{"id":256,"date":"2023-03-22T04:28:08","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T04:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/?p=256"},"modified":"2023-04-01T22:58:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T22:58:10","slug":"the-key-points-of-sadhana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/general\/the-key-points-of-sadhana\/","title":{"rendered":"The Key Points of Sadhana"},"content":{"rendered":"

20 Key Points of Your Sadhana Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Get up at 4 a.m. daily. This is Brahmamuhurta which is extremely favourable for
\nmeditation on God.<\/p>\n

2. Asana: Sit on Padma, Siddha or Sukha Asana for Japa and meditation for half
\nan hour, facing the east or the north. Increase the period gradually to three hours.
\nDo Sirshasana and Sarvangasana for keeping up Brahmacharya and health. Take
\nlight physical exercises as walking, etc., regularly. Do twenty Pranayamas.<\/p>\n

3. Japa: Repeat any Mantra as pure Om or Om Namo Narayanaya, Om Namah
\nSivaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Saravanabhavaya Namah, Sita
\nRam, Sri Ram, Hari Om, or Gayatri, according to your taste or inclination, from
\n108 to 21,600 times daily.<\/p>\n

4. Dietetic Discipline: Take Sattvic food (Suddha Ahara). Give up chillies,
\ntamarind, garlic, onion, sour articles, oil, mustard, asafoetida. Observe moderation
\nin diet (Mitahara). Do not overload the stomach. Give up those things which the
\nmind likes best for a fortnight in a year. Eat simple fool. Milk and fruits help
\nconcentration. Take food as medicine to keep the life going. Eating for enjoyment
\nis sin. Give up salt and sugar for a month. You must be able to live on rice, Dhal
\nand bread without any chutney. Do not ask for extra salt for Dhal and sugar for
\ntea, coffee or milk.<\/p>\n

5. Have a separate meditation room under lock and key.<\/p>\n

6. Do charity regularly, every month, or even daily according to your means.<\/p>\n

7. Svadhyaya: Study systematically the Gita, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata,
\nVishnu-Sahasranama, Lalita-Sahasranama, Aditya Hridaya, the Upanishads or the
\nYoga Vasishtha, the Bible, the Zend Avesta, the Koran, the Tripitakas, the Granth
\nSahib, etc., from half an hour to one hour daily and have Suddha Vichara.<\/p>\n

8. Preserve the vital force (Veerya) very, very carefully. Veerya is God in motion or
\nmanifestation\u2014Vibhuti. Veerya is all power. Veerya is all money. Veerya is the
\nessence of life, thought and intelligence.<\/p>\n

9. Memorize some prayers\/Slokas, Stotras and repeat them as soon as you sit in
\nthe Asana before starting Japa or meditation. This will elevate the mind quickly.<\/p>\n

10. Have constant Satsanga. Give up bad company, smoking, meat and alcoholic
\nliquors entirely. Do not develop any evil habits.<\/p>\n

11. Fast on Ekadasi or live on milk and fruits only.<\/p>\n

12. Have Japa Mala (rosary) round your neck or in your pocket or underneath your
\npillow at night.<\/p>\n

13. Observe Mouna (vow of silence) for a couple of hours daily.<\/p>\n

14. Speak the truth at all cost. Speak a little. Speak sweetly.<\/p>\n

15. Lead a happy, contented life. Avoid unnecessary worry. Have plain living and
\nhigh thinking. Reduce your wants. If you have four shirts, reduce the number to
\nthree or two.<\/p>\n

16. Never hurt anybody (Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah). Control anger by love,
\nKshama (forgiveness) and Daya (compassion).<\/p>\n

17. Do not depend upon servants. Self-reliance is the highest of all virtues.<\/p>\n

18. Think of the mistakes you have committed during the course of the day, just
\nbefore retiring to bed (self-analysis). Keep daily diary and self-correction register.
\nDo not brood over past mistakes.<\/p>\n

19. Remember that death is awaiting you at every moment. Never fail to fulfil your
\nduties. Have pure conduct (Sadachara).<\/p>\n

20. Think of God as soon as you wake up and just before you go to sleep.
\nSurrender yourself completely to God (Saranagati).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 Key Points of Your Sadhana Practice 1. Get up at 4 a.m. daily. This is Brahmamuhurta which is extremely favourable for meditation on God. 2. Asana: Sit on Padma, Siddha or Sukha Asana for Japa and meditation for half an hour, facing the east or the north. Increase the period gradually to three hours. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[20],"class_list":{"0":"post-256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-swami-sivananda"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandesha.sivanandayoga.org\/teachings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}