Hari Om,
I completed the purascharana on Nov 3, 2013. Diwali day and the day of a total solar eclipse. As per Swami Sivananda's instruction to utilise eclipses for japa, I did the final rounds of my japa during the eclipse- this is supposed to have a severalfold greater effect than chanting at other times.
On the whole, the purascharana was a very good experience. The main benefits for me were:
1. Developing a regular habit of remembering God and His Name
2. Learning to discipline my mind
3. Having a regular daily sadhana
4. Feeling the Presence of God more than I have ever done. Feeling His Presence in nature- I find myself admiring nature more than ever before as a creation of God. I notice the sheer intelligence all around- the precise design of flowers, fruits, leaves- it reminds me of the Designer. If the design is so beautiful, how much more so must be the Designer. It has increased my desire to discover the Designer.
The downside has been that I have more migraines than ever before during this practice. While my work shifts (lack of adequate sleep and food) at times have probably contributed, I feel more sensitive than ever before to sleep/food and even computers (working at computers seems to trigger the headaches). I wonder whether the mantra practice has contributed to this- it may well have done, though I have no regrets. I feel that the purascharana has helped purge some of my past negative karmas.
I am grateful to Durga and Hari who alone have made this sadhana possible. To my Guru Swami Sivananda, embodiment of the Divine, who made this possible. To the respected Swamiji at the Ashram in Rishikesh who guided and inspired me. I pray that the Divine may allow me to continue to do sadhana that is pleasing to it.
For now, I am taking a break from purascharana. Psychologically, I need one. My mind feels fatigued somehow. I am going to continue my mantra japa but at slightly less than the previous number of malas. I will also add in some other sadhana- such as Hare Rama mahamantra chanting, likhita japa and more asana and pranayama. I also want to study the puranas, and learn hymns such as the Narayana Suktam, Sri Suktam and others. I will focus my attention on these practices in the coming 3-6 months. And then, when I am ready, ideally in the next 6 months or so, I will start my next purascharana.
I dedicate this purascharana to the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of all beings everywhere.
Jaya Sivananda Gurudev!
Om Sarvam Sri RadhaKrishnaSivananda-arpanamastu
I completed the purascharana on Nov 3, 2013. Diwali day and the day of a total solar eclipse. As per Swami Sivananda's instruction to utilise eclipses for japa, I did the final rounds of my japa during the eclipse- this is supposed to have a severalfold greater effect than chanting at other times.
On the whole, the purascharana was a very good experience. The main benefits for me were:
1. Developing a regular habit of remembering God and His Name
2. Learning to discipline my mind
3. Having a regular daily sadhana
4. Feeling the Presence of God more than I have ever done. Feeling His Presence in nature- I find myself admiring nature more than ever before as a creation of God. I notice the sheer intelligence all around- the precise design of flowers, fruits, leaves- it reminds me of the Designer. If the design is so beautiful, how much more so must be the Designer. It has increased my desire to discover the Designer.
The downside has been that I have more migraines than ever before during this practice. While my work shifts (lack of adequate sleep and food) at times have probably contributed, I feel more sensitive than ever before to sleep/food and even computers (working at computers seems to trigger the headaches). I wonder whether the mantra practice has contributed to this- it may well have done, though I have no regrets. I feel that the purascharana has helped purge some of my past negative karmas.
I am grateful to Durga and Hari who alone have made this sadhana possible. To my Guru Swami Sivananda, embodiment of the Divine, who made this possible. To the respected Swamiji at the Ashram in Rishikesh who guided and inspired me. I pray that the Divine may allow me to continue to do sadhana that is pleasing to it.
For now, I am taking a break from purascharana. Psychologically, I need one. My mind feels fatigued somehow. I am going to continue my mantra japa but at slightly less than the previous number of malas. I will also add in some other sadhana- such as Hare Rama mahamantra chanting, likhita japa and more asana and pranayama. I also want to study the puranas, and learn hymns such as the Narayana Suktam, Sri Suktam and others. I will focus my attention on these practices in the coming 3-6 months. And then, when I am ready, ideally in the next 6 months or so, I will start my next purascharana.
I dedicate this purascharana to the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of all beings everywhere.
Jaya Sivananda Gurudev!
Om Sarvam Sri RadhaKrishnaSivananda-arpanamastu
Hi Vishnupriya
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on an excellent blog and good luck on your spiritual journey. I have just begun the journey of mantra jaap earlier this year and am halfway through my first purascharana. I was curious to read that your migraines went up as I noticed the same. I seem to have migraines very frequently . How are your migraines now? Did they increase or decrease as you went further since you are in your third round now?
Also I noticed a lot of external disturbances like other people fighting around you and disrupting, some illness or the other or just plain boredom or depression. Did you face this too? Does this go away after sometime? What has been your experience?
Warmly
Suchi
Hi Suchi,
DeleteThank you for the kind comments and good wishes. Nice to hear that you are half-way through your purascharana... it's always great to hear from others doing this practice.
My migraines are slightly better this year. They were pretty bad from 2012 until a couple of months ago.
My Guru says people doing sadhana get a lot of health issues due to needing to rapidly pay off past negative karma in order to be able to progress in spiritual life. I accept the illnesses I face in this light.
