Thursday Thoughts

Hari OM

It occurred to me earlier this week that I needed to up my saadhana game. It is one thing to live a solitary life, it is quite another to live an isolated life. Recent times have taken their toll, isolating us all in one way or another. To overcome the negative effects that such a forced situation can bring upon the psyche, the majority of us have sought solace in so many different ways, but all of them involving attempts to still feel like we belong... to someone or somewhere. We joined choirs, baking groups, exercise groups, all sharing and caring and supporting with guidelines and examples.

What has that to do with my personal saadhana? Well, one of the things that happened (although this was also in part due to my being in full-care roll for aged father) was that morning disciplines in particular suffered. Prayers were mumbled whilst trying to juggle making breakfast or assist father to rise and ablute. Due to exhaustion from attending cares, those morning and evening chants became rote and remote. There was, due to the weight of responsibility, a lack of flexibility in me to make use of any time I did manage to get to myself - and there were moments here and there...

So when I wrote the meditation post this week I was reminding myself as much as anyone. This is my saadhana blog after all! As hard-pressed as I was leading up to my father's passing, I had lost my Vedantic focus and, therefore, the benefit of uplift normally derived from it. 

This has been getting restored, just as I have been resettling myself in my own home again. Yet, there is still so much room for improvement. 

So, my dears, know that this teacher still is learning. This is the nature of the beast. We give it any leeway or slackness and it will take a long time to return to our control. Imposing self-discipline can be difficult, but the beauty of the Vedantic way is that there are guidelines such as the saadhana chatushtaya and various examples laid out upon which we can anchor our practice. We are never actually alone. Solitary, yes, but isolated, no.