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  Bill : practicioner & free

Sadhu Stories

Bill said Aug 1, 3:30 PM:
 

I came across this page in metafilter the other day.

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/stories/rampriya.html

And the whole site is truly fascinating, a really great look into the actual sadhu culture in the India subcontinent. The navigation is a little wierd - to see the stories you click on the little orange boxes in front of the text of the links.

Here's the index:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/index.html

Here's another 'foreigner sadhu' story:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/stories/holysmoke.html

from the 'foreigner sadhu' page:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/falang.html

And female practicioners, called sadhvis:

http://adolphus.nl/sadhus/sadhvi.html

The overall message of the site is that as India transforms into a modern industrial state, the agricultural city-state traditions of the sannyasin and the sadhu are disappearing.

———-

Sadhana - “practice”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhana

Sadhana (Sanskrit साधना), is a term for “a means of accomplishing something”[1] or more specifically “spiritual practice”.[2] It includes a variety of disciplines from Hindu and Buddhist traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives. The word is also used in the same connection within Sikhism.
The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sadhana as follows:
“… religious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and moulds 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.”[3]
Iyengar (1993: p.22) in his English translation and commentary of Patañjali's Yoga Sutras defines 'sadhana' in relation to 'abhyasa' and 'kriya':
Sādhana 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, sādhana, 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.[4]
Sadhu - 'practicioner - one who does practices or tapas (asceticisms or austerities)'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu
In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic, practitioner of yoga (yogi) and/or wandering monks. The sadhu is solely dedicated to achieving the fourth and final Hindu goal of life, moksha (liberation), through meditation and contemplation of Brahman. Sadhus often wear ochre-colored clothing, symbolizing renunciation.
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: Sadhu Stories

1Vector3 said Aug 2, 12:26 PM:
 

Thanks for the mini-education, Bill. My personal response is that all those perspectives, approaches, and practices, were for a different Earth, a planet in a different vibrational frequency, than where we are now. Things are faster and easier now. 

And if Realization is of what always already is – and if in fact the human self is not in charge of when that happens, and never was in charge — then we can relax from all the effort, eh? Many teachers define THE key to Realization as: Relaaaaaax !!!!!! Stop!!!! Be still !!!!! If what is is, then ceasing the effort to avoid awareness of it, is all we need to “do.” And when “we” “do” that, “who” is “doing” it, anyway? 

Blessings, OM