Keys to Sadhana

Keys to Sadhana contains the edited transcripts of discourses given by Amma during a 2002 meditation retreat in India.  In the discourses, Amma discusses many practices that keep our minds and bodies healthy, so that our spiritual journey will proceed in a smooth and peaceful way. In her fascinating and inimitable way, Amma also discusses the spiritual essence of certain key verses in Sri Saundarya Lahari, a famous and divinely beautiful scripture composed by Sri Adi Sankaracharya in honor of Divine Mother. From the Introduction: "Amma reminds us that we have obtained the invaluable boon of human birth due to the merits accumulated during countless previous lives. Our goal is enlightenment, the knowledge of truth. This body has been given to us for the performance of sadhana, and for this a strong and healthy body is needed. How can we sit for long hours in meditation when our body is weak, afflicted by pain and disease? In this stressful twenty-first century, we need a very strong mind just to cope with all the tensions of our day-to-day lives. Reading through the pages of this inspiring book gives us fresh insight into what is really important for the attainment of our spiritual goal." From this Book: "The pineal gland needs a great deal of solar energy in order to function efficiently. So when we perform surya namaskara--offering arghya, oblations of water, to Surya Deva, the Sun God, while chanting the Gayatri Mantra--the pineal gland is stimulated by the orange-red rays of the rising sun. This important gland has a direct connection with the bindu or sahasrara chakra. When it is activated and strengthened, it helps the sahasrara chakra to bloom fully. That is why so much importance has been given to the daily performance of surya namaskara."