Work and Sadhana / Michael B.

[Guest guest]

Dear Michael,

 

Sorry for the lateness of this reply. A couple of weeks

ago you wrote:

 

> Many years ago, when I decided to somehow perform

> sadhana during all my waking hours, I was fortunate to

> have a very simple job....

 

I've always imagined that this is what happens when

somebody finally gets serious: constant sadhana.

Unfortunately I've never been able to get serious so I

don't really know. Can you say something more about

this? How did it turn out? What was the source or

cause of the motivation or resolution that allowed you to

remain focused in this way? Did it seem voluntary? Is there

any sort of advice that can help somebody attain the

necessary determination?

 

Best wishes,

 

Rob

 

-

"Michael Bowes" <rmichaelbowes

<RamanaMaharshi>

Tuesday, February 17, 2004 12:00 PM

Re: [RamanaMaharshi] Work and Sadhana

 

 

> Dear Sidhartha,

>

>

> --- Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs wrote:

> > Dear Shri Sidhartha,

> >

> > you wrote: > Bhagavan Shri Ramana has repeatedly

> > said that work and sadhana are not contradictory

> > and the two

> > > can go along. However, in the quest of truth , it

> > is felt extreemely difficult in day to day

> > > practical life to maintain the levells of

> > awareness needed for self enquiry during the working

> > > hours.

> >

> > My experience and observation is that most people

> > find this to be the case .I find it is better

> > not to strain or be over concerned about this or one

> > loses and wastes the necessary energy for

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Rob,

 

It is always nice to hear from you.

 

--- Rob Sacks <editor wrote:

> Dear Michael,

>

> Sorry for the lateness of this reply. A couple of

> weeks

> ago you wrote:

>

> > Many years ago, when I decided to somehow perform

> > sadhana during all my waking hours, I was

> fortunate to

> > have a very simple job....

 

 

> I've always imagined that this is what happens when

> somebody finally gets serious: constant sadhana.

> Unfortunately I've never been able to get serious so

> I

> don't really know.

 

You've always seemed serious to me Rob. :-)

 

> Can you say something more about

> this? How did it turn out? What was the source or

> cause of the motivation or resolution that allowed

> you to

> remain focused in this way? Did it seem voluntary?

> Is there

> any sort of advice that can help somebody attain

> the

> necessary determination?

>

> Best wishes,

>

> Rob

>

 

SNIP

 

I shall try to answer your points one by one although

it may not be in the order asked.

 

You asked:

"What was the source or cause of the motivation or

resolution that allowed you to remain focused in this

way?"

 

The motivation wasn't something that I exactly

conjured up. I was born into a religious (Catholic)

family. And I was sent to Catholic elementary school

and then on to two years at a Catholic High School.

And even though I was an "ornery" little kid, I was

very interested in religion. From a very young age, I

can remember wanting to become a Trappist Monk because

they "practiced silence". I don't know why their

"silence" made such an impression on me; but it did.

I remember asking the parish priests to provide me

with a copy of the little book of prayers that they

practiced every day. They were happy to oblige. And

during the time of my youth I had a recurring dream

that would occur several times a year. It was a

strange dream that had a very frightening ending.

Even though the dream had some very pleasant parts, I

would awaken after this dream and would be quite

disturbed. This dream happened over and over, year

after year until I was in my late teens and then it

ceased. It took me years before I understood the

dream was a remembrance of a past life. And in that

life I had fallen from yoga. Later on in my life I

found these words of the Gita that I resonate with

whole heartedly:

 

6:41-44 The man who has fallen away from yoga goes to

the worlds of the righteous. Having lived there for

unnumbered years, he is reborn in the home of the pure

and the prosperous. Or he is born in a family of yogis

rich in wisdom. Verily, such a birth is hard to gain

in this world. There he comes in touch with the

knowledge acquired in his former body, O son of the

Kurus, and strive still further for perfection. By

that former practice alone he is led on in spite of

himself....

 

So the interest has always been there for me. I

became disillusioned with Catholicism and eventually

became disillusioned with Christianity in general.

That turned out to be a boon because I learned that I

don't need nobody's authority. You don't either.

Nobody does.

 

By chance I learned of Yoga through Richard Alpert's

book, "Be Here Now". I started practicing Yoga and the

extent of my practice slowly grew and grew until one

day, I knew that I could and should extend my practice

to my every waking hour. Some persons debunk ashtanga

yoga; but when true yoga is practiced for the right

reasons, then there is nothing to fear, on the

contrary.

 

You asked: "Did it seem voluntary?"

Well, in the beginning it seemed quite voluntary. The

"interest" and "motivation" were aspects that were

always there in me. The decisions about what to do

seemed quite voluntary at first. Later on however, at

the time of achieving or arriving at "quiet mind", my

whole life as well as my sadhana seemed to have a mind

of its own. I mean, after all, when you don't think,

or desire, or dream of the future, or reflect on the

past, then who is deciding what to do and what is that

process? And who is doing it? LIFE is doing it

that's who. In that condition, one realizes that

"life lives us", we don't live life even if we "think"

that we do.

