I can’t always meditate or sit for prayer. Further, my study is all over the place and not consistent so I am trying to simplify my Routine. Instead of having three types of Meditation I will just have one. This will just be a meditation for 20 minutes and study of the sastras for 10. So a 30 minute block of study. This simplifies the practice and I have the exact same type of meditation every time so that I can get into a groove.

Having three different types of meditations is not fruitful and is a bit distracting. By having a single type I can get into the same type of meditation every time. Secondly, having the study after the meditation I can focus after clearing my mind instead of distracting it. I am performing a Raja Yoga which is “yogas citta vritti nirodah” so distracting the mind by focusing on a verse first seems to be counterintuitive. So my focus is to read the texts after.

Lastly, I may not always be able to meet the meditation time. So if I cannot meet it I will focus on working on studying the sastras or study some spiritual text.

As part of my Meditation routine I had the study of supplemental texts, but what I found was that this I am going through too many different supplemental texts and not really focusing on any one of them at a time. Secondly, reading secular texts was not happening such as how to be a better father. So I am making some changes to my Routine to solidify the Study & Work time.

They will be two hour chunks of time and I will focus on my work but the first Study & Work will start with 30 minutes of spritual study and the last Study & Work will end with 30 minutes of spiritual study. My focus on these spritual studies will be to the read the same text so that I can focus on getting through a single book.

The primary textual focuses are the Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita. Everything else being supplemental to these three core texts. By reading only one supplemntal text at a time I can then focus on improving a single area of weakness instead of spreading myself thin.

The supplemental texts are texts to assist in understanding and put into practice the core texts better. For example, reading "Meditation and Spiritual Life" is there to assist my understanding of the Yoga Sutras. My reading of the "Gospel of Ramakrisha" is a way to understand the Bhagavad Gita better. My reading of Vivekananda is a way to understand the Hanuman Chalisa better.

Finally, since I am moving my study of these texts into the Study & Work period I can spend larger chunks of time reading them when I have time. This allows me to have a larger chunk of time to focus on these texts instead of just small chunks. Each of these supplemental texts are not just for reading but for putting into practice and so having larger chunks of time is important so I can take the knowledge and implement it.

One of the reasons I think this change is also good is that if I do not make it to reading the supplementary texts so I can read other texts I don't mentally feel bad. I still am reading the sastras so it is okay. I can read other texts when I have time.

For a person of action Jnana Yoga and the nature of the self are difficult. Understanding the basic tenants of science including physics and chemistry I understand where Jnana Yoga is coming from. That the true nature of reality is none other that the universe and since we all came from the Big Bang that the universe and the individual are the same.

The energy that animates the universe is within us and we are part of it. It is beautiful, inspiring, and impossible to practice as a householder. While, Jnana Yoga appeals to the logical aspect of my brain, it is the Ista that I turn to in times of crisis. It is easier to mentally visualize and pray to an embodied representation versus a formless entity.

While Bhakti eventually leads to Jnana I do think I need to develop my heart through Bhakti. It is easier for me to think of myself as a servant than as the same as the Self. Ironically, I find that when I think of myself as the Self I become a bit more egoistic and lazy. As a servant I am motivated and have a purpose.

So I am putting my deep study of Advaita Vedanta on hold for a couple of years. While I will continue to engage with the Bhagavad Gita it will be at a higher level versus a deep philosophical inquiry. This will be the same for the Upanishads. If I find that I get more inclined towards Jnana Yoga in the future I will revisit it as I open up to it but I will not force it.

The core philosophy of Vedanta is immensely subtle and I don’t think I have the correct mindset or the predisposition to attack that path. But as a householder I think it is best to focus on Karma, Bhakti and Raja Yoga as my main paths. The Jnana Yoga will still be there to understand the ultimate nature of reality but I will not focus on it as a main path for now.

So for now I will focus on:

• Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga to purify my heart
• Raja Yoga to calm my mind

This is the study plan that Swami Chinamaya recommends within Kindle Life. This is a long term study plan that covers a wide variety of Vedantic texts and scriptures. It is an eventual goal to complete this study plan over a period of time.

