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What is Discipline?
An orderly existence means discipline. Driving on the right,
giving way to traffic, obeying the red lights, in short,
a sacrifice of a certain degree of personal freedom to achieve
a general order, as a universal measure, for general and
universal welfare. And the more the well-being or the greater
the degree of well-being that we desire, the greater the
sacrifice of personal freedom.
Discipline means conforming to the need of the moment.
You see, without discipline you cannot control your body,
you cannot regulate your intelligence and your intellectual
functioning, least of all can you regulate your mind. This
is what happens to those who have neglected discipline totally,
become totally self-indulgent. They become the prey of cigarettes,
drugs, alcohol - everything. They have lost control over
themselves, and now they are the prey of things which their
desire made them approach.
So, when is the time to avoid something which is bad? From the first
moment. When is the time to accept something which is good and beneficial
to us? From that moment itself. Therefore in spiritual parlance, my
Master used to say, "Here and now." When should I be good?
When should I be well-behaved? Right now is the moment. When should
I eat? Now, when I am hungry, not day after tomorrow. Isn't it? So,
it means regulation over my body. I must move only when I want to move,
when I desire to move, when I must move. Otherwise if a man walks in
his sleep, you go to the doctor. He is a sleepwalker. Isn't it? Similarly,
I must have regulation over my mental, intellectual equipment. I must
be able to think when I must. So we must have our body and mind oriented
towards the regulation of the inner self, the ultimate mastery of the
inner self, which alone leads you to a Master.
We must remember Babuji's definition for a disciple, "One
who is disciplined alone is a disciple.'' Now in the
ancient tradition, there are so many definitions for who
a disciple is - one who serves, one who learns under a Master,
one who is obedient. But our concept of a disciple is a
total one. When Babuji said 'discipline', He did not mean
worship of a guru, or cooking his food, or pressing his
feet at night. That is by way of service, you see. Service
is one expression, one way of expressing one's love.
Very often we do not know what we have to do and how to
do it. How to know what we have to do with discipline? Just
obey. Leave everything to the Master. Do what He says. If
He says, "sit,'' sit down; if He says, "stand,''
stand up; if He says, "eat,'' eat. It is very difficult
because, you know, sometimes I have found people coming
to Babuji and He is giving them some prasad, holy, sacred,
charged with his grace, and then the man says, "No,
no, Babuji, I am a diabetic. I am not permitted to take
sweets.'' He himself called it a sweet, the Guru offers
prasad. So here comes the need for discipline. So what matters
if you die of diabetes if the Guru's grace is permitting
your entire system to be purified, not only ensuring but
guaranteeing your health? What matters? This bodily life,
that it is so important that you are even willing to say
'no' to the Guru's Prasadam? Because, self-interest comes
there. We forget the Master, we forget the Prasad, we forget
the Divine grace, we are only remembering our diabetes or
whatever it may be at that moment. Master knows what is
good for his disciple.
You may do all the yoga in the world, but if you have no
discipline you cannot be anybody's disciple. This is my
Master's definition. How can I possibly be a disciple of
my Master without obedience to the principles, that he has
put before me first? You know that famous principle, that
the maker of the law must be its first servant.
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