by Sri Bmal Mohanty
VOL No. 20
June. 2002

PREPARATIONS FOR SADHANA -Part 1

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

We shall try to understand the contribution of each of these supports towards fulfillment of our ultimate objective. Why should we understand it? Because with that bit of additional knowledge we can work out our own requirements for sadhana.

To begin with, each one of us must have a sankalpa or determination. This, though sounds simple, yet is one of the most serious drawbacks in the path of sadhana. A sustained effort can never be achieved unless right in the beginning one has determination in mind to continue relentlessly until the goal is reached. Sadhana is not for the weak hearted or weak minded. Many people you will come across who take up spirituality as a pastime or out of curiosity. What to talk of spiritual success, such insincere people do not achieve or retain even any material success in life.

 The first prerequisite before one starts sadhana is to firmly instill in mind the determination to spiritually develop, to make use of this precious and difficult to obtain human life, towards its logical and rightful purpose.

Our scriptures have taught us that in order to prepare oneself towards self realisation, towards satchidananda, one must work up to create that unshakable resolve or sankalpa. One can cite hundreds of inspirational prayers driving this point home.

Asato ma sadgamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, mrtyorma amrtam gamaya (Br Ar V.1.1) is the cry of a determined soul wanting to lift itself from falsity to truth, from ignorance to knowledge, from decay to everlasting

When the great treatise Bramhasutras on the knowledge of Bramhan begins with athato Bramhajignyasa - I shall now venture into knowing Bramhan, it is a sankalpa. When the buddhist monk begins his chant with dhammam sharanam gaccami, Buddham sharanam gaccami - I shall enter into dharma, I shall surrender to The Buddha, it is sankalpa. We are all aware of that beautiful declaration `If the God exists,then I shall. I must find him.' - that is a sankalpa.

It is the sankalpa that does not let you sink in the midstream. Sankalpa strengthens all atmaprayas- all individual efforts so necessary in the spiritual journey.

The kathopanishad gives the call Uttisthata jagrata, prapya varan nibodhata. Arise, Awake Go for the ultimate knowledge. If one does not have sankalpa these are no more than empty words. If one does not have sankalpa this very path of self realisation will become kshurasya dhara nishita duratyaya durgam.- sharp as a razor's edge difficult to cross.

Before we ask the Guru can I have enlightenment?, we should ask ourselves- are we determined to have enlightenment? - That is sankalpa.

Once you have the sankalpa the next thing to check is something down to earth and mundane. It is swasthya or the health of the sadhaka

This is another unique thinking in sanatana philosophy- this importance attached to the body and its well being. On one hand it says that the human body is a mere tool. The jiva or being is not the body but on the other hand it also says sariramadyam khalu dharmasadhanam. Before venturing into dharma sadhana, prepare your body. This is because our seers of the past developed the perfect wisdom to see this human body in its most correct perspective. They knew exactly to what extent its usefulness is. They saw in the human body the nature's finest work of a powerful tool which when rightly used shall hasten the pilgrim's progress towards fulfillment. They decried the very idea of mental attachment to this impermanent outer casing of flesh and bones and at the same time saw the wondrous potential of this instrument available. As Sri Aurobindo said `the body is not a mere mass of living matter but a mystic bridge between the spiritual and the physical being.

The Yoga system has really two components- the preservation for use of what we possess and development of what must develop. Body provides the crucible in which this development takes place.

Thus the physical aspect of the yoga in the form of Hatha was developed. In the true oriental mindset every good idea must be taken to the extreme of its logical perfection and hatha yoga became a science in its own right.

But the basic purpose of physical culture was never lost sight of . Its sole purpose is to utilise all its faculties - however limited and imperfect they may be- to propel the developmental process of the being in the spiritual sphere. If I have a wonderful tool in my hand that helps in my purpose, then I must keep it in perfect working condition and prolong its usefulness as long as possible and until it no more serves my purpose and I shall need another tool or another body. The entire gamut of pranayama and asanas and kundalini and other prakriyas were developed with a scientific knowledge so perfect that even the modern medical science gets more and more awestruck, the more it studies this aspect of the sanatana philosophy.