I am at a point in my sadhana where I would like to build a sangh (community) of like-minded people. While my sadhana has been mostly individual focused, I feel the need to build a community for a few reasons:

1. Shared Motivation: Doing a sadhana alone is a bit solitary. Monks have their monasteries and ashrams, Hindu temples seem to have their own set of practices. It is not easy to stay motivated when you are doing it alone. So having a community of like-minded people can help keep the motivation high.
2. Collective Learning: I am trying to build a path that merges the modern world with the ancient wisdom of Sanatana Dharma. A lot of this is trial and error. I think having a community that can share their experiences and learnings can help refine the path.
3. Service and Outreach: A sangh can also help in doing seva (service) and outreach. The goal is to use Sanatana Dharma principles to help society, and with that to help Sanatana Dharma grow.

How are I different from say a Chinmaya Mission or a temple group?

• I am not focused on rituals or temple activities. While those are important, my focus is on individual sadhana based on the four yogas and the three shastras of Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita.
• Focus on modern life. I want to build a path that is relevant to the modern world so I will be pulling ancient Sanatana Dharma ideas and applying them to modern life.
• Simplicity. I want to keep the path simple and easy to follow. By limiting to the four yogas and three shastras, I want to create a simple framework that can be very effective within the modern world.

What I am not going to do:

• Limit anyone's individual sadhana. I just focus on the Four Yogas and the three shastras of Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita as a common ground. If someone wants to do additional sadhana I am not here to stop anyone.
• Create rigid rules. The idea is to have a simple framework that can be followed. I want a sanyasi-like simplicity, while living and working in the modern world.
• Focus on rituals. While rituals are a part of Sanatana Dharma, I want to focus on the core principles and practices that can help individuals grow. Individuals can choose to do rituals on their own if they wish.
• Create a sect. Sanatana Dharma is vast and diverse. I am not trying to create a new sect or denomination. I am just trying to build a community of like-minded individuals.

When one releases their semen independent of their partner there is a loss of energy. Semen when released with a partner has a positive energy. A reason around this seems that semen released with a partner has a benefit of using the energy for the intended purpose of procreation. Creation has a positive energy.

Using semen and releasing it otherwise has a negative energy as the use of the semen is not for creation purposes. It does not push you to a higher plane. It keeps you at the plane that you are in or pulls you down when you are at a higher state. So semen seems to play a role in Sadhana as one needs to preserve it and store its energy for going to higher planes. If released without a partner you are pulled down to the lower planes.

Furthermore, the production of semen is a long process requiring a lot of energy and the release of this semen itself is a large source of energy expenditure.

A person should use the energy that is store in semen which is at the base that moves up the spine through the chakras of the kundalini for spiritual purposes or procreative purposes. The semen itself becomes a store of energy. When it is not being lowered by purposeless release can add energy through the spine awakening a person spiritually.

So semen used for procreation has positive energy and energy used by preserving semen has positive spiritual energy. Otherwise, semen wasted does not provide a benefit and is like throwing away a store of energy, like a battery. It has to be recharged. Because of this it makes you tired and irritable as your body has to use a significant portion of its energy on recharging this battery.

When this battery is being recharged it leads to a stalling of progress in spirituality as you don’t have an energy source to push you upward as Sadhana needs immense energy. In a way semen is like a capacitor that stores energy for spiritual progress.

So don't waste your semen. Use it for procreation or preserve it for spiritual purposes.

Jai Shree Ram

• Hanuman Chalisa (Karma/Bhakti): Devotion
• Yoga Sutras (Raja): Discipline
• Bhagavad Gita (Karma/Bhakti/Jnana): Wisdom

These three shastras encompass the spirit of the Four Yogas and it seems just understanding these three fully and deeply seems to be sufficient. As I stated on v0.11 that I was going toward this path but I didn’t fully understand the depth of each. Frankly, I didn’t think much of the Hanuman Chalisa and now have absolutely fallen in love with it.

The Hanuman Chalisa is not just a song but each sloka is a mantra and an aspiration of behavior that was exuded by Lord Hanuman. Each sloka has a depth of meaning of the trials of Hanuman and how he overcame them. It is in essence the ultimate in the Karma Yoga texts that are succinct to follow the understanding versus reading Ramakrisha or Vivekananda. While, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda act as gurus to guide us to the Four Yogas the Hanuman Chalisa is a condensed version of the values that they want us to lead.

The Yoga Sutras act as a means for disciplining oneself. If the Hanuman Chalisa teaches how to act outwardly then the Yoga Sutras teaches us how the inner world should be. The Yoga Sutras are a guide on how to structure and setup the inner world so that you can act like Lord Hanuman to always be focused on Lord Ram. Since Rama means “light within” it is also a representation the Brahman.

