Hari Aum.
I completed my fourth purascharana of the ashtakshara mantra in the last few days. I want to write a bit about my experiences with it here. The aim of this is to make the point that spiritual sadhana does produce results even while living an ordinary life as a householder in a city (and that one does not have to be a wandering sadhu in the Himalayas for this). The name of God has a transformative effect in all places.
Since November 2011, by the grace of God and my Guru, Sivananda, not a day has passed without my doing some form of sadhana involving the name of God, specifically the names of Vishnu/Krishna and more specifically, the ashtakshara mantra of Narayana.
Also, since January 2012 till date, I have completed four purascharanas of the ashtakshara mantra. My Guru defines a purascharana as 100,000 x the number of syllables in the mantra. So a purascharana of ashtakshara, the eight-syllable mantra, is 800,000 and I have completed four times this number (actually a bit more, as I've done japa in between the purascharanas too of course).
After completion of this japa portion of the purascharana, my Guru says one can do the required amount of homam (fire ritual), tarpanam (water offerings) and marjanam (water ritual) if possible. If not possible, he says "you can do feeding and charity according to your capacity if you cannot adhere to the above strictly" (i.e. to the post-japa rituals). http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=525
I have done a few homams myself and with the help of a priest during the four purascharanas. I have also done as my Guru advises and donated to various charitable institutions including his ashram in Rishikesh.
What has been the effect of these four purascharanas? What has been the benefit for me in doing them?
Well, after the first three purascharanas, the main effect was feeling much more connected to God, much better at remembering God (which itself is an important sadhana). Also development of the witnessing side of the mind-- the side of the mind that watches what is going on in the rest of the mind (again, a necessary quality in a yogi). I also feel that this practice has improved my character and made me a kinder and more patient person.
The fourth purascharana was more challenging than the others for a variety of reasons. It also took longer to complete (2 years and 3 months approximately; normally takes me under 2 years). This is mostly because I became pregnant and had a baby during the purascharana (the arrival of my daughter has been a blessing though, and looking after her is an important spiritual sadhana for me as I feel that she too is a manifestation of God). It has also been more rewarding in terms of spiritual experiences.
I know yogis say one should not run after spiritual experiences but rather, just keep doing sadhana until one attains God. However, many gurus including my own, have also written about spiritual experiences as being useful signposts on the spiritual path. They are not a goal in themselves, but they do encourage one to continue sadhana until the real spiritual goal is attained.
So I would say I had more spiritual experiences in this purascharana compared with the others. I've had some very auspicious dreams of my Guru and God, and some dreams than came true (predictive dreams--I've written about these in other posts). These things never happened before and made me feel my sadhana is definitely having some effect on those aspects of my being that modern science does not yet understand very well (the deeper layers of the mind).
During this purascharana, I also felt inspired to read about the life of Krishna from the beginning to the end as described in the sacred book, the Srimad Bhagavatam which was a useful sadhana in itself (and I also published books on Krishna's life on Amazon, the proceeds of which go towards the free medical work performed by my Guru's ashram in Rishikesh).
I'm feeling tired but happy on completion of this purascharana. I feel an important milestone has been crossed. I plan to take a break and then start the next purascharana in a couple of months. During the break, I will be doing a reduced amount of ashtakshara mantra japa (5 malas). I will also do some different worship during this time-- worship of the Divine Mother. I feel She gives me the strength to do sadhana and I want to thank Her by doing some worship.
I will recite the saptasloki Durga daily during this break, and do some japa of Her mantras. I want to keep the sadhana during my break light and easy so that it feels like a proper break before I start the next purascharana-- this will be a two year commitment (doing 11 malas a day which takes me about an hour) and I want to be able to keep going until the end. I will also be juggling life as a mother of a young child and as a doctor during this time so I know I will need to be very motivated to complete it.
I just want to say one thing before I conclude. I do feel that, japa sadhana even while living an ordinary life as a householder, has an effect. Even while running a household, doing a job, having a spouse, children and other family around, it has an effect. A single recitation of "Narayana" destroyed the sins of Ajamila. Daily recitation of His name and mantra by us does have a powerful effect.
Sadhana is meant for the many, not for the few. It is meant for every single soul who has been blessed with a human birth. It is not meant for just a few yogis in the far-off Himalayas. It can help us who live ordinary lives in ordinary places. It is not meant only for people who live exotic yogi lives eating leaves, waking barefoot in the snow and fasting for days. It is meant for you and me, with all our flaws and imperfections. It can transform us and will transform us. I've experienced some of this transformation and will keep going until the end, God-willing.
Never let anyone tell you a purascharana can only be done if you're willing to commit 6-10 hours a day and nonsense like that. The beauty is that, even if one commits to only one hour of seated japa per day (as I do), this one hour inspires one to think of God very often during the day, even in the midst of other activities. So one spends much more than one hour thinking of God. And remembrance of God purifies the mind and takes one to God.
I would say, do what you can and trust that it will have an effect, because it will. A little recitation daily goes a very long way.
With that, I will conclude this post. I wish you the very best with your sadhana. Keep going and trust yourself-- you are important to God, that is why He/She has given you a human birth. Start some japa sadhana and do it daily and feel the results for yourself. Life is short and time is fleeting as my Guru and the yogis say. Each day that passes without the name of God is a waste. Each day with the name of God is a blessing that takes us towards the experience of the Supreme Blessedness, the state of Self-realisation, of peace, bliss and immortality.
