Self-discipline is a crucial trait to achieve one’s goals. Aiming to be healthy? Commit to a well proportioned diet and active lifestyle. Desiring to have a jetsetter lifestyle? Invest in online skills that pay great. See, self-discipline draws that fine line between daydreaming and determination with action. It triggers motion before emotion; hence people with self-discipline have good self-esteem, too.
While self-discipline is a golden ticket to attain one’s worldly dreams, did you know that its essence is also indispensable when soul-searching? Finding one’s deeper sense of purpose in life also requires self-discipline, beginning with meditation. Removing obstacles from one’s mind means letting go of inhibitions, worries, and other thoughts that make one conscious of the external environment.
What is Spiritual Self-discipline?
Kriya yoga is an immersive practice of reuniting the Self with the Divine and reaching a heightened form of Spiritual Awareness and even Enlightenment.
It is a journey not without obstacles, which is why the idea of self-discipline is essential to allowing practitioners to experience the many gifts that kriya yoga can present on one’s path.
In kriya yoga, those who practice it must clear their minds of the restlessness that usually persists. These are the worries, doubts, fears, and generally negative emotions that influence people in their daily actions. This restlessness clouds the judgment and pulls one further away from the Divine.
Kriya yoga can bring one closer to God. The ancient practice helps people realize they can reconnect with God, and that the Divine is already part of who they are. Their souls are proof of the existence of God. And beyond this point, one can truly experience enlightenment.
But this journey cannot occur unless the mind is freed from restlessness. To achieve this, self-discipline is inevitably required. Practitioners must have the self-discipline to continue on their journey in spite of the thoughts that may try to affect the process.
Because restlessness and the effects of the mundane world which cloud the true Path people ought to take in the world will always be there. The worries about the mundane, such as material pursuits are difficult to completely escape in these modern times, and this is especially true for those who are only now beginning their journey of Spiritual Awakening.
But having kriya yoga discipline allows one to continue their pure pursuit of the Divine in spite of the restlessness that threatens to grab their attention. It allows one to move further along, bit by bit, down the road to heightened awareness, where the perception of this restlessness is altered. In this state, it is no longer all-consuming. Anger, sadness, frustration can no longer grip the Self and keep it silent or immobile. In this state, the Self can move in spite of them.
Self-Discipline in Yoga
Many believe self-discipline to be equal to the notion of willpower, but this is not correct. Willpower refers to one’s ability to stay focused and motivate the self to follow the path one wishes.
Self-discipline, especially in the context of kriya yoga, means much more than this. It is the ability of the Self to control its own actions and emotions. It is the intentional joyful living, the conscious pursuit of one’s higher purpose, and the explicit desire and intention to seek true fulfillment.
Self-discipline is reflected in one’s choices. The process itself is very much conscious and intentional. Self-discipline does not happen by accident, and it is reflected in the entirety of human existence, from the words uttered to the actions taken, the thoughts one form.
The purpose of self-discipline is not just to ensure one can stay focused on their path. Having yoga discipline allows one to clear the obstacles from their path towards the Divine. Living with self-discipline means living in balance with one’s spiritual needs, the needs of the Higher Self and not the ego.
The ego wants quick gratification. It wants pleasure, it has materialistic desires, and its wants are always rooted in the present. The ego does not have a higher purpose.
The Higher Self is a reflection of the Divine. It seeks things that go beyond a momentary pleasure or material object. It seeks inner peace, joyous living, and becoming enlightened. Self-discipline allows one to live in accordance with the desires of the Higher Self, and when this happens, the road to Spiritual Awakening becomes clearer.
How to Practice Self-Discipline
To practice self-discipline, one must first become aware of all the desires of the True Self. Yoga for self-discipline can help one reach this form of awareness and recognize the neverending needs of the ego will never bring the fulfillment one craves.
Once these Higher desires are known, it becomes a matter of making the right choices. Choosing to live one’s life in accordance with their Higher Self instead of their ego. Choosing to walk the path towards inner peace instead of the path of fleeting materialistic pursuits. Choosing to live a fulfilling, joyous life that honors the Higher Self, instead of remaining completely grounded in the present. Choosing to reconnect with the Divine, to understand God is one with the soul, instead of only allowing one’s consciousness to believe just what the eye can see.
Such choices are not easy to make, however. There are many obstacles that can present themselves on the path towards Spiritual Awakening and discovering God. But living in self-discipline, such obstacles can become nothing more than trains passing through a station. They can present themselves, and pull awareness towards them, but they do not spot at the station, therefore they do not affect the people there.
The potential of living in self-discipline lies in everyone. It does not need to be created. Rather, one must become aware of this innate ability, and choose, consciously, to walk its path. With time, and with practice, self-discipline will become one of the driving forces in one’s life and help kriya yoga followers stay on their path to Enlightenment.