Disciplining Discipline

While sipping his tea and eating maska pao a man sees fresh jalebi being made and orders for a plate. His hand then goes into his pocket and immediately cancels his order. The halwai notices the man’s desire and thought he was short of money so offered to give him free. The person replied yes there was a desire to eat Jalebi but can do without it and further added ‘one must be able to make the mind listen to you at times rather than it influencing you all the time’. 

To make the mind obey is a form of discipline. Discipline means having the sense to do exactly what is needed. Discipline is an orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior to be forever exercised in all walks of our life right from childhood until demise. An important trait on discipline is the way to do what needs to be done. Not only does that allow one to establish a positive action, it helps us train our minds and body and enables us to focus on our goals and to regulate our emotions. In today’s time discipline seems to be evaporating in our routine activities. It is not hard to sense the society at large surely needs to make efforts in disciplining discipline to help preserve society’s peace and order.

Discipline does not mean control and is just not about rules; it’s about respect for those around you the things you own and for yourself. If there are easy compromises or absence in towing the discipline path it is because they did not learn it at all, got it wrong, or were influenced wrongly. Discipline responds better when used to help correct and prevent the wrong rather than being used to punish or humiliate.

With discipline the experience is one of the two things; the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Being disciplined could delay gratification in the short term but will facilitate enjoying greater rewards in the long run. That’s why in most disciplinary trainings they say it is the indispensible prerequisite to success. For the conscious people Self-discipline starts with the mystery of one’s thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Self-discipline is a form of mercy upon self; it keeps us safe from one’s own weakness. Quite fair to say self-respect is the fruit of discipline and it grows a sense of dignity with the ability to say no to one self.

Discipline is the relentless pursuit of one’s best self which is a result of disciplined actions. A denial of command by oneself results in a failure of taking timely action. Overcome these moments by doing what needs to be done even if one does not want to do it. To be smarter than the rest calls for more discipline than the rest, choose to be tolerant with others and strict with self.

Those who realize their soul is a central point of spiritual discipline sincerely manage themselves better. Our Spiritual discipline is something we enter into willingly with joy and anticipation and it becomes our protector. The discipline of the spiritual life is to place ourselves before God, receive His grace so that he can transform us.

We can all see God in exceptional things.

But it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail.