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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!
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