[Advaita-l] Sadhana?

[Boris Nikiforov]

Thank you very much.

The replies are very good and helpful indeed. I understand the importance
of the early hours before the dawn. As far as I know, there is a special
time, Brahmamuhurta. Wiki says it starts 1h 36mins before sunrise.
Probably, I should arrange my life in such a way that I could do japa and
study Vedanta during Brahmamuhurta and before sleeping. Sadhana Panchakam
by Sri Shankaracarya is just great. Thanks a lot.

~
Boris

2015-09-27 17:57 GMT+03:00 Sunil Bhattacharjya <
sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com>:

> Dear Boris,
>
> It was nice that you got good replies from our fellow members. If I may
> add, please look at you own situation and necessities. In the olden days in
> India, devout people used to get up early in the morning before Sunrise and
> offer the daily prayers and meditate and then only start the day. So also
> around the Sunset the people said their prayers. That is not all. People
> offered prayers in the bed in the morning immediately after waking up and
> before leaving the bed and so also people prayed in the bed before
> sleeping. There has also been the practice of praying at at any time of the
> day and that is called Ajapa japa and some say this to be the best japa, as
> that is spontaneous.
>
> Secondly, sleep well. may be 7 hours a day or more as your body needs
> depending on the physical exertions during the day and do not sacrifice the
> sleep in order to get up early in the morning to pray. Sleeping early, if
> possible, may be the best way to accommodate good sleep and early morning
> prayer.
>
> Best wishes,
> Sunil KB
>
>
>
> On Sunday, September 27, 2015 3:05 AM, Venkatraghavan S <
> agnimile at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Sri Boris, you have received good answers from the group to your queries.
> Hope this helps you get started. The important thing to note is not focus
> on what others are doing, but to focus inward on yourself. Each person is
> at a different point in the path, so the specifics of what works for one
> person are not relevant to someone else.
> In general though, one should be regular and timely in the performance of
> japa - that is, settle on a time of the day and duration of japa that you
> are comfortable with and stick to it daily. As you get settled into a
> routine, you will start observing how your mind operates, how long it is
> able to repeat the mantra, how often it gets distracted halfway through the
> mantra with some other passing thought. Don't worry or feel frustrated if
> the mind gets distracted - that is the mind's nature - gently bring it back
> to the words of the mantra.
> Remember, don't get caught in achieving a specific outcome from the japa,
> the idea is to let the process "prepare your mind" over time to be ready
> for vedAnta. A goal-oriented approach (sa-kAma karma) may lead you to
> achieve the goal, but that only serves to perpetuate samsAra. Instead, what
> we want is to do is prepare our mind to be able to accept and assimilate
> VedAnta, and that only happens through the performance of a
> process-oriented nishkAma karma for some time.
> Just my 2c worth.
> Regards
> Venkatraghavan
> On 26 Sep 2015 20:01, "Boris Nikiforov" <boris108 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thank you very much for your kind answers.
>
> My spiritual level is low, I'm just a beginner.
>
> As far as I can understand, mantra japa is an important step to Advaita
> and is very helpful. So probably I can continue chanting Hare Krishna
> mantra, Pranava, and Mahavakyas. Also, vedAnta shravaNam, mananam, and
> nidhidhyAsanam are very important parts of sadhana. Do I understand
> correctly?
>
> How much time do you usually spend for mantra japa every day?
>
> ~
> Boris
>
> 2015-09-26 20:38 GMT+03:00 Venkatraghavan S <agnimile at gmail.com>:
>
> I would qualify your statement and say that it depends on the level of
> spiritual maturity of the aspirant. Within advaita tradition, mantra japa
> would fall under upAsana, and is an accepted preparatory step required to
> earn the qualifications necessary to commence vedAnta shravaNam, mananam
> and nidhidhyAsanam.
> In answer to Sri Boris' question, hare krishna mantrA is a great mantrA
> and if chanted with sincerity and devotion, will greatly advance you in
> your spiritual quest.
> Regards,
> Venkatraghavan
> On 26 Sep 2015 18:24, "Sunil Bhattacharjya via Advaita-l" <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> Namaste,
> For an advaitin the Mahavakyas are the mantras.
> Regards,Sunil KB
>
>
>
>      On Saturday, September 26, 2015 9:24 AM, Boris Nikiforov via
> Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>
>  Pranams,
>
> I have a question on sadhana (the regular spiritual practice) for
> advaitins.
>
> Back in 1990s, I spent two years in Hare Krsna movement (ISKCON). We
> chanted 16 rounds of japa daily, we followed so called "4 regulative
> principles" (no meat, no alcohol etc.), and studied some books like
> "Bhagavad Gita."
>
> These days I have a great interest in Advaita, especially Shankaracarya's
> teaching and I read regularly some books in English (Shankara's bhashyas,
> translation of Brahma Sutras by Swami Sivananda, translation of Upainshads
> by Swami Nikhilananda) but I would like to have some sadhana too like japa.
> What is the common traditional sadhana which can be adopted by a white
> married middle aged man like me? I love to do some japa regularly but I
> don't know a mantra I can chant without diksha. Back in ISKCON, I would
> chant "Hare Krsna mantra." Are there any other mantras I could chant
> without a diksha? Some years ago, one of the senior members of Advaita-List
> kindly explained me that Advaita means a world view. I do my best to
> understand Advaita world view studying books but this question is about
> practice.
>
> I would be thankful for any recommendations.
>
> ~
> Boris
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