 

You asked: "Is there any sort of advice that can help

somebody attain the necessary determination?"

 

"Determination" is the real "key", the "secret". Yes

it is. How to achieve determination? To awaken and

to develop the necessary determination, one must

select a sadhana that is easy and fun. "Fun" is the

key to developing determination. I mean, wouldn't you

really get "psyched up" about having fun. :-) If, as

one is practicing, one is having "fun", then one tends

to practice more and develop more quickly. In my

case, I found yoga, the eight limbed yoga of

Patanjali, to be fun. All I can say is that as I

began the sadhana, and even as I continued, many signs

and wonderful things occurred that made me feel

certain that I was on the right path.

 

I was in the horse training business for many years.

One of the things that I learned was that if at all

possible, the trainer should make the training process

pleasurable to the horse. If the horse is happy then

the horse is keen to learn. And once the “happy”

horses are fully trained they perform better. In the

beginning I practiced sadhana in the same way that one

develops a horse--slowly, slowly--always having fun

and making use of a variety of techniques. In the

beginning variety can be very beneficial. Weeks and

months passed and the practice grew and grew as a joy

and a blessing--not as a hardship and a drudgery.

Eventually I used japam to carry the sadhana out into

the whole of my daily life. Keeping the chosen name

with every breath, I went about my daily activities.

It was such a joy.

 

I feel very sorry when I hear the neo-advaitists

debunking effort and sadhana. I feel very very sorry.

They say, "You don't need to do anything, all you

have to do is..........? Nothing............? They

are only preaching a philosophy, not a reality. I

feel very sorry about that. I know that the best

approach is to make use of everything that we have at

our disposal. Use the body, use the intellect, use

the mind, use the breath, use devotion, use work, use

them all in the quest. That's the thing to do. You

have a body, use it. You have breath, use it. You

have a voice, use it. Everything is a manifestation

of the SELF and is used in, and as, and for the SELF.

To ignore the life around us and in us, and to reject

certain well known tools is ignorance.

 

 

You asked: "How did it turn out?"

 

Well one day, I woke up and I couldn't keep my mantra

anymore. I just couldn't. What was left was a

quietude and a peace. At first I thought that

something bad had happened. But, I learned to accept

it for what it was, "The peace that surpasses

understanding." That wasn't the end however. I

persisted in this condition for many years and for

some reason was prompted to practice Atma Vichara,

which to me is the practice of samadhi.

 

I don't practice Atma Vichara anymore. I don't

practice anything. Having encountered the Lord of the

Universe, and having realized my/our very existence as

THAT, there is nothing else left to be done. At

least, not right now. Who knows what the future

brings? Not I.

 

I’m still kind of an “ornery” kid though. :-)

 

Warmest regards,

 

michael

[Guest guest]

Dear Rob,

 

A couplle of comments, if I might:

 

First, for constant sadhana (for this, I think inquiry), it has to be

off the mental level. The mind comes and goes in different states. It

is not activie during deep sleep. So for sadhana to be constant, it

must something deeper than mental.

 

Next, one inquiry approach that I have found productive during

working and activity is to look for the "substrate." There is

something that is always. This can be found within you. It is there

this very moment. It is closer to you than even your breath. What is

this?

 

Not two,

Richard

 

RamanaMaharshi, "Rob Sacks" <editor@r...>

wrote:

> Dear Michael,

>

> Sorry for the lateness of this reply. A couple of weeks

> ago you wrote:

>

> > Many years ago, when I decided to somehow perform

> > sadhana during all my waking hours, I was fortunate to

> > have a very simple job....

>

> I've always imagined that this is what happens when

> somebody finally gets serious: constant sadhana.

> Unfortunately I've never been able to get serious so I

> don't really know. Can you say something more about

> this? How did it turn out? What was the source or

> cause of the motivation or resolution that allowed you to

> remain focused in this way? Did it seem voluntary? Is there

> any sort of advice that can help somebody attain the

> necessary determination?

>

> Best wishes,

>

> Rob

>

> -

> "Michael Bowes" <rmichaelbowes>

> <RamanaMaharshi>

> Tuesday, February 17, 2004 12:00 PM

> Re: [RamanaMaharshi] Work and Sadhana

>

>

> > Dear Sidhartha,

> >

> >

> > --- Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs> wrote:

> > > Dear Shri Sidhartha,

> > >

> > > you wrote: > Bhagavan Shri Ramana has repeatedly

> > > said that work and sadhana are not contradictory

> > > and the two

> > > > can go along. However, in the quest of truth , it

> > > is felt extreemely difficult in day to day

> > > > practical life to maintain the levells of

> > > awareness needed for self enquiry during the working

> > > > hours.

> > >

> > > My experience and observation is that most people

> > > find this to be the case .I find it is better

> > > not to strain or be over concerned about this or one

> > > loses and wastes the necessary energy for

> >