page_title: Sādhanā
hierarchical_section_title: Sādhanā
caption_attribution_description: English: taki-gyo
context_page_description: Sādhanā, literally means "methodical discipline to attain desired knowledge or goal", Sadhana is also done for attaining detachment from worldly things which can be a goal of a Sadhu, Karma Yoga can also be described as Sadhana, so also Bhakti Yoga & Gnyan Yoga, constant efforts to achieve maximum level of perfection in all streams in day-to-day life can be described as Sadhana. is a generic term coming from the yogic tradition and it refers to any spiritual exercise that is aimed at progressing the sādhaka towards the very ultimate expression of his or her life in this reality. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.
  Sādhanā can also refer to a tantric liturgy or liturgical manual, that is, the instructions to carry out a certain practice.
  A contemporary spiritual teacher and yogi, Jaggi Vasudev, defines sādhanā as follows:
  Everything can be sādhanā. The way you eat, the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you breathe, the way you conduct your body, mind and your energies and emotions – this is sādhanā.
context_section_description: Sādhanā (Sanskrit साधना; Tibetan: སྒྲུབ་ཐབས་, THL: druptap; Chinese: 修行; pinyin: xiū​xíng), literally means "methodical discipline to attain desired knowledge or goal", Sadhana is also done for attaining detachment from worldly things which can be a goal of a Sadhu, Karma Yoga can also be described as Sadhana, so also Bhakti Yoga & Gnyan Yoga, constant efforts to achieve maximum level of perfection in all streams in day-to-day life can be described as Sadhana.   is a generic term coming from the yogic tradition and it refers to any spiritual exercise that is aimed at progressing the sādhaka towards the very ultimate expression of his or her life in this reality. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.
  Sādhanā can also refer to a tantric liturgy or liturgical manual, that is, the instructions to carry out a certain practice.
  A contemporary spiritual teacher and yogi, Jaggi Vasudev, defines sādhanā as follows:
  Everything can be sādhanā. The way you eat, the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you breathe, the way you conduct your body, mind and your energies and emotions – this is sādhanā. Sādhanā does not mean any specific kind of activity, sādhanā means you are using everything as a tool for your wellbeing.
  The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sādhanā as follows:
  [R]eligious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and molds 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.
  B. K. S. Iyengar (1993: p. 22), in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:
  Sādhanā 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, sādhanā, 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.
caption: Buddhist sādhanā (Japan)
exif: {}