[Advaita-l] Sadhana?

[Venkatraghavan S]

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
Venkatraghavan
On 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,
>> Venkatraghavan
>> On 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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>>
>