Discipline and Surrender

Photo Credit: The Integral Dojo

Discipline and Surrender

Swamiji gives a lot of importance to discipline in spirituality – and that is not just Swamiji, all spiritual Masters set a lot of stress on being disciplined. If we are not disciplined, then how do we wake up early in the morning for meditation? It has been correctly said that ‘early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise’.

If one keeps partying or watching TV or playing video games till late in the night, there is no way that one can wake up during the Brahma Muhurat and sit for meditation. So, this is all about being disciplined, knowing when to stop, acknowledging mistakes and moving on.

Without discipline how can there be surrender? If one is not able to follow the guidelines given by our Guru, then where is the question of surrender – and even if there is some degree of surrender how far will it take us if we don’t have that commitment towards our Guru?

During this anushthan I was observing the behaviour of some sevadharis and those in the management team. The ego was clearly visible – one volunteer who was breaking all rules in the Shree Guru Shakti Dham when questioned looked at my name tag and said, ‘I am a volunteer – who are you?’ Wow! That was incredible – wonder what kind of training these guys are given – he subsequently apologised for his behaviour. The point being made is where does this ego come from, when our Master is just an empty pipe, isn’t that what we are supposed to become?

Similarly, the management team was behaving like the rules are for the sadhaks and not for them – the ‘Silence’ board will be shown to all and sundry by the kitchen volunteers, whereas just a few feet away one could see the entire management team sitting together and creating a racket while having their meal. So, we had different sets of rules for different sets of people, whereas Swamiji keeps saying in his discourses that our meditation is beyond religion, race, language, colour etc!

Unless we learn to become like our Guru in every sense, this kind of behaviour will keep coming to the fore. I felt that the entire anushthan was a cameo – we had a great atmosphere for spiritual progress overall, but it looked like Swamiji had put everyone to test – everyone was being tested to see whether he/she upholds the principles of discipline and surrender.

One can truly say that discipline is the foundation stone of spirituality, after which surrender becomes simpler, and once surrender takes place, it is just a matter of time till one reaches the state of becoming a witness, an observer of what is happening in life. No attachment – just silence, joy and detached attachment!