However I try to take practical steps to reduce the migraines as much as possible- e.g. eating regular meals, adequate fluids, ensuring enough sleep ( as lack of these are common triggers as per modern medicine). These steps have given some relief but I still get migraines at least once a month.
I recognise the other issues you mention too- people fighting, illness, boredom, low mood. Have experienced these and continue to occasionally. However I tell myself that these obstacles shall pass, and just carry on with my sadhana which I feel is important to me.
I wish you the very best with your purascharana. May God bless you with every happiness and success.
Warm regards,
Vishnupriya
Thanks for your prompt response Vishnupriya. I agree with you that the illnesses and other disturbances we face are karmic in nature. I might stock up on butterbur extract to help with the migraine.
DeleteI also had another question regarding the purascharana, do you add an extra % instead of the homam, japam etc? I add 20% for the anusthana . Just wanted to clarify if this was required for purascharana as well?
Warmly
Suchi
You're very welcome Suchi. My Guru Sivananda says 10% extra japa should be done at the end of purascharana if the other completion rituals (homam etc) cannot be due to circumstances. A elderly Swami disciple of Sivananda who guides me on this practice says one need not get too hung up on completion rituals if the sole purpose of purascharana is to cultivate the habit of God remembrance- which is the case with many sadhakas including myself.
DeleteNonetheless I am a bit of a stickler for details at times, and feel I want to do the necessary 'completion rituals'. However my plan is to do a single larger completion ritual at the end of my series of eight purascharanas (rather than doing a small one after each purascharana) as this works better for me.
I need to do 10% extra japa per purascharana i.e. 80,000 recitations. So in total I need to do 8 x 80,000 = 640,000 extra japa as a completion ritual for the eight purascharanas.
My plan is to do an extra 800,000 recitations (effectively another purascharana) after I complete the series of eight purascharanas as my 'completion ritual'- this will provide a little extra beyond than the 640,000 required.
I think one can do what feels is right for oneself in these cases if the goal is spiritual development (For fulfilment of material desires, my understanding is that purascharana rules are to be followed in a more traditional way). Hope this helps.
Warm regards,
Vishnupriya
Thank you again Vishnupriya, that clarifies things a bit 😊. I will go for my usual 20% after the required 800,000 . I guess sticklers like us need to be mentally satisfied more than anything else.
DeleteWhen you say "traditional way"for purascharana, what exactly does that encompass? Simply because my current purascharana is for a material purpose and i want to make sure I haven't missed out anything vital.
Warmly
Suchi
Dear Suchi,
DeleteThe 'traditional way' of doing a purascharana involves adopting certain lifestyle measures while doing this practice. These are related to diet, location, company and so on. Not all these measures are easy to implement in the modern lives that many of us lead in cities.
However, I think if we put in a decent effort to stick to these as much as possible, that may well be adequate.
Do check out the links below for further details on the traditional rules for purascharana:
http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=525
http://gurudevsivananda.org/japa.pdf
Hope this helps. I wish you the very best with your purascharana.
Take care.
Warm regards,
Vishnupriya
Dear Vishnupriya
DeleteThank you very much, this has been very informative and useful - especially the link to the book you sent, a treasure trove for sadhakas. Im going through it now and it is fantastic.
I agree that with the constraints of modern life it is hard to follow the sadhana to a "t" but that should not stop us from trying our best. Thankfully I haven't missed out anything vital from what i can see.
Thanks very much once again and good luck with your sadhana. Talk to you again sometime. Take care.
Warmly
Suchi
Dear Suchi,
DeleteGlad you found our chat helpful. I agree that the book on Japa yoga is amazing- I dip into it every now and again for inspiration to stay on the path of mantra sadhana.
Very nice chatting to you. Thanks for the kind wishes and the same to you with your practice.
Take care.
Warm regards,
Vishnupriya
Dear Vishnupriya, Your blogs are inspiring, thank you very much for posting. I have one question: does one have to do the entire quota of daily japa in one sitting, or can one do the daily quota in multiple sittings? And if multiple sittings are allowed, does one have to take bath etc. at the beginning of every sitting? Thank you vary much. -Kailash
ReplyDeleteNamaste,
DeleteThank you for the kind words. Multiple sittings are fine, bathing before each sitting is not mandatory.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes with your sadhana.
Namaskaram, thank you for sharing thr link to explain how to do puraschsrana. If you do not have a guru, can you pick any mantra? Also, one of the rules is to avoid women. Is the intention here just to suggest celibacy, so if you are a woman you should avoid mixed company? Thank you for your kind explanation.
ReplyDeleteNamaskaram,
DeleteYes you can choose any mantra in general, except for Sri Vidya mantras and mantras with bija syllables apart from Om (those must only be recited under the guidance of a genuine Guru as they can rapidly awaken energies that one may not be ready to handle). The Vedic and Puranic mantras suggested in Sivananda's book (and which I have also described in this blog) are all safe and appropriate for purascharana. They are also very effective in awakening our spiritual nature in a gentle and steady way that we can safely manage.
With regard to avoiding women, yes the advice is to either be completely celibate or alternatively have moderate relations (depending upon what suits one's life circumstances).
The broader principle is to exercise some degree of control over all the senses based on one's capacity. Perfection in this cannot be expected from most people at least initially; it usually gets better with time and spiritual practice, and there will be ups and downs.
Wish you the very best with your purascharana if you are considering one. May God, the universal Guru, bless you.
Vishnupriya