Sadhana

We all are servants of God and He is our master or Swami. This is one of the *most important* anusandhana for a sadhaka prescribed by the shAsthrAs. Shri Madhvacharya says in his Anu Bhashya “sachchidhAnandha Atmeti mAnushaih”. One should worship God as Sath, Chith, Anandha and Athma. The meaning of Athma is Swami or master. This upasana is specially prescribed to Manushyas.

But, how far are we practicing this in our busy mechanical life? Most of us say some prayer in the morning, but it turns out to be a purely mechanical affair. All along, our mind will be wandering elsewhere. We remember everything else except God. This shows the degree of IMPORTANCE we give to God. We generally feel that we love God very much. But, why do we forget to remember Him? “What can I do? I was so immersed in other issues you know, I forgot….”. This would be our typical answer. If we really do some serious soul searching, we come to know that God is one of the last persons in our list of important persons. That is why we forget Him. That is why we are still in this Samsara! Our intentions are good. But we fail to practice. Is there any solution for this? Well, the solution lies in building a habit of remembering God. As the saying goes, “Old Habits die hard and good habits are the most difficult ones to build”. So, how do we go about developing this habit? Here is a simple and practical solution. It is true that we have to always remember God. But we can’t build castles overnight. We have to build them brick by brick. That’s the idea. Initially, cultivate the habit of remembering God for 1 minute, with full concentration, only once in a whole day. Don’t say “What if I forget …?” You won’t. Think that you have a very important meeting or a train to catch. What would be your mental situation? You will be anxiously waiting for that moment atleast half an hour before schedule. For some, the wait could be even longer! Why? It is because of the importance you have attached to that particular event. You don’t want to miss it at any cost. Is it not? Similarly, if you try to attach importance to God, you will remember Him without fail.

Here’s what you need to do. Choose a convenient moment of the day, which you can spare for remembering God with full mental attention. Resolve to say a small prayer such as “mama swAmI harir nityam sarvasya patireva cha” during that time. You say the same prayer, everyday, at the same time without fail. Wait for that moment anxiously just as you’d wait to catch a train. If you kept your resolve, mark the day as a successful day in a small calendar. If for some reason, you fail to keep up the resolve, mark the day as an unsuccessful day. Continue doing this for about a month. Observe the calendar after a month. You will know how much place you have in your heart for God. If you did keep up your resolve for one month, congratulate yourself and prepare for the next level of Sadhana by increasing the no. of times you would like to remember God in a day. By the time the no. reaches 24*60*60, you will be already in your flight to Vaikuntha!!!
Wan’t to try this method? Join many others who are practicing and benefiting by this method.

Download this small calendar with a few shlokas for anusandhana printed on the reverse from