The essence of sadhana is self-discipline. The deities we worship are in fact the symbolic representatives of our own covert indwelling divine attributes. So long as these attributes are dormant, we live in a miserable state, but when the divine nature is awakened and activated, we realize that We are repositories of supernormal energies (riddhi and siddhi). The sole aim of sadhana is to activate these dormant attributes through a focused and dedicated process of self-refinement and self-transcendence.
A farmer understands the significance of sadhana. While tending his crops, he remains thoroughly involved in farming day in and day out throughout the year. In this process, he is least concerned about his health or the severity of the weather. He takes care of the fields like he would of his own body. He keeps an eye over each and every plant. According to the needs of the crop, he nurtures it with manure and performs several operations such as tilling, irrigating, weeding and harrowing of the field, and finally harvesting.
The wisdom for the preservation and maintenance of the fields, the bullocks, ploughs and the ancillary equipments comes to him intuitively from within. He does all this without feeling tired or bored, or showing any haste. He does not insist on the immediate reward for his labour because he knows that the crop takes a specific period of time to ripen and so he has to wait patiently till then. He remains free from the anxiety of filling his cellar with the produce. He also understands the futility of anticipating a plentiful yield. His sadhana of farming continues single mindedly. He does encounter obstacles but he overcomes them with his own expertise and with the help of available resources. He refuses to relax without fulfilling the needs of the field. When the crop ripens and is harvested, he takes home the produce with a sense of gratitude to Nature.
This is sadhana of a farmer which he continues to perform from his childhood till death with unwavering faith. There is no rest, no fatigue, no boredom and no boredom and no Indifference. A sadhaka(devotee) should learn the art of sadhana from the farmer.
–Akhand jyoti jan-feb 2003
