Discipline in sadhana

[Guest guest]

Pratyahara - "When separated from their

corresponding objects, the organs follow, as it were, the

Nature of the Mind, that is called Pratyahara." On

Practice - 54; Patanjali Yoga Sutra. <br><br>"Just as bees

follow the course of the queen bee and rest when the

latter rests, so when the mind stops the senses also

stop their activities." <br><br>At this stage all it

takes is a mental resolution, an intention, and the

senses follow. When it says to center itself on the

internal regions, the senses no longer perceive external

objects.<br><br>To reach this stage however, takes Discipline. In

fact having talked about the role of Humility in

saadhanaa this brings me to the importance of the part

played by systematic, regular practice of whichever path

one chooses.<br><br>Discipline is not a popular word

among most people. In fact most of us (myself included)

tend to resist this aspect of saadhanaa more than

anything else and have to make conscious efforts to be

regular. We are aware of little babies, and how discipline

and routine in daily activities helps in their

healthy development. Somewhere down the line we tend to

dump that need and resist all attempts at systematic

practice of even our daily activites. <br><br>Why is that?

Is it an inner klesha - a vasana from one's karmic

bagggage? Have we become so tuned into our generation's

concepts of instant gratification that unless we see

immediate results, we do not stick with a practice? Have we

built an expectation of the potentialities of

God-realization that we hold that ideal upto all our experiences

and are unhappy unless we have them the way we

"expect" them to be? Instead of practicing for the sake of

it, we find ourselves get caught up in the fruits of

our labor. As if a competition, sometimes just with

our own selves. And the more attached we get to the

goal in "getting there", the more we retract

backwards. <br><br>How important is discipline in one's

spiritual practice? What can be done to get around this

tendency against it?<br><br>Important question for serious

sadhaks .. what do you all feel?<br><br>_/\_ Tat twam

asi<br><br>Uma

[Guest guest]

Dear Uma,<br><br>Yes it is true that one needs

discipline in sadhana. For one to progress on the spiritual

path one needs to possess qualities of a seeker too.

Listing down the following from the source

<br><br><a href=http://www.sanatan.org/weekly

target=new>http://www.sanatan.org/weekly</a> (Issue # 73)<br><br>Question: What

are the

qualities of a seeker? <br>Answer: <br>To become a disciple

and attain the grace of a Guru one must first become

a good seeker. The qualities of a good seeker are

as follows - <br>1. Belief<br>2. Faith<br>3.

Obedience to the spiritually evolved<br>4. Overcoming the

obstacle of the intellect<br>5. Perseverance<br>6.

Immediately putting into practice what is taught <br><br>A

general guideline to develop these qualities is given

below -<br><br>Belief - Belief is developed through

verbal knowledge. Thus, to develop belief about the

importance of spiritual practice one could study spiritual

texts, attend satsangs where spiritual concepts are

discussed and clarification is given on doubts about

Spirituality, etc. <br> <br>Faith - Unlike belief, faith is

much subtler and cannot be developed through just

listening or reading about Spirituality. Faith is developed

by spiritual experience and the only way to get

spiritual experiences is to do spiritual practice. <br>For

example - When a seeker was advised to resort to chanting

intensely for three days consecutively to overcome any

problem in her spiritual journey, though she believed

that it could happen, she did not have faith, as she

had never experienced it. Deciding to put the

guidance to the test, the next time she faced an obstacle

in Spirituality she chanted intensely for three days

and it actually worked by bringing forth a permanent

solution to the problem. Ever since, the seeker always

employs this technique when facing any major problem in

her spiritual journey and has found that it always

works. Thus, she now has faith in the power of the

Lord's Name to help her overcome and achieve anything.

<br> <br> To be continued

[Guest guest]

Continued from above<br>Obeying the Spiritually

evolved - Obedience is the most important quality for a

seeker to qualify as a disciple. Obedience in

Spirituality refers to unconditional acceptance and execution

of guidance. This can be achieved in stages as

follows.<br>Execution of the guidance if one agrees with it.

<br>Execution of the guidance after asking questions if one

does not agree with it. <br>Execution of the guidance

even if one disagrees and asking questions later.

<br>Execution of the guidance even if one disagrees to see what

one has learnt from it. <br>Unconditional execution

of the guidance - at this stage one has complete

faith that the guidance is for the best and can never

disagree with it. <br>One could start with following one's

spiritual guide or the seeker in charge of the satsang one

attends. For example, if the satsang conductor says that

so and so seeker should prepare a particular topic

for the next satsang, the seeker should do it, as a

part of practicing obedience. After every conversation

with one's spiritual guide one should introspect to

see how many points one agrees on and execute

immediately, how many one had questions on and how many one

disagreed on. Accordingly, one should make a plan to

execute the points over a reasonable period of

time.<br><br> Overcoming the obstacle of the intellect -

<br>The intellect plays a major role in one's progress in

worldly matters. The more one uses the intellect the more

one progresses. However, in Spirituality it is just

the opposite. <br>Use of intellect in Spirituality -

The most important and probably the only use of the

intellect in Spirituality is to develop the conviction that

one needs to do spiritual practice. <br>Obstacle of

intellect - If the intellect is used as a means of

comprehension in Spirituality one would hardly make any

progress. In fact, it could even prove detrimental to one's

progress, as Spirituality is a subtle science, beyond the

comprehension of the five senses, mind and intellect. For

example, it would be quite difficult if one tries to

understand the significance of one's religion of birth in

selecting the particular Name of the Lord for chanting. But

if one accepted the fact and tried it, he would

experience for himself the importance of chanting as per

one's religion.<br>Overcoming the obstacle of

unnecessary insistence on the intellect can be achieved in

stages as follows. <br>Having an open mind - Accepting

the fact that even if one does not understand and

agree on something now, given the fact that it has been

written by evolved souls that have experienced the truth

behind it, it must be true and that one would understand

it at later stage. <br>Developing a sâttvik

intellect - Intellect can be tâmasik, râjasik or sâttvik.

Tâmasik intellect means that one uses his intellect to

harm others, râjasik intellect means that the

intellect is used for one's worldly benefit and sâttvik

intellect is one that is used for his spiritual progress.

The intellect is made sâttvik by studying holy or

spiritual texts, the implied meanings of the verses

therein, any guidance one has received, incidents, etc.

and using the intellect to spread Spirituality.

<br><br>To be continued