[Advaita-l] Sadhana?

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

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
VenkatraghavanOn 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,
VenkatraghavanOn 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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