Five essentials of life of a Sadhak

Santosh or contentment
You are okay with what you have received. Whatever result you got, either appropriate or inappropriate, you accept it. This is, because we do not know what is beneficial for us, that which is favorable or that which is unfavorable for us. From the foreground of acceptance, you can take on the flight of the Ultimate Truth.
Tap or Austerity
Do not foster pretensions. Let you life be simplistic. Let it be easy going.
Swadhyay or Self Study
Read good Scriptures, those that have the description of the Truth. Like the Guru Granth Sahib, like the Geeta, like the Veda, like the Koran, like the Bible, like the 650 books of Osho, Patanjali’s Yog Darshan. By reading such books, you would be able to do investigation of the self.
Secondly, Self-Observation, that is to read the book of ones own life.

Padh leta jo apni kitab
Pa jata jeevan ka surag

Meaning:
Despite reading all books and Scriptures, you would not be able to find the Ultimate Truth. You will have to read you own life’s book.

Chukta jata hai tel aur Jalti jati tan ki bati,
Reh jati tab bhi raat bahut, Jindagi na khud ko padh pati
Isase pehle ki tel jale, Khud ki kitab padh le pagle
Swadhyayam sharanam gachhami, Bhaj Osho Sharanam gachhami

It says: Just like in a lamp, the thread and the oil may burn completely but yet the night of life may still remain. O Dear, hurry up, life is short .Before it comes to an end, read the book of your own life.
Studying own book of life
There is a beautiful poem by Neeraj. I like it very much.

Meri mumtaj, agar Shahjahan hota mein
To ek Taj Mahal tere liye banwata
Sab sitaron ko kalai mein teri jad deta
Sab baharon ko tere ank mein bithlata
Kintu main Shahjahan hun, na seth sahukar
Ek shayar hun, garibi ne jise pala hai
Diya hai desh nikala hansi khusi ne jise
Aur jiskee ki subha ka bhi gagan kala hai
Kampti lo ye sihayi ye dhuan yeh kagaz
Apni sab umra inhe geet banane mein kati Kaun samje meri ankhon ki nami ka matlab
Jindagi ved thi par jild bandhne mein kati.

Meaning: My beloved, if I would be Emperor like Shahajan, than I would have constructed a Taj Mahal for you. I would have tied all the stars in your wrist, I would have brought all lourels in your lap.
But neither I am Shahajan nor I am a rich man. I am a poor poet, brought up in poverty. It appears that i have been expelled from land of joy. Even my morning is dark. With the help of wavering flame, scant ink and smoky lamp I have tried to create some songs on paper. This is my whole life who will understand the meaning of Tears in my eyes. My life was a holy scripture but no one has read it. IT has been waiting only for binding its cover all the time.
The life that we all have received is God’s gift, it is a Veda, it is Guru Granth Sahib it is Geeta, and it is Koran. But do you see a how a bookbinder treats the book that arrives at his shop? His relation is only with binding. He never turns the pages, never reads the book. If a binder treats the books in his shop in this manner then his fault is pardonable. But if we too, mistreat our own book of life in the same manner then our mistake is not pardonable. This is because the book that the binder has is not his own. That book does not contain anything written by the binder.
However, our book, life’s book is our own book. And whatever is written in it is written by us. It is a different thing that after writing in it, knowingly or unknowingly ink has smudged it. Now even if we want to read anything we are not able to read.
Bhai Basheer Badra says-

Mujhe padhne vala padhe bhi kya? Mujhe likhne vala likhe bhi kya?
Mera naam jab bhi likha gaya
Vahin roshnai palat gayi.

Meaning: Who will read me? Who will write to me? Whenever my name was written some ink fell on it and made it illegible.9
Patanjali say, “study this book a little!”
Eeshwar Pranidhan- Connecting with the Divine
Patanjali says, “The final thing in the purification of the mind is Eshwar Pranidhan.” The Supreme One is formless. He is your true Master. However, the external Master is the one who tells you that the true Master dwells within you.
You will have to know this through a Master. One will have to search for such a Master.

Guru Arjun Dev says a wonderful thing-
Koi jan har se deve jod
Charan gahu bakau shubh rasna
Dije pran akor

Meaning: May we find such a person, such a Master who connects me with God, who can unite me with the Supreme One. Then what would I do? I would fall at his feet, sing praises of him, and offer my life in his feet.
You will have to find such manifested form who can take you from Truth to Ultimate Truth. Thereafter your mind and hearts would be purified. The purification of the heart is necessary if you want to go towards the Ultimate Truth.
Guru Govind Singh says-

Guru Granth ko maniyon pragat guru ki deh
Jake hridey shudhh hai khoj shabad leh

One whose heart is pure will be able to find out through Shabd (Omkar) the path from Truth to the Ultimate Truth.
One has to search!
The law of existence is – jin khoja tin paiyan; one who searches will find.
Scientists explore matter. The Supreme One reveals the Truth in matter for them. Saint searches within the heart hence the Supreme One manifests Truth inside the cave of the heart.
The Scriptures contain only the Truth remember this. You have to go from Truth to the Ultimate Truth. The Truth is arousing a desire within your heart. A desire will certainly be aroused. A thirst will certainly be aroused. If the desire does not become a quest then what is it worth? It will die one day.
Hence, you will have to search to go from Truth to the Ultimate truth because you will not find the Ultimate Truth through Scriptures.
Kirshna says, “na ye na atma, pravachane na labhye”- self realization does not happen through lectures. This is because, you will smell the fragrance of Truth through lectures but the flower of the Supreme One will not reach your hands.
Yaksh asks Yudhishthir, “How should we proceed in the direction of the Ultimate Truth? How can we progress from Truth to Ultimate Truth; by reading invocations, by reading Veda, by reading memoirs can we attain the Supreme One?”
Dharmraj Yudhishthir says a very beautiful thing. He says, “No, Yaksh.”
“Shruti vibhinna smriti ch bhinna
na eko munihi yasy vachanam pramanam”

Shrutis (verses sung in praise of God) state different things, it states the Truth of its era. Smriti (Memoirs) state the Truth of its time.
There is not a single muni or saint whose words are authentic. Muni is authentic, the sage is authentic, the saint is authentic, the Master is authentic. Masters statements are not authentic because the spoken word reveals the immediate Truth. Spoken word tells the Truth of the era. It tells the Truth of the person to whom it is spoken. Then what has to be done? “Dharmasy tatvam nihitam guhayaam mahajano yen gatah c pantha”
The essence of religion is situated within your heart. The path that a saint takes, the path on which an Aacharya takes you, only that is real. Yudhishthir says a unique thing - The path on which the Aacharya takes you only that path guides you from Truth to the Ultimate Truth.
Maharishi Patanjali says that when your relations become harmonious and the mind is purified then proceed from Truth to the Ultimate Truth. Now the progress is very rapid.