Prayer to Mother Divine

Before starting Sadhana, I believed God is everywhere.

But now I feel, God is possibly everywhere, except in me !

O Divine Mother,
I tread this path to know more about Your Glory,
But soon, I am realising how unworthy I am !

In Your vast kindness, You gave everything I wish for,

Including a Great Guru, probably I don't deserve.

Let me copy the words some of your great followers,

As my own words may not suffice.

You are the Pasupathinath & Pasupasavimochani,

Here is the mind of a Pasu, waiting to be tied to your Holy Feet !

You are prayed by the greatest of all, and can burn greatest sins (MahapathakaNasini),
Here is the heap of my sins, to be burned by chanting your Holy Names.

You are the light that can dispel darkness (AgjandhavantaDeepika),

Here is my mind full of darkness, to be lighten up by the glow from the nails of your Holy
Feet !

O Mother of All, Please hold my hand and guide the path; for, You are the only hope.

Posted by Yogic Sadhana at 2:33 pm No comments:

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2017 : Year of Sri Lalitha Sahasranama
Stotra
2017 is quite an year. If I look back from spiritual aspect, lot many things happened -

 Meditated on 70% of the days of this year

 Visited 2 of Chaar (4) Dhaams - Badri Nath and Kedar Nath (remaining ones are
Gangotri and Yamunotri). Visited Haridwar and Rishikesh as well.
 Did 40day recitation of Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Stotra (SLSS)two times.
 Did 40day penance and visited Shabarimala Ayyaapa Swami towards end of the
year
Well, only thing missing was a personal visit to GuruJi 🙏.
If I look for one dominant factor that covered most of the year, it is undoubtedly SLSS.
While reciting first time at the beginning of 2017, I don't know the meaning of the Stotra.
It has been a continuous effort to understand the meaning of the Stotra in 2017, and now
towards the end of the year, still 50% of the Stotra is remaining. But one good aspect is I
gathered the relevant material and it should not take more than next two months to get
some understanding of Stotra completely. SLSS is an Ocean, a realizatdion came only
after attempting to understand it.

One day, I will try to write a blog post on SLSS, explaining the structure, how to
understand it and some basic meaning. I don't see that day coming anytime soon though.

Resolutions for 2018

Here are some plans for 2018 -
 Get basic understanding the SLSS - by end of Feb
 Get basic understanding of Sri Durga Saptashati (also known as Chandi Path) - by
end of Apr
 Meditate on 70% of the days, at least 1 hr per day. (About 5days per week). This
will sum to 260hrs of meditation. Also make a journal to track daily practice and
progress.
 Recite Sri Durga Saptashati completely on each day during Navaratri (9 night
festival during October). More recitations if possible. Few must be done before Navaratri
festival to get the pronunciation correct.
Listing the resolutions is the way of praying the entire universe, the energy force, The
Mother Divine to bless, help and guide. It worked well for me.
All Glories to Divine Mother !

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Tuesday, 19 December 2017

Swami Ayyappa
In case you have read my last post, The Ultimate Goal, I tried to make few bold
commitments to practice. Needless to say, I failed miserably adhering them. But, God, in
His/Her eternal kindness,

provided me another opportunity, in the form of Lord Ayyappa.

Lord Dharma Shastra, popularly known as Ayyappa Swami, is an incarnation of Lord

Shiva and Lord Vishnu. His temple is in Shabarimala, which is visited by millions of
people every year. To visit this temple, one has to follow certain rules for 40 days. Guess
what, most of the rules coincide with the ones I thought of adhering in The Ultimate
Goal Blog Post.
When I was young, I knew lot of people who did 40day penance and was strongly wished
to do it one day. I did not think I will do it anytime soon, but when my cousin and brother
in law suddenly announced that they are going to take this diksha, I am more than happy
to join them. Many many Pranaams to God for giving this opportunity. Finished 42days
now and going to travel to Shabarimala tomorrow.
One of the rules of this 40day penance is to adhere to Brahmacharya (celibacy). I want to
elaborate on couple of insights that I observed during this period, from first hand
experience. One has to be free from lust, not just physically but mentally as well. The
latter aspect is not easy. One has to conscious about it and try to mentally move
away whenever any opportunity for lust surfaces. One thing that certainly helps in this
aspect is ability to see God in everyone.
Also I felt having Satvik food (no onion, no garlic) aids in Brahmacharya.
Overall, these 40days are quite an experience and I would like to continue the habits as
much as possible.
Taking opportunity of this Diksha(Penance), I completed another round of Sri Lalitha
Sahasranama Stotra Parayana (reciting Mother Divine's 1000 names, on each day).
I also came across a biography of a Great Guru. Adding it to the List of useful books for
Kundalini Sadhana.

All Glories to Divine Mother !

