Sādhanā

Sādhanā (Sanskrit साधना; Tibetan: སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་, THL: druptap ; Chinese: 修行; pinyin: xiū​xíng), literally means "methodical discipline to attain desired knowledge or goal", Sadhana is also done for attaining detachment from worldly things which can be a goal of a Sadhu, Karma Yoga can also be described as Sadhana, so also Bhakti Yoga & Gnyan Yoga, constant efforts to achieve maximum level of perfection in all streams in day-to-day life can be described as Sadhana. [1] is a generic term coming from the yogic tradition and it refers to any spiritual exercise that is aimed at progressing the sādhaka towards the very ultimate expression of his or her life in this reality.[2] It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu,[3] Buddhist,[4] Jain[5] and Sikh traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.

Buddhist sādhanā (Japan)
Shugendō sādhanā (Japan)

Sādhanā can also refer to a tantric liturgy or liturgical manual, that is, the instructions to carry out a certain practice.

A contemporary spiritual teacher and yogi, Jaggi Vasudev, defines sādhanā as follows:[6]

Everything can be sādhanā. The way you eat, the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you breathe, the way you conduct your body, mind and your energies and emotions – this is sādhanā. Sādhanā does not mean any specific kind of activity, sādhanā means you are using everything as a tool for your wellbeing.

The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sādhanā as follows:

[R]eligious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and molds the mind and disposition (bhāva) into a form which develops the knowledge of dispassion and non-attachment. Sādhanā is a means whereby bondage becomes liberation.[7]

B. K. S. Iyengar (1993: p. 22), in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:

Sādhanā is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhanā, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal.[8]

Paths

The term sādhanā means"methodical discipline to attain desired knowledge or goal". Sadhana is also done for attaining detachment from worldly things which can be a goal, A person undertaking such a practice is known in Sanskrit as a sādhu (female sādhvi), sādhaka (female sādhakā) or yogi (Tibetan pawo; feminine yogini or dakini, Tibetan khandroma). The goal of sādhanā is to attain some level of spiritual realization, which can be either enlightenment, pure love of God (prema), liberation (moksha) from the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra), or a particular goal such as the blessings of a deity as in the Bhakti traditions.

Sādhanā can involve meditation, chanting of mantra sometimes with the help of prayer beads, puja to a deity, yajña, and in very rare cases mortification of the flesh or tantric practices such as performing one's particular sādhanā within a cremation ground.

Traditionally in some Hindu and Buddhist traditions in order to embark on a specific path of sādhanā, a guru may be required to give the necessary instructions. This approach is typified by some Tantric traditions, in which initiation by a guru is sometimes identified as a specific stage of sādhanā.[9] On the other hand, individual renunciates may develop their own spiritual practice without participating in organized groups.[10]

Tantric sādhana

The tantric rituals are called "sādhanā". Some of the well known sādhanā-s are:

  1. śāva sādhanā (sādhanā done while visualizing sitting on a corpse).
  2. śmaśāna sādhanā (sādhanā done while visualizing being in a crematorium or cremation ground).
  3. pañca-muṇḍa sādhanā (sādhanā done while visualizing sitting on a seat of five skulls).

Buddhism

In Vajrayāna Buddhism and the Nalanda tradition, there are fifteen major tantric sādhanās:

  1. Śūraṅgama/Sitātapatrā
  2. Nīlakaṇṭha
  3. Tārā
  4. Mahākāla
  5. Hayagrīva
  6. Amitābha
  7. Bhaiṣajyaguru/Akṣobhya
  8. Guhyasamāja
  9. Vajrayoginī/Vajravārāhī
  10. Heruka/Cakrasaṃvara
  11. Yamāntaka
  12. Kālacakra
  13. Hevajra
  14. Chöd
  15. Vajrapāṇi
  16. Avalokiteśvara

Not within this list but a central sādhanā in Vajrayana is that of Vajrasattva.

All of these are available in Tibetan form, many are available in Chinese and some are still extant in ancient Sanskrit manuscripts.[11]

Kværne (1975: p. 164) in his extended discussion of sahajā, treats the relationship of sādhanā to mandala thus:

[E]xternal ritual and internal sādhanā form an indistinguishable whole, and this unity finds its most pregnant expression in the form of the mandala, the sacred enclosure consisting of concentric squares and circles drawn on the ground and representing that adamantine plane of being on which the aspirant to Buddhahood wishes to establish himself. The unfolding of the tantric ritual depends on the mandala; and where a material mandala is not employed, the adept proceeds to construct one mentally in the course of his meditation.[12]

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See also

Notes
  1. V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. p. 979.
  2. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996. pp. 92, 156, 160, 167. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
  3. NK Brahma, Philosophy of Hindu Sādhanā, ISBN 978-8120333062, pages ix-x
  4. http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sādhanā
  5. C.C. Shah, Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Jainism, Mittal, ISBN 81-7099-9553, page 301
  6. http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/the-what-why-of-sadhana/
  7. Bhattacharyya, N. N. History of the Tantric Religion. Second Revised Edition. (Manohar: New Delhi, 1999) p. 174. ISBN 81-7304-025-7
  8. Iyengar, B.K.S. (1993, 2002). Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Hammersmith, London, UK: Thorsons. ISBN 978-0-00-714516-4 p.22
  9. Bhattacharyya, op. cit., p. 317.
  10. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996. p. 92. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
  11. Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon – University of the West Archives of Ancient Sanskrit Manuscripts Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Kvaerne, Per (1975). "On the Concept of Sahaja in Indian Buddhist Tantric Literature". (NB: article first published in Temenos XI (1975): pp.88-135). Cited in: Williams, Jane (2005). Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Volume 6. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-33226-5, ISBN 978-0-415-33226-2. Source: (accessed; Friday April 16, 2010)
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