Lastly, the Bhagavad Gita acts as a bridge between the outer and inner world. While the Hanuman Chalisa deals with outer virtues, the Yoga Sutras the inner world, the Bhagavad Gita deals with the battlefield of life of how to deal with yourself as an individual in society at large. It has the ideas that are included in both the Chalisa and Yoga Sutras as well as the Upanishads. It acts as the source of Jnana Yoga encompassing the why of it all.

These shastras have a lifetime of study ahead of them and I am content knowing what I need to focus my energies around.

Jai Shree Ram

I have simplified my daily routine. It was too complex with too many moving pieces making everything I do be shallow. It was hard to know what I was to do when without a schedule. It just made things difficult.

With the simplification of my Sadhana I am also simplifying my routine. I am no longer going to be so intense about my schedule as I was around focusing my energy just on my spiritual practice over everything else. With my goal of memorizing the Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita my intent is to have the core scriptures I have become a part of me.

What has changed is that I now have long periods for each task of over an hour each sometimes two. This gives me a lot of time to do tasks.

Lastly, I have combined Study & Work. The reason is a lot of my work is becoming more study than work and I need to take time to just study. This long periods of time to Study & Work are important to get focused work complete.

I’m hoping to keep this schedule for the foreseeable future with the exception that I may wake up at 7 instead of 7:30.

I am reorienting my sadhana as I mentioned in v0.9 and v0.10 and simplifying my practice to:

1. Memorization of the Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita
2. Study of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda

Everything else is a subgroup of these two things. I am going way out of the primary sources and reading secondary sources. The primary sources are where the power lies, the secondaries are just clarifications. To simplify, I am focusing my energies on the primary texts and will slowly add the secondaries to clarify any holes in my understanding.

Memorization of Hanuman Chalisa, Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita will be a primary practice that I will go through while also learning them in the original and Sanskrit. This will require me to learn Devanagari so I can say what I have read in Sanskrit. The issue I am facing is that I am not sufficiently devotional and building my devotion is what I need so that when I am not meditating or am away from my meditation mat I can still have God in my heart instead of instantly forgetting. By memorizing some of the core texts I can take the devotion wherever I go.

All of these words are to say that I have greatly simplified my sadhana to a few things with a focus on depth. Summed up it is the following:

• “Yogas citta vritti nirodah” Yoga Sutras 1.2
• “O Arjuna! As the ignorant men work with attachment to action, so should the wise act without attachment, for the welfare of the world.” Bhagavad Gita 3.25
• “Hail, Hail, Hail, Shri Hanuman, Lord of senses. Let your victory over the evil be firm and final. Bless me in the capacity as my supreme guru.” Hanuman Chalisa

O Lord, while I identify myself with my body, I am Thy servant.
When I consider myself as Individual Soul, I am Thy part.
But when I look upon myself as Pure Awareness, I am one with Thee Thyself.

The problem of tasting sugar versus being sugar is a real one. When one thinks of oneself as the sugar it is hard to perform action in the world. The advaitic method may be the eventual goal but as a day to day you want to taste sugar. This is the reason I think Ramakrishna said it was easier to be a Bhakta than the other paths because we identify with our bodies.

While I meditate on Lord Shiva, it is in the form of the Shiva Linga. While this is well and good for the sake of meditation when doing action in the world it is not really motivational! While I sympathies to the plight of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita and his love of Krishna, Arjuna was always represented as having a will of his own. While Arjuna realizes his love of Krishna, it had to be developed through the discourse in the Gita.

In this regard I think Hanuman is the best representation of a soul’s love for God. Hanuman was the instrument of Rama. He did everything that Rama asked of him with devotion and love. And being an avatara of Lord Shiva the worship of Hanuman becomes a worship of Lord Shiva. This is likely why Hanuman is represented so heavily in modern Hinduism as a form of worship.

Hanuman represents pure devotion and the combination of the powers of Hari and Hara. While the Bhagavad Gita goes into the love of God’s love for all and the philosophical aspects of how to show that love, Hanuman shows that love in a pure form always thinking himself the instrument of Rama. His strength and power are always used at the service of Rama.

While I will continue my worship of Lord Shiva in the Linga form for Raja Yoga, I will use Lord Shiva in the Hanuman form as the primary method of worship for Karma Yoga.

Jai Shree Ram!