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya
Om Namo Narayanaya
Hari Aum Tat Sat
I completed my fourth purascharana of the ashtakshara mantra in the last few days. I want to write a bit about my experiences with it here. The aim of this is to make the point that spiritual sadhana does produce results even while living an ordinary life as a householder in a city (and that one does not have to be a wandering sadhu in the Himalayas for this). The name of God has a transformative effect in all places.
Since November 2011, by the grace of God and my Guru, Sivananda, not a day has passed without my doing some form of sadhana involving the name of God, specifically the names of Vishnu/Krishna and more specifically, the ashtakshara mantra of Narayana.
Also, since January 2012 till date, I have completed four purascharanas of the ashtakshara mantra. My Guru defines a purascharana as 100,000 x the number of syllables in the mantra. So a purascharana of ashtakshara, the eight-syllable mantra, is 800,000 and I have completed four times this number (actually a bit more, as I've done japa in between the purascharanas too of course).
After completion of this japa portion of the purascharana, my Guru says one can do the required amount of homam (fire ritual), tarpanam (water offerings) and marjanam (water ritual) if possible. If not possible, he says "you can do feeding and charity according to your capacity if you cannot adhere to the above strictly" (i.e. to the post-japa rituals). http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=525
I have done a few homams myself and with the help of a priest during the four purascharanas. I have also done as my Guru advises and donated to various charitable institutions including his ashram in Rishikesh.
What has been the effect of these four purascharanas? What has been the benefit for me in doing them?
Well, after the first three purascharanas, the main effect was feeling much more connected to God, much better at remembering God (which itself is an important sadhana). Also development of the witnessing side of the mind-- the side of the mind that watches what is going on in the rest of the mind (again, a necessary quality in a yogi). I also feel that this practice has improved my character and made me a kinder and more patient person.
The fourth purascharana was more challenging than the others for a variety of reasons. It also took longer to complete (2 years and 3 months approximately; normally takes me under 2 years). This is mostly because I became pregnant and had a baby during the purascharana (the arrival of my daughter has been a blessing though, and looking after her is an important spiritual sadhana for me as I feel that she too is a manifestation of God). It has also been more rewarding in terms of spiritual experiences.
I know yogis say one should not run after spiritual experiences but rather, just keep doing sadhana until one attains God. However, many gurus including my own, have also written about spiritual experiences as being useful signposts on the spiritual path. They are not a goal in themselves, but they do encourage one to continue sadhana until the real spiritual goal is attained.
So I would say I had more spiritual experiences in this purascharana compared with the others. I've had some very auspicious dreams of my Guru and God, and some dreams than came true (predictive dreams--I've written about these in other posts). These things never happened before and made me feel my sadhana is definitely having some effect on those aspects of my being that modern science does not yet understand very well (the deeper layers of the mind).
During this purascharana, I also felt inspired to read about the life of Krishna from the beginning to the end as described in the sacred book, the Srimad Bhagavatam which was a useful sadhana in itself (and I also published books on Krishna's life on Amazon, the proceeds of which go towards the free medical work performed by my Guru's ashram in Rishikesh).
I'm feeling tired but happy on completion of this purascharana. I feel an important milestone has been crossed. I plan to take a break and then start the next purascharana in a couple of months. During the break, I will be doing a reduced amount of ashtakshara mantra japa (5 malas). I will also do some different worship during this time-- worship of the Divine Mother. I feel She gives me the strength to do sadhana and I want to thank Her by doing some worship.
I will recite the saptasloki Durga daily during this break, and do some japa of Her mantras. I want to keep the sadhana during my break light and easy so that it feels like a proper break before I start the next purascharana-- this will be a two year commitment (doing 11 malas a day which takes me about an hour) and I want to be able to keep going until the end. I will also be juggling life as a mother of a young child and as a doctor during this time so I know I will need to be very motivated to complete it.
I just want to say one thing before I conclude. I do feel that, japa sadhana even while living an ordinary life as a householder, has an effect. Even while running a household, doing a job, having a spouse, children and other family around, it has an effect. A single recitation of "Narayana" destroyed the sins of Ajamila. Daily recitation of His name and mantra by us does have a powerful effect.
Sadhana is meant for the many, not for the few. It is meant for every single soul who has been blessed with a human birth. It is not meant for just a few yogis in the far-off Himalayas. It can help us who live ordinary lives in ordinary places. It is not meant only for people who live exotic yogi lives eating leaves, waking barefoot in the snow and fasting for days. It is meant for you and me, with all our flaws and imperfections. It can transform us and will transform us. I've experienced some of this transformation and will keep going until the end, God-willing.
Never let anyone tell you a purascharana can only be done if you're willing to commit 6-10 hours a day and nonsense like that. The beauty is that, even if one commits to only one hour of seated japa per day (as I do), this one hour inspires one to think of God very often during the day, even in the midst of other activities. So one spends much more than one hour thinking of God. And remembrance of God purifies the mind and takes one to God.
I would say, do what you can and trust that it will have an effect, because it will. A little recitation daily goes a very long way.
With that, I will conclude this post. I wish you the very best with your sadhana. Keep going and trust yourself-- you are important to God, that is why He/She has given you a human birth. Start some japa sadhana and do it daily and feel the results for yourself. Life is short and time is fleeting as my Guru and the yogis say. Each day that passes without the name of God is a waste. Each day with the name of God is a blessing that takes us towards the experience of the Supreme Blessedness, the state of Self-realisation, of peace, bliss and immortality.
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya
Om Namo Narayanaya
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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