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Svadhyaya

Saraswati with Veena on a Lotus

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:

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