Discipline is a Must

 

Photo Credit: Quotefancy

Discipline is a Must

Discipline is defined as the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience. Now, we may well say how does this definition apply in spirituality! If you go to see, as Sadhguru says, “Discipline means having the sense to do exactly what is needed”.

As we grow up, we are taught a whole lot of dos and don’ts in the name of discipline, this is good, this is bad, don’t do this, don’t do that – in fact, everything is about not doing something or saying something because it could hurt you or others. The basic objective is always to learn to be a good human being having good moral values and ethics and learn to obey or follow the law of the land. If these basics are taught early then it becomes easy to live life in a more or less organised manner.

This is also true of those who get the wrong kind of upbringing and those who are on the wrong side of law – they too have to have discipline to succeed in their chosen field, which is criminality. Everybody is living out their karma – so there is no point in judging good or bad – let the society’s legal administration be a judge of that.

Swamiji keeps telling us to follow certain principles, be honest, don’t cheat, wake up early, respect elders and so on – all this requires a strong moral core and a powerful will to put into practice, specially in the world we live in. There is competition and politics everywhere – specially in India having this humongous population – nothing is easy, but people survive and live and progress, that is purely because of this subconsciously ingrained rich cultural heritage which goes back thousands of years.

In India, like elsewhere in the world, civilisation has disseminated not through text books or preachers. It is essentially the way a family lives, the values instilled in the individual by the family. It is a deeply cultural thing. And when this discipline is already ingrained in the individual then spiritual practice becomes easy.

Waking up early, doing yoga and meditating, exercising to stay fit, having a control on one’s diet and last but not the least having a control over one’s tongue – not saying things which are better left unsaid!

Practicing yoga and meditation brings discipline into life because we have to do certain things in a certain way. Otherwise, it does not work. The way yoga is taught is so meticulous that once we start doing it with that sense of meticulousness, there is no way we cannot be disciplined.