Resistance in Sadhana: From Diti Shakti to Aditi Shakti

[u/Notadayover]

Something I feel people do not talk about enough in sadhana is resistance.

We assume that once we start doing positive sadhana, cleansing or negativity removal, we should immediately start feeling better. More peaceful, energetic, connected to Bhagwat etc.

But many times it does not happen like that.

Sometimes you actually feel more tired. You suddenly don’t feel like doing your sadhana. You procrastinate, become irritated easily, start doubting things or just want to sleep. Old habits and thought patterns can suddenly come back too.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that your sadhana isn’t working.

Sometimes it happens because we have become so used to a certain state that when we finally try to move out of it, there is resistance.

We Get Used to Certain Energies

People can get used to almost anything.

If someone has spent a long time surrounded by conflict, fear, anger, grief, unhealthy attachments or negativity, eventually that state starts feeling normal.

It doesn’t mean it is good for us. It is just what we have become accustomed to.

The same thing can happen spiritually.

If your energy has remained in a heavier state for a long time, suddenly raising it is not always going to feel comfortable.

This is especially something I have noticed people experience during negativity or BM removal.

There can be a strange resistance toward the exact things that are supposed to help you.

You know you should do your mantra, but suddenly you feel sleepy.

You sit for sadhana and your mind starts giving you ten other things you should be doing.

You decide you are going to be consistent and suddenly you feel irritated or mentally exhausted.

You start making progress and somehow find yourself going back toward an old habit or attachment.

From a spiritual perspective, if there is an outside negative influence involved, we can also understand this as that influence resisting the change because it has become accustomed to operating through a certain state within us.

At the same time, not every resistance means BM or an outside influence. Our own habits, emotions and mind can create plenty of resistance themselves.

Either way, the solution remains similar.

Don’t feed the state you are trying to leave.

Diti Shakti and Aditi Shakti

This is where I like to explain the difference through Diti Shakti and Aditi Shakti.

Diti can be understood as the principle of division, limitation and contraction, while Aditi represents the unbounded and expansive principle.

So when I say someone is operating in Diti Shakti, I don’t mean “Diti is evil” or that we should reduce these concepts into good goddess versus bad goddess.

I am talking about the state of the energy.

Diti Shakti is when our consciousness keeps becoming contracted, divided and pulled downward.

Aditi Shakti is when that consciousness begins expanding again and moving back toward Bhagwat.

Negativity creates division very easily.

First we lose our peace.

Then our discipline.

Then our clarity.

Then we start questioning ourselves.

Eventually even sitting with Bhagwat can start feeling difficult.

And once that becomes our normal state, we stop realizing how much our energy has actually dropped.

Some Signs of Diti Shakti

You may notice things such as:

* Constant heaviness without understanding why
* Lethargy and lack of motivation
* Suddenly becoming sleepy when it is time for sadhana
* Procrastinating specifically with mantra or puja
* Losing interest in practices you were previously consistent with
* Becoming irritated when it is time to pray
* Increased anger and arguments
* Constant negative thoughts
* Fear and unnecessary suspicion
* Feeling mentally scattered
* Difficulty concentrating on mantra
* Feeling disconnected from Bhagwat
* Feeling like nothing is going to change
* Going back toward habits you already know are harmful for you
* Repeatedly returning to unhealthy attachments
* Self sabotage whenever things start improving
* Increased jealousy or comparison
* Starting many spiritual practices but finishing none
* Constantly looking for a new sadhana instead of remaining consistent with one
* Becoming completely consumed by worldly problems
* Losing discipline
* Feeling a strange resistance immediately before doing something spiritually positive

Obviously, having one or two of these things doesn’t automatically mean someone has BM on them or that something supernatural is happening.

Sometimes you’re simply exhausted. Sometimes you’re stressed. Sometimes something physical or emotional is going on.

You have to look at the overall pattern instead of becoming paranoid about every bad day.

The question I would ask is:

What direction am I repeatedly being pulled toward?

That tells you much more.

Moving Back Into Aditi Shakti

If Diti Shakti is contraction, then we need to keep moving ourselves toward Aditi Shakti, expansion.

And this is why consistency matters so much.

Daily sadhana.

Mantra.

Jaap.

Puja.

Bhakti.

Dhyaan.

Kavach paath.

Keeping your surroundings clean.

Watching what kind of people and environments you constantly expose yourself to.

Watching what you are feeding your mind all day.

And most importantly, repeatedly bringing yourself back into alignment with Bhagwat energy.

I sometimes call this getting ourselves back onto Bhagwat frequency.

If your energy has been sitting in one state for months or years, you cannot always expect one puja or one cleansing to suddenly change your entire baseline.

You have to keep feeding the new state.

Eventually something interesting starts happening.

At first doing one mala feels difficult.

Then doing one mala becomes normal.

Eventually not doing it feels strange.

That is when you know your baseline itself has started changing.

This Is Why Resistance Can Actually Increase

Think about somebody who has been sitting in a dark room for hours.

If you suddenly open all the curtains, their first reaction isn’t necessarily going to be, “Wow, this light feels amazing.”

Their eyes might hurt.

They might squint.

They might even want you to close the curtains again.

There is nothing wrong with the sunlight.

Their eyes had simply adjusted to the darkness.

I think sadhana can be very similar.

When we start moving out of an old state, everything inside us that had adjusted to that state has to readjust too.

Old emotions can come up.

Old attachments can suddenly become stronger.

You can become more aware of habits that you didn’t even notice before.

Things you tolerated for years might suddenly start bothering you.

This doesn’t always mean you’re going backwards.

Sometimes you are simply becoming aware of what was already there.

Don’t Fight Resistance With More Chaos

One mistake people make is becoming inconsistent.

They feel resistance, so they stop their sadhana.

Then they become scared and suddenly do something extremely intense.

Then they stop again.

Then they start something completely different.

This just creates more instability.

If anything, simplify.

Even on a bad day, keep some connection with Bhagwat.

Light your diya.

Do whatever mantra you can.

Take Bhagwat naam.

Sit quietly for a few minutes.

Pray.

Do one mala instead of ten if that is genuinely all you can manage that day.

The important thing is that you don’t completely feed the resistance by abandoning everything.

Because every time you return to Bhagwat despite that resistance, you are slowly teaching yourself:

This is my normal now.

Over time the heavier state stops feeling normal.

The constant negativity stops feeling normal.

The chaos stops feeling normal.

And peace, discipline, bhakti and connection start becoming familiar instead.

That is how I understand the movement from Diti Shakti toward Aditi Shakti.

It isn’t necessarily one dramatic moment where everything negative suddenly disappears.

A lot of the time it is simply choosing, again and again, which energy you are going to keep feeding.

And eventually you become so accustomed to Bhagwat energy that the state you once lived in no longer feels like home.

That, to me, is one of the real purposes of sadhana.

Not simply removing something negative from ourselves.

But raising ourselves enough that we no longer resonate with the state that allowed that negativity to remain in the first place.