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!Negative Aspect

!Negative Aspect

!Positive Aspect

!Positive Aspect

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| rowspan="3" |Advaita Vedanta

| rowspan="3" |Advaita Vedanta

arthānusandhāna)

arthānusandhāna)

|-

|-

|Ihāmutra-phalabhoga-virāga (indifference to pleasure of every kind either in this world or the next)

|Ihāmutra-phalabhoga-virāga (indifference to pleasure of every kind either in this world or the next)

dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (ecstasy)

dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (ecstasy)

|-

|-

|Tantra

|Tantra

|Bhuta-shuddhi (or purification of

|Bhuta-shuddhi (or purification of

the gross, the subtle and causal bodies)

the gross, the subtle and causal bodies)

|Matrka (pure spiritual creative energy)

|Matrka-nyasa (pure spiritual creative energy)

 

 

 

|}

|}

==== Chittashuddhi - Chief Outcome ====

==== Chittashuddhi - Chief Outcome of Sadhana ====

Great emphasis has been laid upon the negative aspect of Sadhana, not only by most sects of the Sanatana Dharma, but by other religions of the world. This negative side is described as the stage of purgation which is the essential preliminary to all illumination. The divine discontent, the unwillingness to be satisfied with the merely animal level of existence, is the first stage in the development of spiritual consciousness, and this, when earnest and real, cannot but lead to purgation or '''Chittasuddhi'''.<ref name=":5" />  

Great emphasis has been laid upon the negative aspect of Sadhana, not only by most sects of the Sanatana Dharma, but by other religions of the world. This negative side is described as the stage of purgation which is the essential preliminary to all illumination. The divine discontent, the unwillingness to be satisfied with the merely animal level of existence, is the first stage in the development of spiritual consciousness, and this, when earnest and real, cannot but lead to purgation or '''Chittasuddhi'''.<ref name=":5" />  

The purification of the '''chitta''' or mind is the one thing that is indispensable, and whatever differences might exist with regard to other points, all the different forms of Sadhana agree in holding that this is the basis of all true illumination.<ref name=":5" />  

The purification of the '''chitta''' or mind is the one thing that is indispensable, and whatever differences might exist with regard to other points, all the different forms of Sadhana agree in holding that this is the basis of all true illumination.<ref name=":5" /> According to the Yoga school, the negative step precedes the positive and prepares the vacuum that is to be filled up by the positive.

Tantra also involves '''purgation or purification of the sinful body''' and the removal of all sins and taints, acquired and inherited. This is what prepares the vacuum that is next filled up by the Matrka or the pure spiritual creative Energy, which is the mother of all feelings and ideas (bhava).  

Tantra also involves '''purgation or purification of the sinful body''' and the removal of all sins and taints, acquired and inherited. This is what prepares the vacuum that is next filled up by the Matrka or the pure spiritual creative Energy, which is the mother of all feelings and ideas (bhava).  

The Bhakti line of Sadhana does not place much emphasis on this negative phase and regards - vairagya or desirelessness as not much helpful towards spiritual realisation.  <blockquote>तस्मान्मद्‍भक्तियुक्तस्य योगिनो वै मदात्मनः । न ज्ञानं न च वैराग्यं प्रायः श्रेयो भवेदिह ॥ ३१ ॥ (Bhag. Pura. 11.20.31)<ref>Shrimad Bhagavata Purana ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A7/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%A6 Skanda 11 Adhyaya 20])</ref> </blockquote>Love of what is divine is the one thing that is essential, and indifference towards other things (vairagya) is not to be sought separately. God and all that is God’s are loved, and automatically everything other than God and the Divine ceases to be of any importance.<ref name=":5" />  

The Bhakti line of Sadhana does not place much emphasis on this negative phase and regards - vairagya or desirelessness as not much helpful towards spiritual realisation.  <blockquote>तस्मान्मद्‍भक्तियुक्तस्य योगिनो वै मदात्मनः । न ज्ञानं न च वैराग्यं प्रायः श्रेयो भवेदिह ॥ ३१ ॥ (Bhag. Pura. 11.20.31)<ref>Shrimad Bhagavata Purana ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A7/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%A6 Skanda 11 Adhyaya 20])</ref> </blockquote>Love of what is divine is the one thing that is essential, and indifference towards other things (vairagya) is not to be sought separately. God and all that is God’s are loved, and automatically everything other than God and the Divine ceases to be of any importance.<ref name=":5" />  

