Work Exceeding Miracles

“Sadhana is the difference between having a religion and having a faith”. His Holiness Bir Krishna Goswami.

Sadhana (ˈsɑːdʌnə) (from the Sanskrit root sadh, meaning “accomplish”) is a Sanskrit word (साधना) meaning “means of realization”, and can be used to refer to any spiritual practice, but is generally used to refer to a formalized or regulated spiritual practices.

I cannot remember a time when I was not a spiritual person. Spirituality has always been a fundamental part of my essential nature. I somehow showed up with it.

However, during most of my life, that spirituality was limited to very vague, mostly formless, intuitive notions. Powerful notions to be sure, but not very practicable nor productive.

The transformation of those vague, formless notions to rich, clear realizations has come mostly in the last several years. My fundamental beliefs have not changed but there is now a clarity I could not have imagined before.

My sadhana has made much of the difference.

I receive spiritual knowledge and enlightenment from my Spiritual Master, shastras (scriptures) and teachers too many to name, but it is my sadhana that transforms that knowledge into realization. It is the difference between the understanding that water exists underground and the actual digging of a well.

Spirituality has to be cultivated and anyone on a spiritual path (and that’s all of us, whether we realize it or not) stands to benefit immeasurably from sadhana.

It can be any practice that helps link you to the divine. It can be reading scripture, meditating, listening, singing, or what-have-you. Anything that resonates with you can be a good starting point. Even if it starts as five minutes a day, or one minute a day, if you approach it with enthusiasm, determination and patience it will begin to take root.

Take a vow. Do it every day, rain or shine. Be absolutely resolute no matter what. Flat tire, dog bite, headache, broken bone, whatever. Doing it on days when you don’t feel like it can be especially productive.

Once your sadhana has taken hold, it will become like a filter for your consciousness, steadily going about the business of keeping the muck and trash from getting a chance to build up. It will help empower you to negotiate this material world without becoming too entangled in it.

It can do this because it is not material activity. It is spiritual activity. And spiritual activity transcends the mundane.

Proof of this transcendent nature is the fact that it does not get tired or worn over time. As an example of this from my personal experience, many in my faith (myself included) take a formal vow to chant the maha mantra (“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”) a minimum of 1,728 times a day (16 rounds of 108). I know devotees who have been honoring this vow for 30 and 40 years and after all those years there is a freshness and vibrancy to their chanting to which I can only aspire.

There is an old saying in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, “If you take one step towards Krishna (God), he takes ten steps toward you”. Sadhana helps us take those steps.

The Three Gates

In searching to find a topic with which to inaugurate my blog, it occurred to me that given the current political season when so much is said that isn’t meant and meant that isn’t said, “The Three Gates” would be good starting point. It’s something I picked up a while back somewhere in my studies that has proved to a very practical and reliable tool for me.

“The Three Gates” comes to us from the Sufis and is basically a process by which we can elevate and refine how we communicate with one another.

The basic idea is that everything we say should be able to pass through three successive gates, like a series of checkpoints, prior to leaving our mouths. At each gate one should be able to answer in the affirmative a question regarding the statement to be made.  If a statement can’t get past all three gates, it shouldn’t leave your mouth. The gates are as follows:

The First Gate: Is it true?

This gate requires honesty. Not everything we wish were true is actually true. Is this thing I’m considering uttering factual or is it only speculation or something I wish were true? If we let something slip unqualified by this gate, we’re likely to let sail on past the other two unimpeded, so it’s a bit of a linchpin (to mix metaphors).

The Second Gate: Does it need to be said?

This gate requires humility and discipline. Being true is different than needing to be said, and for some the unexpressed thought can be a bit like holding a hot rock. In fact, if this gate were strictly applied I suspect it might eliminate nearly all human communication.

The Third Gate: Is it kind?

This gate requires patience, compassion and a bit of skill. How will this true thing that needs to be said be received once uttered?  If not formed with consideration of the receiver, the fact that it’s true and needs to be said may not matter much.

I have found the three gates to be very practical and useful. At the very least, it can help keep us aware of how we communicate. Good things can happen when we think before we speak.