Let's Talk About Discipline

Why Didn't Eknath Eat the Nut?

by Jennifer Rose & Better Existence | September 8, 2014

Does the word "discipline" leave you cold? Does it bring to mind a sadistic drill sergeant? Does it reek of the exact opposite of what you want to cultivate in your life?  

Have you ever asked yourself, "Why is discipline being touted as a virtue, when it is the epitome of icky, repellent, mindless, slavish following?" 

Has this question nagged you, as you have read the likes of St. Teresa of Avila almost weeping off the page with entreaty to apply oneself in a disciplined way to, in her case, prayer?

Maybe you tell yourself, "Well, it's fine for saints, but a mere mortal, I . . ." 

The Ancient Toltec wisdom in don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom includes the equally impassioned entreaty, "Always do your best." 

What is the connection between discipline and personal freedom? 

The connection is simple but profound. 

There is a memorable scene in Eknath Easwaran's Passage Meditation: Bringing the Deep Wisdom of the Heart into Daily LIfe in which he describes being at someone's home and sitting near a bowl of cashews. He made up his mind to skip the cashews. However, he observed his hand, seeming almost independent, wandering toward the nut bowl again, and again, and again. Each time, he pulled his hand back. Because he had made up his mind, he brought that hand back empty again and again.

"Just eat the damn nut!" readers like me rail, "It's not like it's an entire pie." (There was this woman. She was in the hospital. In the night, she walked to the nurses' break room, went into the refrigerator, and ate the lemon meringue pie they had purchased for a party the next day. The whole pie. It wasn't like that.)  

Why didn't Eknath eat the nut?

Discpline can be doing something, such as prayer, a way of doing something, "your best," or not doing something, like eat the nut. 

Now ask yourself, if you make up your mind to ____________ (eat fewer calories, get up earlier, exercise regularly, save a few dollars each month, smile at the kids every day, stop using heroin) and at the critical moment you "do whatever you want to," you EAT THE NUT so to speak, are you free?

Have you ever felt like a slave to a habit?

Join the teleconference Conversations With Walking Yogi Nishit Patel before October 1st, when the topic will be Discipline. 

Nishit Patel, (who is great to friend on Facebook, because he is giving away the store every day with wise posts straight from the heart) tells a story about a Yogi Saint, Swami Ramtirth, who had a devotee who brought an apple each day at the same time. Until one day that devotee did not bring the apple! This Yogi Saint noticed that the absence of the expected apple created a mental disturbance. . . . He never ate another apple. 

This story demonstrates a premium placed on freedom from habits. It demonstrates the awesome power that habits have to disturb our minds, and the urgency to invest in conscious thought and action. 

Swami Sivananda of Gangotri to Bhole from 'At the Eleventh Hour' by Rajmani Tigunait (page 95): 

. . . discipline becomes torture if you do not understand its value and if you are not motivated to help yourself. It is self-motivation that prepares the ground for self-commitment. Only then do you enjoy the disciplines you undertake. Such discipline is called austerity. If you don't enjoy it, it is torture. 

 Join us in meaningful conversation on this topic and many more: Conversations With Walking Yogi Nishit Patel  the first Wednesday of every month.