Spirituality Studies 11-2 Fall 2025 69 Gábor Pék, Gejza M. Timčák 2 An Insight into Self-Study “Self-study” (Sa. sva-adhyāya) is the fourth discipline of niyamas (Sa. “austerities”, “restraint”, “control”), means either the study of scriptural sentences or the silent recitation of purificatory mantras like OM (Veda Bharati 2015, 483). As highlighted by Swami Veda (Papp 2016, 101) these are only two phases of the very same practice. First, aspirants must learn and understand their own personality traits based on the teachings of the used scriptures, and after that they can recall and “contemplate” (Sa. manana) on them. Back in time, gurus and “teachers” (Sa. ācārya) passed on the knowledge of yoga texts orally, so disciples had to recite their sacred scripts and syllables aloud and silently. Once the lesson finished, they had to practice it the same way at home. By doing so, the real meaning of such texts was engraved into the disciples’ mind. The more one repeated these scripts, the clearer one’s mind became, opening the doorway for a deeper self-study. The pinnacle of such practice “happens” when the mantra, as well as the mind of the practitioner, dissolves into the vast ocean of Consciousness (Veda Bharati 2015, 315, 318–319, 424–429). This way, self-study and the silent recitation of a mantra or scripture simply attune different layers of the mind allowing for cleaning it from impure imprints. Although svādhyāya is an important practice, we note that it needs to be “left far behind when one begins to enter samādhi” (Veda Bharati 2015, 230). 2.1 The Sādhana of Svādhyāya The practice of svādhyāya reaches back to ancient times and is preserved by written sources (Veda Bharati 2001, 497–498) including Upaniṣhads (e.g., Taittirīyopaniṣad 1:9.1, 1:11.1), Bhagavad Gītā (16:1), Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (2:1, 2:32, 2:44) and more. Svādhyāya is a part of the niyamas as defined by Patañjali. Patañjali in Yoga Sūtras (in Jnaneshvara Bharati n.d., 2:1, 2:32, 2:44) declares that: Yoga in the form of action (kriya yoga) has three parts: 1) training and purifying the senses (tapas), 2) self-study in the context of teachings (svadhyaya), and 3) devotion and letting go into the creative Source from which we emerged (ishvara pranidhana). – Sa. tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah. Cleanliness and purity of body and mind (shaucha), an attitude of contentment (santosha), ascesis or training of the senses (tapas), self-study and reflection on sacred words (svadhyaya), and an attitude of letting go into one’s source (ishvarapranidhana) are the observances or practices of self-training (niyama), and are the second rung on the ladder of Yoga. – Sa. shaucha santosha tapah svadhyaya ishvarapranidhana niyamah. From self-study and reflection on sacred words (svadhyaya), one attains contact, communion, or concert [note: conformity, synergy] with that underlying natural reality or force [note: Sa. iṣṭa-devatā]. – Sa. svadhyayat ishta devata samprayogah. It is possible to see that apart from having a positive impact on the sādhaka, it also enables some siddhis – manifestation of competences thought to originate from guides from higher realms or force (Sa. iṣṭa-devatā). A more modern view is when self-study includes also the studying of one’s own person(ality) traits directly (e.g., through self-enquiry or by psychological means) or studying the lives of yogis and getting inspiration therefrom. Furthermore, it refers to practices that help oneself attain complete wellbeing which is “liberation” (Sa. mokṣa). So far, the sādhanā of svādhyāya includes three participants: the sādhaka, the purificator script and the guru who, from an impersonal “perspective”, embraces, helps and supports the whole process. We must emphasize here that the success of such an approach was not solely encoded into the information of the purificatory scriptures, but in the whole wisdom of the yoga lineage and trust in the guru. Thus, svādhyāya is an integral part of a sādhakas’ training and thus they will try to seek out all the relevant information from oral, written and even from web-based sources. With the immense improvement of AI, people seem to easily change the traditional sources for more “modern” alternatives expecting to earn the same results, however, with less effort. It brings forth more information, however, potentially at the price of malformed or misinterpreted source materials. In the following, we discuss the concept of AI to study and better understand its scope within a spiritual practice such as svādhyāya.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUwMDU5Ng==