When we study and practice our religion, we are not necessarily performing deep Sadhana. We are simply dispatching our religious duties.
These duties are concisely outlined in the pancha nitya karmas, the five minimal religious obligations of Hindus.
The first duty is Dharma:
Proper conduct, living one's life according to the teaching.
The second duty is upasana, worship :
Preferably before dawn, including a puja, followed by the performance of japa, scriptural study, and meditation. This gives you a daily break to your mind and thoughts from outside world.
The third duty is utsava, holy days:
Observing each Friday (or Monday or any other day) as a holy day, as well as the major festival days through the year. On the weekly holy day, one cleans and decorates the home altar, attends the nearby temple and observes a fast.
This gives you weekly break to your mind and thoughts from outside world and by fasting it cleans you body and rest to your body parts.
The fourth duty of all Hindus is tirthayatra, pilgrimage:
At least once each year, a pilgrimage is made to a Hindu temple away from one's local area.
This gives you yearly break to your mind and thoughts from outside world.
Fifth is Samskaras:
The observance of traditional rites of passage, including namakarana, name-giving; vivaha, marriage; and antyesti, funeral rites.
This gives a spiritual touch / blessings as you grow and attain new responsibilities.
The performance of personal sadhana, discipline for self-transformation, is one step deeper in making religion real in one's life.
Through sadhana, we learn to control the energies of the body and nerve system, and we experience that through the control of the breath the mind becomes peaceful.
Sadhana is practiced in the home, in the forest, by a flowing river, under a favorite tree, in the temple, in gurukulas or wherever a pure, serene atmosphere can be found.
A vrata, vow, is often taken before serious sadhana is begun. The vrata is a personal pledge between oneself, one's guru and the angelic beings of the inner worlds to perform the disciplines regularly, conscientiously, at the same time each day.
Good one
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