Sadhana

Sadhana means spiritual exercise by a Sadhu or a Sadhaka to attain a desired goal. The goal of sadhana is to attain some stage, which can be either moksha, liberation from the cycle of birth and death (Samsara), or a particular goal such as the blessing by a deity through his or her appearance before the Sadhaka at the end of the limited Sadhana. Sadhana can involve meditation, puja to a deity, namasmarana (sometimes with the help of a japa mala), mortification of the flesh or unorthodox practices such as in a smashana sadhana on a cremation ground. Each type of Yoga entails its own type of sadhana.

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To embark on a sadhana, a guru is required to give one the necessary know-how and the seed for the future result, in the form of some diksha, initiation, which he or she has received from his or her guru. Nowadays, all kinds of pseudo-gurus promise all kinds of results, without being able to give proper initiation, know-how and the required seed of the future result. Those pseudo-sadhanas are fruitless, or do not go beyond any immediate result such as derived from any practice faithfully executed.

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To find out whether a sadhana is genuine, it should be researched as to how it is supported by tradition, i.e. the line of experienced sadhakas who have executed that sadhana throughout the generations, their writings, and the present varied community of sadhus in that line. A genuine sadhana is conforming to Shastra (the writings of the past). The triplicity of guru, sadhu, shastra describes this complex process of verification necessary to establish a sadhana as genuine and effective: The presence of a genuine guru as the giver of access to the living tradition of a knowledge-system, practiced by sadhus down the ages, described by the shastra, texts written for their guidance.

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Spiritual: See:...

Sadhu: In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for a renounced ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and even dharma (duty). The sadhu is solely dedicated to achieving moksha (liberation) through meditat...

Sadhaka: A s?dhaka (Sanskrit) is someone who follows a particular s?dhana, or a way of life designed to realize the goal of one's ultimate ideal, whether it is merging with Brahman or realization of one's personal deity. The word is related to the sanskrit s?dhu, which is derived from the verb root s?dh-, to...