SÄdhanÄ
Sadhana (Sanskrit, साधन, Sadhana, from the root ' SADH ', ' straight towards a destination, be successful ') refers to a spiritual discipline that is undertaken to achieve a specific spiritual goal. These goals may be to attain enlightenment, liberation ( moksha ) from the cycle of samsara to attain to reach nirvana or enjoy the blessings and love of a deity, as is the case in the Bhakti tradition. He who practices sadhana is called sadhak or sadhaka. The seldom-used feminine form of which is Sadhika. A Sadhu, who renounced the world, a Sadhana subjects. The term is used in Buddhism and Hinduism different meanings.
Sadhana in Hinduism
Sadhana can be practiced by both an individual and a group. The Sadhana involves regular exercises such as meditation, singing Bhajans, reciting mantras, the worship of deities through Puja and a whole requires the taking of a particular mindset to get to his destination. In Hinduism, it is traditionally a guru who leads the student on the path of sadhana. Regular exercise such as asana, pranayama, dhyana, japa, karma yoga and regular reading inspirational writings are necessary to achieve according to the teaching of most yoga masters to the goal of God-realization.
Sadhana in the Buddhist Vajrayana
Sadhana is a ritualistic meditation practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Sadhana texts give precise instructions for pictorial meditation on one or more deities: in the Sadhana is the meditator unites with the object of his meditation, the deity. It is equivalent, whether this is done on complex, predetermined or spontaneous ways. On one hand, like a mantra or a thought sufficient to bring about the unification and on the other hand it can be a lengthy ritual purifications, recitations, imagination, sacrifices, mantras and mudras surrounds.
Examples of traditional works are Sadhanamala or Guhyasamayasadhanamala. The descriptions of deities contained therein are also important for determining the iconographic.
All Tantras contain the sadhanas, such as the third chapter of the first book of the Hevajratantras.
Structure of sadhana
A Sadhana begins with a welcoming worship ( Mangala ) of the deity and preliminaries.
Preparatory exercises include the choice of place, sitting down in an appropriate posture ( asana ), rituals for cleaning and protecting the place and the meditators and the generation of the bodhisattva spirit. The main section is divided into the pictorial creation of the Deity, and in the vision of the Supreme Reality, the emptiness.
The final part form request prayers, happiness and blessings.