Posted by Yogic Sadhana at 12:53 pm No comments:

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Sunday, 7 May 2017

The Ultimate Goal

I always wanted to tread the spiritual path. Only question was when to start working
towards it consistently. Few years back, I decided that once I turn 40 years, I will start
doing sadhana. In fact, I wanted to make it the prime goal for rest of my life and make
everything secondary. Now I am about turn 40yrs and hence some baby steps...
Next Steps
Time to gather all my courage and write down few resolutions -
 Have vegetarian food without onions and garlic, and in controlled quantities only
(not to stomach full).
 No prepared sweets (except in the case of 1. Prasad (food offered to God), but
Prasad in limited quantity only, 2. Coffee/Tea or food containing sugar for taste in minor
quantity and 3. Fruits/juices). So no cakes, no ice cream, no cookies, no Coke/Pepsi or
not any home made sweets. I would love to get rid of sugar in coffee/tea or get rid of
coffee/tea altogether. Lets see how this one goes.
 Sleep with less cushion and wakeup before 5am in the morning. Cold water bath
to the extent health permits (I have sinus and hot water helps unblock the nose.
Meditation is of higher priority to cold bath. Lets see how this one goes).
 Meditate at least twice everyday, once in the morning and once in the
evening/night.
 No intoxicants.
 The motive is follow above principles to the best of my extent possible. Given that
I still have a full-time job and a family of two kids to be taken care of, I do see the need
and give room to deviate sometimes, especially in case of travel, sickness, work pressure
etc.
Why above commitments?
I try to briefly explain how they are related to Sadhana. Onions and Garlic are
pungent/spicy vegetables are are considered Tasmic in nature. They are generally avoided
by those on the spiritual path. I do have sweet thooth and want to give up sweets. It is sort
of upavasa, where we try to restrain certain behavior to keep one close to God. This is a
common practice in Hindu families. It is also important to give lesser importance to
physical body and stop giving it more and more comforts. Intoxicants are counter
productive for someone on the spiritual path.
I take this opportunity to share a beautiful song on Divine Mother.

All Glories to Divine Mother!

Posted by Yogic Sadhana at 9:29 pm No comments:

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Thursday, 30 March 2017

Experiences During Meditation

Last Updated on : 15 Oct 2017
Note: I will keep updating this post as and when I encounter anything new worth sharing.

I have encountered few experiences during

meditation and would like to list them down here. Note that these are not of any
significance or I don't believe them to be any spiritual experiences per say. From
whatever I searched around, they are few manifestations that can occur as one continues
to practice meditation. I will also mention any hurdles that I have encountered and any
solution for them. I will be writing in the order I encounter them.

Buzz in Ears
I feel buzz (similar to sound of ocean) in my ears. This started happening since initial
days of my meditation and continues till date.

Black Dot
As I continue meditation, I see a black dot. It appears sometimes, stays for few seconds
and disappears. Some times bit bigger in size. Some times I see two of them.
White Dot
Some times I see a white dot. Sometimes both a white dot and black dot. Black dot is
more frequent, I should say.

Vortex
Sometimes, I see a vortex rotating (single wave rotating in circular motion). Vortex can
keep running for quite some time. Its like watching a TV if I pay attention to it. From
what I read, they are distractions and I should continue meditation not paying attention to
them.

Eyeballs Rolling Up
When I started meditating on Muladhara (Root) Chakra, my eyes rolled upwards towards
the forehead. Some sensation started from my skull then eyeballs first moved backwards
and then to upward. It happened on its own.

Gasping for Air / Hard Breathing

Sometimes, while going deep, I suddenly feel loss of air and had to force breathing. That
used to break my meditation. This problem is not bothering me now. It seems to have
disappeared due to Divine Grace !

Pulses or Goosebumps
Now a days, I feel a pulse of wave or something going upto my head from my neck.
From what I read, it is body's way of asking brain to come back from thoughtless state to
mundane senses.

Upward Pull
Now the frequency of the Pulses or Goosebumps came down and its getting bit
easier/natural to stay in concentration (ekagrata). Random thoughts still come and go
though. Now there is a constant feeling of upward pull around neck and head. From what
I read, the pull is experienced as the Astral body tries to move up (or out of physical
body?).

I will keep updating this post as and when I encounter anything worth sharing.

All Glories to Divine Mother !

Posted by Yogic Sadhana at 6:45 pm No comments:

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Friday, 17 March 2017
Ideal Conditions to Meditate

This blog post is about my struggle finding

ideal place/conditions to meditate. When I practiced meditation in during my years in
USA, its always used to be very calm in my apartment and never had any external
distractions to meditate. In such utterly silent conditions, I used to experience a "buzz" in
my ears during meditation, something similar to sound of an ocean.

But, it is not the same case once I moved back to India. Here, especially in metro city
where I live, surroundings are always noisy. Even if I close the windows and doors,
house is not completely sealed from external noise. I am able to experience the buzz in
my ears, but frequent sounds of vehicles, people etc. became a major distraction. Early
morning (before 6pm) is ideal time to meditate, while most of my neighbors are asleep,
but I was not able to getup early everyday (probably due to lack of determination from
my side). I visited nearby Bose showroom and tested their state of the art noise
cancellation headphones. But, to my disappointment, they are ineffective to remove
sudden noise spikes, which I wanted to get rid off.

