Dinachara

Dinachara

दिनचर, dinacara, also दिनचरी, dinacarī, also दिनचर्या, dinacaryā
"daily work", "regular practice", "daily routine"

Dinachara is a daily routine recommended for those who regularly practices sadhana. This routine takes into account the natural rhythms of a person's life, as well as major transitional moments such as waking up and going to sleep. Almost all spiritual teachings have their own routine, which helps practitioners to reconcile their ordinary life and sadhana and, in the end, integrate them into one whole.

The Vedic brahmins have a rather complicated dinachara, they are prescribed to perform many rituals at certain intervals (up to 6 times a day). As for Nathas and Tantrikas, they have a very similar daily routine.

The greatest attention is paid to the morning time, since the actions performed in the morning have an impact on the whole day, they set certain sanskaras. Although most favorable time for awakening and morning practice is considered to be brahma-muhurta due to the prevailing sattva-guna at this time, for experienced Natha’s practitioners the morning begins at the time they wake up. This can be any time of the day or night, because Natha-yogi often shapes his day himself, depending on the sadhana and the type of activity. For example, there are mandirs with 24/7 service, so some pujaris have to stay awake at night and sleep during the day; there are also certain sadhanas that are performed only at night.

So, the most important time is the time of awakening, therefore there are so many nuances and mantras that yogi utters at this time:

• It is worth waking up calmly, without jumping up abruptly and without wallowing in bed. When awakening, it is advisable to remember about your Guru, about the purpose of your stay in the world, try to realize that we are not the body, but the eternal Atman. The special mantra is recited for the Deities that are resided in the palms (hands are an important tool during the day), and the mantra for greeting all the main Deities and 9 planets is also uttered.
• Sitting in bed, it is recommended to tidy up your energy structure. This can be done through natural mindful breathing "So-Ham" or chakra-meditation. Sometimes yogis recite Kala-gayatri, which allows them to better control the time during the day.
• You need to get out of bed with the same leg as which nostril is active (breathes better). If the right nostril is active, then you should get up from the right leg, if the left – then from the left. When we lower our feet to the floor (ground), the Earth Goddess (Dharti) is greeted with a short mantra.
• Further, when visiting bathroom, a special mantra of Ganapati, the lord of the muladhara chakra, is mentally recited, which purifies the organs of the excretory system. Also, to revitalize the intestines, you can drink a glass of water. Immediately after the restroom, you can brush your teeth, tongue, and, if necessary, make shat-karma.
• The whole body is washed with a special snana-mantra. The mantra calls all the sacred rivers into ordinary water, changing its structure, and washing with such water purifies not only the physical body, but the subtle plane.
• If the sadhaka is a sannyasi, then he also recites mantras for clothes (bhagava), nadi-janeu, kundalas.

After all the procedures, yogi performs his daily sadhana (dina-sadhana).

For eating, a mantra or prayer is also provided. This mantra attunes sadhaka to the Highest. There are many such mantras, the most common among the Nathas is mantra of greeting the five pranas, as well as the short "Alakh Niranjan!" Often, when chanting mantras, sadhus take some water in the right palm and sprinkle the cooked food. Sadhus living in the mandir usually eat 1 or 2 times a day, and their last meal is after the dawn (bhoga time), when all the work and pujas in the mandir have already been done. However, yogis living in the society may have a different meal schedule.

One should also fall asleep in a calm state after the evening sadhana and completed household chores, thinking about Ishta-devata, Guru, meditating on Atman or the light in the space of the head. There is also a special mantra for sleep, in which sadhaka asks famous siddhas to protect him during sleep. Nathas usually spend 4-6 hours on sleep. Such a short sleep time is due to the fact that yogi controls all his manifestations and reactions to events during the day, living it in the most even state, so that many impressions, images and sanskaras that require assimilation during sleep do not remain in the subtle body, and the dream is not long, but deep and of high quality.