Discipline

the dance of life

CONTINUITY
Taming the monkey mind sometimes requires rigorous discipline. Abhyasa - continuity of practice over a long period of time - is a useful tool to turn the gaze inside and to become familiar with the terrain. Discipline is obviously a key component in abhyasa. However, like everything experienced in the manifest world, this too has its flip side - attachment. There is a delicate dance between discipline and attachment, one which deserves deep inquiry all along. If we become complacent in discipline, it can become a sticky dogma reinforcing aversions and attractions (both old and new) - and instead of liberating us from these bondages it becomes a means of creating new grooves in the name of spiritual practice. There is absolutely nothing wrong with discipline, rather the opposite. In our time and era of constant distraction, discipline is extremely important to deepen our inner work. We would even go as far as saying that it is necessary, in most cases. However, inquire deeply into it - all the time.

AUSTERITIES
Tapas, means to burn and to purify. It is a Sanskrit term used in relationship to discipline, austerities and rekindling the internal fire. It targets multiple levels of our being. It is a method used to evoke a fierce discipline and deep honesty, by looking closely at our attachments, likes and dislikes. If we are a person who is bound by patterns of needing to be in control, this can easily become another means to feel in charge of our practice and inner work while it is actually just deepening our grooves. If that’s the case, surrendering control would be a more suitable practice. But for others, to really challenge ourselves to give up that which we have strong attachments to, can be a liberating and eye opening practice. In many cases it is useful to give up strong habits/patterns/likes for a while. Just to play with their power and our ability to move beyond them. At the end of the day, we watch all likes and dislikes and look at the source of it all. Once this is our practice, we hold space for all the human conditioning, seeing the divinity shine through in all of it.

STICKY STUFF
It’s very easy to get get stuck in a new “spiritual” identity of someone who is disciplined and devoted to their practice. From an outsider’s perspective one cannot judge the atmosphere on the inside of someone else. Thus, we have to be completely honest with ourselves on the inner, and see through whatever patterns are there. Are we dogmatic about our practice? Are we totally off center or imbalanced without the practice? Is our kindness and care for others depending on our routine? Certain constitutions and mental make-ups require discipline to see and work through our conditioning - just like effort is often required in order to taste effortlessness. The duality is needed, and it serves, for many reasons. But we also have to be willing to drop each and every piece of our practice, to fully embody detachment. It is important to embrace this at heart. If an injury comes up, or life requires something else of you rather than sitting on your meditation cushion or doing your physical routine, it is an opportunity to bring the teachings of your practice outside your normal practice zone. Once you are forced to give up your practice, even momentarily, you have an opportunity to look at your clinging to it. Satya - honesty - becomes the lens with which you look through the internal structures of any attachments. It is part of the process, of letting life become the practice. Eventually we surrender the practices - and our life - fully.