[Uma]

Day 23 of 40: April 17, 2016 (link)

ooooo...I knew he would get around to this eventually - the dreaded "self-discipline" talk! It followed a tirade of complaints from devotees yesterday during conversation who were (like me) complaining how tough it is to stick with the discipline (tapasya) on the spiritual journey. Sri Vasudeva, ever my divine personal trainer, exploded into a rant when he said:

"When you take the discipline of a mantra in the mind and really hold the mantra in the mind, understanding the meaning of the mantra, understanding the purpose of the mantra (to protect the mind, to discipline the mind), and you really keep the mantra there continuously what happens to the mind? You want to control the mind but why don't you use a tool to transform the mind?! How many of you are guilty of this?! 'Oh Lord protect me, help me! Open my mind for me!' wanting a free lunch. So what about the mantra that's given to you? How do you use that to effect change? Do you want the Divine to do everything for you and you just sit there waiting? Is that how it's going to happen? Isn't there a saying that God helps those who help themselves?"

Yikes!
So now it's got me accepting the fact that my self-discipline is not perfect and I have to do something about it! I know where I'm strong and where I'm weak, and what needs tweaking…so stop procrastinating, whining, complaining and blaming and just get back to work!!!

In my own discipline I use the chakras as a checklist because wherever the blocks are, that's where discipline is required...so let's have a look:

• discipline of the root - grounding in the body
• discipline of the sacral - lust management or transmutation
• discipline of the navel - proper diet and exercise
• discipline of the heart - emotional intelligence, social intelligence, cognitive behaviour therapy
• discipline of the throat - uplifting speech, perfect listening
• discipline of the brow - observation, management and transformation of thoughts
• discipline of the crown - taking at least 20 minutes every morning and evening in meditation and prayer to reinforce my connection with God

Discipline is really self-protection
Sri Vasudeva said that discipline "protects us from the old patterns when we are truly committed to it. It protects us from the dark part of ourselves that we may not see."
I really love this teaching! I notice that it is saying I need protection from myself, not anything or anyone outside of me. Behind this teaching is another, that everything on the outside of me is really a mirror of the inside of me. I want to be as bright and beautiful as possible on the inside to attract grace towards myself, not more distractions, temptations and gross realities that will disturb my peace. Self-discipline protects me from bad karma too because when it comes, as it invariably does, I can face it with the strength of my inner power, my resilience, and be a more perfect instrument of the Divine.

Discipline as a joy
Sri Vasudeva tells us that once self-discipline becomes a habit, it becomes automatic and when it becomes automatic, it becomes a joy - because we naturally want to do it. This has always made sense to me and I have found this to be true in my own practice. There is a profound teaching in this that I hope he will talk about later...about the magical power and consciousness that comes when the practice reaches its zenith or tipping point.

Sri Vasudeva walks the talk
Sri Vasudeva is a spiritual leader who does not sit on his laurels but really role models his teachings in his life each and every day. For example he works out every day in addition to continuing the meditation practice and sattvic diet so that he can promote wellness in body, mind and spirit for himself and as an example to his disciples. He is always pushing himself to the limit. He is now in his sixties but has the energy and body of someone decades younger. I'm so inspired by his example! And he always says the older he gets, the more exercises he does, reminding me of the queen's words to Alice,

“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” ~ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

In all of that hard hard work, persistence, patience and never giving up - when life has punched me black and blue, getting myself back up, dusting off the dirt, blood and sweat - always remembering I am not alone, always remembering there are forces in place to help me... in the words of my master:

Oh Supreme One, teach me the way to be self-disciplined.
Guide me and protect me from restlessness, from the darkness of my inner space, from the temptations that are within me that lead me astray.
Protect me, help me to enjoy being disciplined as a way of transforming myself and experiencing You fully within me.
Grant me the wisdom, the understanding, to see the dangers of indiscipline and the beauty of discipline.
Give me the understanding: the discrimination.
I center myself in You
that I may be nourished by You,
that I may be guided by You.
It is a dark and lonely path.
You are my only hope.
You are my Guide,
You are my Teacher,
You are my Self.
In You I place my trust.
In You I place my ego self.
Transform me.
I bow to You
Oh
Supreme
One.