What is Apsara Sadhana?

December 3, 2007 by Al Link
Filed under Questions and Answers

"What is Apsara Sadhana?"

ANSWER

Sadhana is a disciplined spiritual practice in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The purpose of sadhana is liberation from the cycle of birth and death, illumination or enlightenment. A person engaged in sadhana practice is referred to as a Sadhu or a Sadhaka. These spiritual practices take a number of forms including many types of meditation, the use of mantras (sacred sounds), mudras (ritualized body movements), yantras (sacred visual images such as geometric shapes), pujas (ceremonial practices offered to a deity or guru), etc.

Demigod – a being that is half god because one parent was a god and the other was human, as in Greek mythology. For example in one version of Greek mythology Dionysus was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal mother Semele.

Apsarah (apsarasah is plural) is a Celestial Nymph, a feminine spirit of clouds and waters in Hinduism and Buddhism. They first appear in the Rig Veda and act as attendants to the God Indra. They are typically depicted as playing music and dancing and are able to change their shape at will, and are commonly associated with fertility rites.

Here is an online discussion group discussing this practice, but I can find no specific instructions in the forum.

Here is a webpage that mentions Apsarah Sadhana as one step in a progression of steps of spiritual practice. For example: “Through this Diksha one attains fulfilment in all spheres of life besides achieving success in the spiritual field too. If one is not able to achieve success in any Sadhana like Apsara Sadhana, Shiv Sadhana, Veishnnav Sadhana or Sadhana related to any Goddess then through the grace of Mahavidya Tripur sundari one is able to get quick and resounding success.”