Svadhyaya

Truth is one, the wise call it by many names -Rig Veda 1.164.46

The traditional Liberal Arts Education in the West was a means of communicating values and knowledge to the next generation. The goal was to create a citizenry that was well versed in the arts, sciences, and philosophy. This system in many ways also existed in Indic systems with gurus acting as the teachers and the students learning from them. However, the Macaulay effect on India led to Western ideology being treated as a pinnacle while devaluing the Indic Knowledge Systems.

While the Sadhana and Seva are based on practice and action, we need a Sanatana Liberal Arts Foundation that bridges both the Indic systems of thoughts with Western thought. Both remove ignorance in different ways and so both side should be studied. A modern Hindu who only focuses on Indian thought without understanding that we have been influenced by Western thought through colonialism and globalization is not well-rounded. We need to remove ignorance whether through science, rationalism, or otherwise while keeping true to a dharmic core.

The major flaw of Western thought is that it focuses on a single life, Dharmic thought focuses on a continuous cycle of lives. So we must not reject Western ideas but reformulate them within the dharmic worldview. Lastly, wealth and kama are not rejected in Hindu world view but are one of the four goals of life. So we study how to remove ignorance while pursuing each of the four:

dharma. Virtue and Duty
artha. Wealth and Power
kama. Pleasure
moksha. Liberation

Foundation

If I think there are only a few texts that are a foundational I think it will be the following:

Text Pyramid: Bhagavad Gita, Vijñāna Bhairava, Yoga Sutras, and Hanuman Chalisa

Hanuman Chalisa. Devotion and Service. What it means to be serve Isvara. I would further state that if there is only one text in Hindu dharma to study this would be it. Hanuman embodies what it means to be a devotee of Bhagavan. If we can embody him and live as selflessly as he did then we will have fulfilled dharma.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Practice of Yoga. The astanga system provides the framework for putting the other three texts into practice. Ironically, this text is the one most Westerners turn to but is relatively unknown within the Hindu community.
Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. Different forms of concentration.
Bhagavad Gita. Understand of Yoga. Understanding Karma, Bhakti, Raja and Jnana Yoga and messy reality of life. While this covers all the purusharta, I do think it speaks to artha in terms of Arjuna being a warrior and fulfilling his dharma even when life is messy.

Routine

While reading for its own sake is enjoyable and I don't want to discourage it, the goal of Svadhyaya is to reduce ignorance. So the goal is to reduce the ignorance in Sadhana and Seva. In nearly all ways Svadhyaya is the Continuous Improvement of Sadhana and Seva.

So routine is relatively simple:

Review
- Sadhana
  - Saucha
  - Japa
    - yama
    - niyama
    - asana
    - pranayama
    - pratyahara
    - dharana
    - dhyana
    - samadhi
  - Bala
- Seva
  - Family
  - Work
    - Review existing metrics of areas worked on
    - Collect input externally from team
  - Society
Remove Ignorance
- Read
- Learn
- Watch
Plan & Delegate

Svadhyaya

Foundation

Routine

Reading

blog

Foundation​

Routine​

Reading​

blog​

Foundation

Routine

Reading

blog