Trshnatyaga (desirelessness) comes as a consequence of or rather pari passu with Krishnanishta—(love of God). The Bhakti-marga points out that it is wrong psychology to try to drive out things from the mind and to make it a vacuum before filling it up with other things. If we fill up the mind with God, automatically other things disappear. This is the direct method of getting rid of worldly things and objects, and also of realising God.<ref name=":5" />

Trshnatyaga (desirelessness) comes as a consequence of filling up with Krishnanishta—(love of God). The Bhakti-marga points out that it is wrong psychology to try to drive out things from the mind and to make it a vacuum before filling it up with other things. If we fill up the mind with God, automatically other things disappear. This is the direct method of getting rid of worldly things and objects, and also of realising God. Similarly, reciting the name of Krishna, according to this school, also removes all obstacles. Thus in this system the separation between the positive and negative aspects is not distinct.<ref name=":5" />

=== Sadhana - Bahiranga and Antaranga Aspects ===

=== Sadhana - Bahiranga and Antaranga Aspects ===

=== Sadhana - Margas ===

=== Sadhana - Margas ===

There is yet another division of Sadhana into different ways based on the important Sanatana Dharma tenets, namely,  

There is yet another classification of Sadhana into different ways based on the important [[Sanatana Dharma (सनातनधर्मः)|Sanatana Dharma]] tenets, namely,  

# Karma-marga

# Karma-marga

# Jnana-marga

# Jnana-marga

The three great forms of Sadhana; Jnana, Yoga and Bhakti are not arbitrary divisions but based on important principles. Sadhana may proceed by emphasizing the subject or by emphasizing the object. The object-factor is emphasized by the Bhakti schools, while the subject by the Jnana and Yoga schools of thought.<ref name=":5" />

The three great forms of Sadhana; Jnana, Yoga and Bhakti are not arbitrary divisions but based on important principles. Sadhana may proceed by emphasizing the subject or the object. The emphasis is laid on the object-factor by the Bhakti schools, while it is on the subject by the Jnana and Yoga schools of thought.<ref name=":5" />

It is well-known that Vedas are said to have two important branches—Karma-kanda ([[Brahmana (ब्राह्मणम्)|Brahmana]] texts) and Jnana-kanda ([[Upanishads (उपनिषदः)|Upanishads]]). Bhakti or Upasana is placed under Karma-marga and is not given a separate place. The Ashtangayoga of Patanjali, all the Vaisnava schools, the Tantrika and Pasupata forms of Sadhana, and the yajna forms of Sadhana as prescribed in the Vedas would all be classified under Karma-marga. Under Jnana, the [[Samkhya Darshana (साङ्ख्यदर्शनम्)|Samkhya]] and the [[Vedanta (वेदान्तः)|Vedanta]] forms of Sadhana are included. In the present context, Bhakti-marga is elucidated separately.

The objective of life is to experience the ultimate ontological truth - Self is Brahman - and the way to pursue it is through vairagya (renunciation) captured by the attributes of knowledge (Sadhana by Jnana-marga) is presented in the thirteenth adhyaya of Bhagavadgita. In other words, epistemology or the Indian theory of knowledge is to be able to live and experience the ontological belief that brahman is in everything in the universe, and it is practiced through a meticulous lifestyle filled with positivity.<ref name=":6">Bhawuk, Dharm. P. S. (2011) ''Spirituality and Indian Psychology, Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita.'' New York, Dordrecht Heidelberg, London: Springer. (Pages 170-171)</ref>

==== Bhakti Marga ====

== Sadhanas in Sanatana Dharma ==

== Sadhana - A Psychological Process ==

==== Karma Marga ====

Sadhana begins with the consciousness of the existence of some Supreme Power, an intimate connection or rather a conscious union with which is deemed absolutely essential to the realisation of the ''summum bonum'' of life.<ref name=":5" />

 

The objective of life is to experience the ultimate ontological truth - Self is Brahman - and the way to pursue it is through vairagya (renunciation) captured by the attributes of knowledge (Sadhana by Jnana-marga) is presented in the thirteenth adhyaya of Bhagavadgita. In other words, epistemology or the Indian theory of knowledge is to be able to live and experience the ontological belief that brahman is in everything in the universe, and it is practiced through a meticulous lifestyle filled with positivity.<ref name=":6">Bhawuk, Dharm. P. S. (2011) ''Spirituality and Indian Psychology, Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita.'' New York, Dordrecht Heidelberg, London: Springer. (Pages 170-171)</ref>

This Supreme Power has sometimes been regarded as the Higher Self of man himself and not any foreign power with whom only an external connection could possibly be established. Sadhana, thus means the conscious effort at unfolding the latent possibilities of the individual self and is hence limited to human beings alone. Only in man is the special equipment, viz. '''a conscious effort''' apparently separate from the activities of nature, comes into being.  

