Sri Suktam Sadhana

Come may 2023, It will be 2 decades since I received initiation. A few momentary, accidental, non-recurring eventful experiences, I had already shared in this forum and some I haven’t. I have continued my mantra chanting to date and have had my fair share of bliss that accompanies any Sadhaka. But off late, something was amiss, I felt, I am not doing it right or was arrogant/ignorant to see through it. The answer to it came through performing Om Swami’s Sri Suktam Sadhana.

I have read most Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature and tried to follow it to the best of my abilities. It’s an elementary and plain sight that I failed to realize it. ‘ Missing the forest for the trees’ is an apt expression to describe my spiritual sadhana. When the mind is focused on the sky and building castles in the air, it fails to realize, to be grounded, and to remember the basic tenets of sadhana. Pranams at the lotus feet of Om Swami, if it had not been for him, I would have continued to row an anchored boat for eternity.

I went back to the books which I had read and it was everywhere, each and every page of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda literature – left, right, and center, it was filled with it. How could I have missed it? The eyes don’t see what the mind doesn’t know, isn’t it? For a mind filled with sensuality, it’s difficult to cling to serenity, sensibility & simplicity. For the first time in 2 decades, I also realized, the difference between learning through books and learning through direct experience with a God-realized soul. That, Sadhana itself is secondary and the most important thing to be followed is 1. Sankalpa 2. purity of mind (sattvic state of mind).

1. Sankalpa:

The first time ever for me to take a Sankalpa was on the night of Diwali 2022. Never ever imagined holding a few drops of water, a flower, and little rice in the palm and proclaiming to the world above and below that one is to start the Sri Suktam Sadhana will vitalize the sadhana through divine energy. It felt as if an unseen aura of divine energy shielded the Sadhaka from faltering. unseen difficulties and obstacles crept up from all directions and were dealt with, with no active participation from my end. Unexpected people stepped forward and offered help without any knowledge of what we were doing. It was indeed magical. Any Sadhana without Sankalpa is compromised, I realized.

2. Sattvic food:

As it was with Sankalpa, so it was with sattvic food. I had never tried any mantra chanting or Sadhana with a Sattvic diet. From a family man’s perspective, it’s challenging to follow the sattvic diet. Not to touch cakes, bakes, pizza, biscuits, tikka, tandoori, fish, and eggs it was plain-sight imprisonment. But, from a Sadhaka’s perspective, for the first time, I experienced a calmness as intense as a thunderbolt. Unwavering stillness and unalloyed joy like never before. It also dawned on me, how little is needed to live life in a sattvic mode. No social media, no scintillating entertainment, no extravagant food or lifestyle. A single dhoti to wear, little home-cooked food, and little essentials of sadhana. It felt like living in the woods and gave a glimpse, of how rishis of yore would have carried out sadhana.  I was often sarcastic about Yama and Niyama of Yoga Sutras and focussed only on Sadhana but realized how mistaken I was from the very beginning. When Yama and Niyama are compromised, then carrying out the rest of the sadhana is like writing in water.

The Sri Suktam Sadhana was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I could realize firsthand, my falterings over the past 2 decades. Well, I am glad to course correct in 2 decades and not in 20. It’s never too late, isn’t it?

The spiritual journey, which started with Sri Ramakrishna, gets course-corrected with Om Swami and continues. With two decades of faltered effort and now, with this course correction, I am thrilled, as to what awaits me as I continue my spiritual Sadhana with my initiated mantra.

What effort does a boat need when the tide & wind is in its favor? When the divine energy of Om Swami and Sri Hari is blowing from Badrika Ashram, all that is needed is to unfurl our mind with Sankalpa, sattvic diet, and sattvic mindset. The Sadhana gets completed on its own. That’s my experience, my truth with Sri Suktam Sadhana.

Jai Maa!!!