Nevertheless, I continued my meditation sessions and slowly I started having lesser

distractions. I don't know whether my neighborhood noise levels came down lately or I
got used to them. One change I did was, I keep the fan on during my meditation, which
gives a smooth noise and minimizes external noise distractions. I miss the original ocean
buzz that I used to feel in my ears when I meditate in silent surroundings though.

Another thing is I started using a pillow as my seat. It reduces pressure on my legs in

crossed leg position Or Siddhasana. My uncle used to mediate sitting on a hard surface,
developed back pain after few years and had to stop meditation (at least for sometime).
He advised me to be comfortable in my posture.

All Glories to Divine Mother !!

Posted by Yogic Sadhana at 11:21 pm No comments:
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Friday, 3 March 2017

Reciting Sri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotra

As I heard about the glory of Sri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotra from my Guru 🙏 I
thought of reciting the same. This stotra contains thousand names of Divine
Monther and is also referred as "Rahasya (secret) Nama Stotra". They are
considered secret because the meaning of each nama (name) is not obvious, for
even someone who knows Sanskrit. When recited, these namas work subtlety on
the person and purifies the soul. So, I first tried to listen to the meaning of these
Namas through various sources on Internet. I was able to complete listening to
about first 80 Namas before I could start my reciting. Here is a useful
website where you can find the meaning of the Namas. Few useful books you can
find in this blog post: https://yogicsadhana.blogspot.in/2017/02/good-
resources.html

I was referring an Internet resource that was explaining the Namas and made a
promise to myself that I will start my reciting on the day when I complete with
the resource. It ended unexpectedly after narrating about 80 Namas, on 13th Jan,
a Friday. Hence I started my reciting on the same day. Later I found that Friday is
usually a preferred day to start reciting. My heartfelt devotion to Mother Divine
for starting me on that day.

Duration
I preferred to repeat reciting for 40 days, but did not make any promise or a
commitment per say. Being a Hindu, few things can come in the way that may
prohibit reciting. So I left it to Divine Mother's grace and thought I will end if I get
to 40th day. 40 days is a good duration as people say when something is
practiced for 40 days, a permanent path/impression is made in the mind.

Daily Ritual
After bath, I first start reciting the purification sloka:

apavitrah pavitro va sarvavastham gato ’pi va

yah smaret pundarikaksam sa bahyabhyantarah suchihi
Pundarikaksa (touch water and sprinkle on head)
Pundarikaksa (touch water and sprinkle on head)
Pundarikaksa (touch water and sprinkle on head)

Then pray to Lord Ganesha (who removes all obstacles), Lalitha Mata, Lord Shiva,
Lord Karthikeya, Lord Vishnu, Lakshmi Mata, Lord Brahma and Saraswati Mata
asking for their blessings and grace to continue my reciting.

Then I read the Dyaana Sloka

Sindhuraruna vigraham trinayanam manikya mouli spurath
Thara Nayaga sekaram smitha mukhi mapina vakshoruham,
Panibhayam alipoorna ratna chashakam rakthothpalam vibhrathim,
Soumyam ratna gatastha raktha charanam, dhyayeth paramambikam

Then continue with the Sahasra Nama.

Then end with Dyaana Sloka again.
And thank all the Gods for blessing with reciting.

As per tradition, one should take bath again if any air goes out of any openings
of the body. As it is not practical most of the time, alternative is to keep right
hand palm area on right ear for a second. This is considered equal to taking bath,
under such circumstances.
I also advise to take lesser food. Full stomach can make one lethargic and difficult
to perform reciting at best of one's ability.

Obstacles
It used to take around 40minutes when I started reciting and as I progress each
day, time duration reduced to about 25minutes. One may worry about
pronouncing each Nama correctly. What I have heard is Divine Mother will be
happy to pardon us even if you make some mistakes.
Being mindful while reciting and keeping all concentration on Divine Mother
became a challenge for me and I can not say that level of mindfulness increased
as I progressed (days wise). This is one serious area that needs improvement.
Random thoughts will be real hurdle. Some good thoughts came and some bad
thoughts as well. Thoughts are real obstacles and sometimes made me wonder
and doubt myself wether I am fit for the path or not. I often found myself
foregoing mindfulness in fear of getting impure thoughts. As of now, there is no
real explanation or solution for these obstacles. There is no other option than
continuing on the path, and simply keeping faith on Diving Mother, who has the
name "Mahapataka Naasini" (who removes even great sins).

40th Day
On 40th day, as a mark of significant day, I chose to visit Lakshmimata's temple
near my house and do the reciting in the temple in front of the Goddess. I got
used to do the reciting while standing towards 30th day, when I had to travel out
of town.

Next Two Days

As Maha Shiv Ratri came on 42nd day, I continued reciting for two more days and
ended on Maha Shiv Ratri. A great auspicious day when Lord Shiva appeared.

I felt a rare joy on 40th day for completing the reciting without any obstacles,
only because of grace of Lord Ganesha and Shri Mata.
I wish Mother Divine bless me with reciting of Chandi Path, which will be a major
step, sometime in future.

All Glories to Divine Mother!