Human birth is extremely rare. It should be carefully articulated in such a way that it helps to achieve the highest goal of human life to attain divinity through sadhana. Such a life can be an inspiration to others. The human body is an extraordinary gift of God with full of potential. It was given to us to maintain this beautiful garden of God, by removing painful weeds and growing flowers of happiness.
As I mentioned in my previous article about Atmabodh sadhana, we are given a certain amount of breaths to live; and any breath can be our last one. So we should take each day as a new opportunity of life, and make it worthwhile. If we spend our day with this awareness, it helps prevent making mistakes and provides restful sleep at night.
In today’s competitive world, most of us forget the higher purpose of life and spend it on useless activities. Our outer world is the reflection of our inner self. Every night, when we sleep, the outer world slowly disappears for us, and we travel inward to another world – in this peaceful state, our body and mind rejuvenates and restores from daily stress. It is hard to switch abruptly from the disturbed mind to a peaceful mind at night. Because of that, insomnia cases are increasing dramatically and even the young generation is not spared.
What is Tatvabodh Sadhana?
Sleep is a kind of death, in which our known world slowly disappears. This beautiful practice of Tatvabodh sadhana helps to alleviate stress. Sadhana means faithful spiritual practice. It is a night prayer, where ‘Tatva‘ means elements and ‘bodh‘ means realization. So Tatvabodh gives in-depth knowledge of the capability of the human body and its proper utilization; and helps us to retire in peaceful death every night. Many things do not remain important to a dying person. Sudden death is a different scenario, but if we are imagining a new death every night, it will help us to get rid of a lot of mental chaos and liberate us from unnecessary worries of life.
A Story
Let’s try to understand it with the help of a story. Once upon a time, a very greedy and cranky person lived in a village. He never returned the debts he owed and treated his family and others disrespectfully. One day, he met a saint outside his village. The saint told him that his death was very near and that he would die within a week. With a sad heart, he came home. Now he had two ways to spend the rest of his life – to retire from all activities and wait for his death with a heavy heart or utilize the rest of his time to right the wrongs he has done.
He decided to go with the latter and became satisfied that God gave him a chance to correct his mistakes. Thereafter, he started spending every moment for other people; he started treating his wife with love and teaching his children some valued lessons. He returned all the debts and started giving respect to his neighbors. He spent every second of his seven days invaluably. On the last night, he went to sleep satisfied that he did every necessary task and he was ready to welcome his death.
But, extremely surprised, he woke up the next day! He couldn’t understand anything and ran to the saint to solve this mystery. He asked the saint, “How am I still alive after seven days when you predicted my death?” The saint calmed him down and said, “I will answer your question, but first tell me how you spent these seven days?” The man told him everything.
After listening, the saint told him, “I knew your death was not near. But the way you were living your life was useless and selfish. And this was the only way to change your thinking and behavior. If you like the way you spent your last seven days, then continue living the same way for the rest of your life.” The saint blessed him a long life. The man realized his mistake and was changed forever.
Tatvabodh Sadhana
Every night, after going to bed, it is a good idea to take a few minutes to recall the day. The activities and thoughts of the entire day should be reviewed. As you are your judge, review every mistake and good act of the day without any selfish preference. Recalling every good action will bring a smile on your face and satisfaction in your heart, and every mistake will make you sad.
With full awareness, pray God for forgiveness for any mistakes. The words of atonement should come from your deepest heart to be effective. Praise yourself for any meaningful act and thank God for providing such an opportunity. Realizing our own mistakes helps us become more conscious of not repeating it.
Now, I would like to share a prayer that I learned from my Guru:
“I lie down on my bed and take a few deep breaths to relax. I imagine being in the presence of God with my head resting on His lap. I analyze my day and ask Him for forgiveness for mistakes I made and the strength to not repeat them. I take pride in all the good deeds that I did. Sleep is a form of death and my mind and body are prepared for it. I lie on my back with arms on my chest, close my eyes in a meditative state and surrender myself to God.”
We can achieve the state of Yog Nidra by doing this sadhana.
