this unique journey. Luckily infinite is

something which unlike finite things is present at all places and

times. It is right here & now. It pervades everything, every

pore, every cell, every gene, every thought and every emotion.

It is our very being. Just as water pervades all waves & ripples

so also everything is already pervaded by this eternal truth.

That which is already present but is just not known needs no

action for its attainment. It just has to be known.

 

Action is a means to attain something unattained or

maybe change that which is attained. None of this is applicable

here. Knowledge alone brings about its so called attainment.

There can be no other paths than this. Self-realisation is the

only way to God-realisation. But in order to bring about this

realisation we have to prepare our mind. We need a particular

kind of mind for every kind of knowledge. For Self-knowledge

we need a mind which is highly intelligent, at peace with itself,

fully integrated, sensitive, simple yet very dynamic, daring &

fearless. To bring about such a mind we have to use various

sadhanas. There has to be an integral approach to sadhana.

Role of different sadhanas :

 

Bhakti plays an important role to make a person sensitive,

selfless & loving. Such a person doesnt have any ego-centric

problems. He is at peace with himself, and has various good

divine qualities. The role of karma is to help purge various

vasanas. They are lingering impressions of our various past

experiences prompting their repeatition. The role of Yoga is to

help bring about a physical well-being, equanimity,

concentration & integration in the mind. It gives us the ability

to switch off the mind and turn intensely in any direction you

like. The role of gyana is to understand the truth of oneself.

Who am I ? What is this world ? How has it come about ? etc.

Vratas help bring about greater will-power etc. Every sadhana

has a definite role to play, and all are directed at a different

level all together. None of them is an alternate for the other.

So the ideal plan should be to give time for some studies,

practice Yoga, invoke devotion and also learn to actively &

positively do your karmas. Texts like Bhagwad Gita are no super

markets which have different stalls for different sadhakas. It

offers a holistic approach to sadhana to help bring about the

integration of all our faculties at the earliest. Thereafter it is

just the realisation of the infinite truth. Aham Brahmasmi