The inwardly directed individual Self perceives vaguely its latent infinitude and realises gradually that its limitation and bondage are not inherent in its nature but are rather imposed on it, and wants somehow to shake them off and thus realise its full autonomy. Liberation or vimukti is identical with freedom, and freedom is expansion. It is the gross outward matter and contact with matter that have made the Self appear limited. The deeper and deeper we dive into Self, the more of expansion, freedom and light do we feel and enjoy. The conscious urge of the finite to become more and more expanded till it realises its infinitude is what is really meant by mumukshutva (desire for liberation) which forms the unmistakable first step in the course of, Sadhana.<ref name=":5" />

Bhagavadgita presents the all positive psychological elements or characteristics that everyone needs to cultivate to be able to learn the knowledge of Brahman. These elements of Jnana include<ref name=":6" /><blockquote>अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् । आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ॥ १३-८॥

nonviolence (ahimsA),

अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् । एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा ॥ १३-१२॥ Bhaga. Gita. 13. 8-12)</blockquote>Shri Krishna lists that the characteristics mentioned (in these shlokas) constitute Jnana and those opposite to these are termed as Ajnana.<ref name=":6" />

tolerance (kSAntiH),  

# क्षान्तिः ॥ tolerance  

# जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ॥ remembering the problems of birth, death, old age, disease, and miseries that go with the physical body (to motivate oneself to think about the Atman)

# पुत्रदारगृहादिषु अनभिष्वङ्गः ॥ without fondness towards son, wife, or home etc.

service to a spiritual teacher (AcAryopAsanam),  

Sadhana involves quite a few psychological processes such as thoughts, ideas, facts, cognition, reality, sensation, truth or falsity, distinction between the subject and object, reasoning, intuition, knowledge and so on.

cleanliness (zaucam),  

Sadhana begins with the consciousness of the existence of some Supreme Power, an intimate connection or rather a conscious union with which is deemed absolutely essential to the realisation of the ''summum bonum'' of life.<ref name=":5" />

steadfastness (sthairyam),  

This Supreme Power has sometimes been regarded as the Higher Self of man himself and not any foreign power with whom only an external connection could possibly be established. Sadhana, thus means the conscious effort at unfolding the latent possibilities of the individual self and is hence limited to human beings alone. Only in man is the special equipment, viz. '''a conscious effort''' apparently separate from the activities of nature, comes into being.

self-control (AtmavinigrahaH),  

The inwardly directed individual Self perceives vaguely its latent infinitude and realises gradually that its limitation and bondage are not inherent in its nature but are rather imposed on it, and wants somehow to shake them off and thus realise its full autonomy. Liberation or vimukti is identical with freedom, and freedom is expansion. It is the gross outward matter and contact with matter that have made the Self appear limited. The deeper and deeper we dive into Self, the more of expansion, freedom and light do we feel and enjoy. The conscious urge of the finite to become more and more expanded till it realises its infinitude is what is really meant by mumukshutva (desire for liberation) which forms the unmistakable first step in the course of, Sadhana.<ref name=":5" />

 

detachment in the sense pleasures (indriyArtheSu vairAgyam),  

 

 

remembering the problems of birth, death, old age, disease, and miseries that go with the physical body to motivate oneself to think about the Atman,

 

without attachment (asaktiH),

 

 

always in a balanced manas or citta (or mind) when favorable or unfavorable consequences of actions arise (nityaM ca samacittatvam

 

 

people (viviktadezasevitvam aratirjanasaMsadi), constantly offering unalloyed devotion to kRSNa (mayi cAnanyayogena bhaktiravyabhicAriNI).

== Sadhana in Sampradayas ==

== Sadhana in Sampradayas ==