Discipline

Meditation practice is the slow, disciplined work of digging trenches, of working in the vineyards, of bucketing out a pond. It is the work of moments and the work of a lifetime, all wrapped into one.
_{Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are}

The achievement of every lofty goal requires hard work and there is a great benefit in training to do the things that can help us to achieve those goals. Carrying out such tasks might seem dull, boring and even painful, but as we keep training to do them, they become a habit and the difficulty then subsides. This training is called discipline, and it is the only way to bring out the excellence that is inherent in us, to enjoy the journey and reach our destination.

We all know that we would be at least 15 pounds lighter, a few notches brighter and perhaps even wealthier if we were disciplined in our eating, studying, and working habits. It is difficult to be disciplined though, because discipline requires us to resist distractions and temptations and to leave our comfort zone. Most of all it demands hard work.

There are two separate dispositions within our character: one is the person that we are and the other one is the person we would like to become. Unless we feel that we are working towards becoming the person who we want to be, and progressing steadily towards that goal, we will always end up feeling frustrated with ourselves.

Most of us are well aware that we would also be much happier and more successful on this path if we were more disciplined in our meditation and in the lifestyle that surrounds that meditation. It is not that we have never had it together; we have definitely enjoyed times where we were right on top of our game – we ate lightly, went to bed early, woke up early, meditated, went to work and even threw in exercise, family time and seva, all in one day.

Do we remember how empowered we felt when we worked against the gravitational pull of laziness and complacency, and didn’t give in to the “I don’t feel like it” syndrome, honouring the commitment that we made to our Master and ourselves?

It is difficult to start afresh when we lose the momentum of having a disciplined routine, but it might help us to remember that once we get over the hump of taking that renewed first step, the rest follows easily.

Discipline is something we can grow accustomed to. It is like a muscle that we exercise; at first it hurts but eventually it strengthens and makes all our other tasks easier. If we compromise with our exercise for some time, the muscles would definitely weaken somewhat, but if we are consistent in our efforts, we will never have to start from scratch; we will always be in a better position to catch up from where we left off and move forward the next time around.

Discipline is a very valuable asset to every practitioner on this path. Our conscience constantly tugs at us to do what we are supposed to do: sit for meditation, stop the gossip, go to bed early, read ingredient labels carefully. Discipline means listening to our conscience and acting on it. As we keep heeding its advice and getting down to doing what we are supposed to, the journey will not only grow easier but it will also become delightful.

As the masters have always told us, there is no question of giving up, it is all about not giving in. We need to keep trying; we need to discipline ourselves so that we can unravel our true potential and attain freedom from all our struggles once and for all.