The good thing that happened recent times is, after a 3 year gap, I restarted my Gayatri sadhana once again. In retrospect, the gap was quite avoidable. But then, I was under some sort of inner tension, due to not seeing any "visible" results from my sadhana. Many a times, I used to wonder whether I was wasting my time, and whether the time couldn't have been used better in some other sadhana. Then I stopped it altogether! I thought of dedicating the time saved, into chanting the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra. In a mail sent on april 24, 2014 to my friend Mohan I informed that I had stopped the Gayatri sadhana and then started some other sadhana like that of Maha Mrityunjaya mantra, which used to give me very visible results from the word go. Well, in the immediate aftermath of stopping the sadhana, I didnt notice anything wrong. I continued with my usual Vishnu Sahasranama and Mrityunjaya mantra Sadhana, along with Aditya Hridayam. However, afterwards some negative events happened, like the loss of my mother. And I felt as though I was missing something, as though I am suddenly getting old, as though I somehow lost that spark, that passion for life, passion for all those wonderful things, which albeit simple, make life worth living! Then I got another job, went to a different place, got kind of stuck there, in a routine, though well paying job. Time just flowed. In this period, I had stopped Mrityunjaya mantra too but remained focused on Vishnu Sahasranama that has always been like a close friend to me. Oh what all things I could write about the Vishnu Sahasranama! Mental recitation of it, many times saved me from life threatening accidents. Moreover, many a time I have felt that, after the mental recital of Vishnu Sahasranama, I always get comfortable accommodation to live in, during my travels to various places. On one of these days I also got the realisation that if I mentally recite the VSN before doing Sandhya Vandanam, I would be able to do the Sandhya Vandanam smoothly, undisturbedly, concentratedly.
How did I get back to restarting the Gayatri sadhana? One day in Bengaluru, while seeking a cure to certain mental issues, I thought of starting the Shiva Sahasranama sadhana. Somewhere I had read that lord Shiva is the praty-adhidevata of Jupiter, my lagna lord. But the next day, as I sat down for the recital, I felt as though lord Shiva was asking me to first do the Sandhya Vandanam. So I again took up the practice of offering Arghyam, and soon afterwards went back to following the full process of Sandhyavandanam, including the full recital of the Gayatri. This was around June 2017 - over 3 full years after I had stopped it. Since then I have been in the practice of doing the Gayatri japam regularly. I also stopped my Aditya Hridayam sadhana, since, despite it's obvious health benefits, since I realised that I was getting into more quarrels and more into projecting myself, contrary to my usual humble and self-effacing manner. I also was not getting enough sleep in the night, since I felt extremely alert throughout the day. Doing Aditya Hridayam sadhana without the supportive Gayatri Sadhana, I started getting some vision issues, like many floaters in the eyes. I think, there could also have been some problem with the way I have been reciting Aditya Hridayam. In the 2009 - 2013 period when, along with Aditya Hridayam, I was also doing the all-protective Gayatri, I didn't face these issues. And ever since I stopped the Gayatri Sadhana, I naturally lost that protection, and developed these vision issues afterwards. That is how I understand it now. Anyway I have now restarted Gayatri and am presently into Gayatri and VSN Sadhana only. Sometimes I recite the Hanuman Chalisa. On weekends I am also planning to recite the Siva Mahimna Stotram and Dakshinamoorthy Stotram. Of course the Gayatri is going to be my pivot henceforth.
Life is slowly limping back to "normal" where the "normal" is a mindset akin to those days before 2011, when I was so carefree, fully self assured and ever contented with my connection to that omnipresent Atman, notwithstanding any external circumstances.
I feel like I am slowly getting back that purity and light hearted mindset of the past! May the divine lord bless me with the right understanding!
Meanwhile, a few lessons learnt are,
1) Reciting the Gayatri after nightfall doesn't help, instead might even be harmful. So if one cannot do the evening Sandhya on time, then it's better to do it earlier than the stipulated time, but never afterwards.
2) Doing the morning Sandhya, around 5 am, after taking a bath, can be really good.
3) Never attend to calls on the cellphone, before or during the Sandhya prayers.
4) Always take a bath before reciting the Gayatri orally.
5) Before/During the GM recital feel as though you are in reality the infinite, omnipresent Atman, pervading the entire universe. That Atman, OMkaaram is Varenyam, the sole thing worth seeking after. Meditating on that glorious Bhargah makes our minds perfect and blissful, cures our mental worries and ills, and destroys all things that prevent from directly perceiving that Atman. That Atman illumines our minds and directs us to joyfully manifest ourselves in the outside world, with total detachment, ever contented, self sufficient.
6) After morning Sandhya worship, go out into to the Sunshine for sometime.
