Guest guest Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 In one of my earlier posts, I had written about my question to Swamiji asking him if "Chanting the Chandi with pranayam and proper Asan is a purification " and he had replied "Yes absolutely" I had followed up with him and asked him where the "right attitude" fitted in the statement above. ie does one need to have a proper intent for the purification to take place , or whether we get the "correct" results regardless of the intent. Swamiji says " The very fact that we desire to chant is a purification. The very act of attempting to chant is a purification. So even without the perfect or "Right" attitude, there is an intention to purify and an act of purification. " Here are some of my own comments . I had forwarded them to Swamiji and he has agreed with/approved them. All three , ie Asan ,Pranayam and the "Right" Attitude are indispensible in purification. ie we can chant all we want, and we can practice pranayam all we want, but if we dont have the right attitude we will not get anywhere. And the vice versa is also true, we can be filled with good intentions, but if we dont have the strength to stand up for our convictions we will not get anywhere. Self study gives and refines the intent/attitude , the chanting and pranayam give the energy to carry it through. If I remain a "good" person without doing sadhana , I may land up getting frustrated because I dont have the ability to carry out or express the "good"ness in a constructive way. So the right attitude is the seed, the sadhana provides the climate and other factors for its successful germination, and for its nourishment and growth into a sturdy tree. Let us then put all our efforts towards sadhana for our purification. Jai Maa !!! Latha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 I'd like to remind everyone that sadhana is not just done sitting on a tiger skin rug. Sadhana is done all day, every day. Everything we do is sadhana. And if what we are doing is not sadhana, then she will eliminate it for us automatically, as long as we desire to do only sadhana. The attitude of gratitude applies not only to our time of meditation but also to out times away from meditation. In fact, it is the attitude of gratitude that pulls us back to our meditation, even when we aren't sitting on our assan. Brian "In the begining, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Program. --- On Thu 08/12, Latha Nanda < lathananda > wrote: Latha Nanda [ lathananda] Thu, 12 Aug 2004 15:43:58 -0000 Purification - 12 - Sadhana _____________ No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 Along these lines, here is another selection from Pandit Tigunait's book The Tradition of the Himalayan Masters. It is taken from a paraphrase translation of a portion of chapter 19 of the Tripura Rahasya. The guru Dattatreya is answering the question of his student, Parashurama. The only purpose of spiritual practices is to remove the threefold impurities. How much practice you need depends on how many of these impurities you have. Commitment to practice comes only with the desire for liberation. Without this desire, direct realization is impossible, no matter how much you listen to a teacher or contemplate a philosophical truth. Without a sincere desire for liberation, listening, studying, and contemplation are mere arts. Mastering an art does not lead to the highest goal. A weak desire for liberation is useless. A transient desire arising from hearing about the glory of reality is not desire. It is excitement, a momentary curiosity. Such a momentary curiosity is not sufficient to inspire a person to make a sincere effort for attainment. For attainment, one needs tivra mumuksha, intense desire for liberation. The stronger the desire for liberation, the more quickly one attains the goal. Intense desire motivates an aspirant to whole-hearted practice. Such motivation and unlimited courage to "carry through" is called absorption in sadhana. Such a desire is sparked when one realizes that everything else is trivial compared to liberation. Recognizing the worthlessness of worldly objects creates dispassion or non-attachment. The greater the dispassion, the more the yearning increases. In turn, dispassion fuels desire for liberation and this desire leads to absorption in practice. Wholeheartedness or absorption in sadhana is the major precipitating factor in the attainment of enlightenment. Parashurama: Sir, what is this wholeheartedness or absorption in sadhana? Dattatreya: Resolve with full confidence and determination: "No matter what happens I will accomplish this. This ought to be achieved and I am the one to achieve it." The aspirant endowed with such single-minded resolution overcomes every obstacle. The more a person is absorbed in the practice, the sooner he or she attains the result. Chris , "Latha Nanda" <lathananda> wrote: > In one of my earlier posts, I had written about my question to > Swamiji asking him if "Chanting the Chandi with pranayam and proper > Asan is a purification " and he had replied "Yes absolutely" > > I had followed up with him and asked him where the "right attitude" > fitted in the statement above. ie does one need to have a proper > intent for the purification to take place , or whether we get > the "correct" results regardless of the intent. > > Swamiji says " The very fact that we desire to chant is a > purification. The very act of attempting to chant is a purification. > So even without the perfect or "Right" attitude, there is an > intention to purify and an act of purification. " > > Here are some of my own comments . I had forwarded them to Swamiji > and he has agreed with/approved them. > > All three , ie Asan ,Pranayam and the "Right" Attitude are > indispensible in purification. > > ie we can chant all we want, and we can practice pranayam all we > want, but if we dont have the right attitude we will not get > anywhere. And the vice versa is also true, we can be filled with > good intentions, but if we dont have the strength to stand up for > our convictions we will not get anywhere. > > Self study gives and refines the intent/attitude , the chanting and > pranayam give the energy to carry it through. > > If I remain a "good" person without doing sadhana , I may land up > getting frustrated because I dont have the ability to carry out or > express the "good"ness in a constructive way. So the right attitude > is the seed, the sadhana provides the climate and other factors for > its successful germination, and for its nourishment and growth into > a sturdy tree. > > Let us then put all our efforts towards sadhana for our purification. > > Jai Maa !!! > Latha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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