Self Discipline

 



 by Sri P.C. Lahiri

 

I am going to present through a day-to-day incident, how I have tried to apply in life my understanding of Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur’s (hereinafter referred to as the Master) revelations. I request readers to share their own direct experiences so that we may enrich each other. Master reveals the Absolute Whole, of which we understand/accept only that part which we are able to identify with and comprehend to some extent.  We retain most of these understandings as mental-knowledge without consciously applying them in life. Some of what we apply leads to certain experiences.  Sharing of this understanding and experience through e-Sanai or any other mode enriches both the reader and the writer. It will help all of us to leave this mode of “accepting some and rejecting some”, to ultimately get out of “some” and become established in the “Whole” by accepting the “Whole” in totality.

 

On a past Sunday morning, I happened to be watching an episode of “Talks on Self-identity” delivered by the Master along with a few friends who have also had the good fortune of being in the company of, and listening to the divine talks of the Master for some years before He left His mortal coil. As soon as the program ended, a longish promo of a Music Reality Show came on TV. All of us became engrossed in the promo, enjoying the mellifluous rendition of a modern Bengali song by one of the young participants of that Reality Show. This was followed by an animated discussion on the various aspects of the quality of singers, judges, music accompaniment, present day training facilities,etc. Each of us tried to establish our expertise, although none was a trained singer or musician. Knowingly or unknowingly, most of us got easily sucked into this discussion, guided by the extreme urge of our ego to establish first its individual identity, then its knowledge of the subject, and finally its superiority over others. In this game of one-upmanship, we forgot about the highly enlightening talks of the Master. Such is the state of our mental training/discipline, and most importantly the lack of our awareness of it. Our minds tend to get seamlessly engrossed in mundane affairs appealing to the senses, inner and outer. When this matter was pointed out, most of us went into the mode of trying to find some justification for such behavior. So, in the first instance we became judgmental of something that we saw outside of us (the rendition of a song on TV along with other paraphernalia), then on getting cornered about it, we again became judgmental trying to justify our inner thoughts and consequent behavior. Master said that justification comes from ignorance.

 

What should have been the correct approach? How should we have behaved? The common answer was that we should not be egoistic and should consciously avoid being judgmental at the drop of a hat. Non-egoistic behavior should be practiced at all times. We should have discussed Master’s freshly heard teachings and try to understand that than engage in a futile exercise of criticizing others. Again we went into the mode of—this should or should not have been done. This “should” comes out of our remembrances embedded in mental-knowledge, rather than made apparent through practice of spiritual concepts in real life (as mentioned in the first paragraph of this piece). From here emanates our tendency to sermonize something that we do not practice. A truly great soul will never do that. Mind you, this was our behavior immediately after listening to the Master for half an hour. We are so very tuned and trained to a standard pattern of thoughts, actions and reactions, that a particular type of behavior automatically comes out of us in a given situation. Most of us are oblivious of it. Being partial, it varies from person to person, even under exactly identical circumstances. Varying behavior leads to differences, divisions and disputes. Chain reaction leads to disunity, and chaos starts. What we see all around is nothing but this.  The end result is only destruction.

 

The only panacea for the present day calamity is:  Accept each and everything as verily your own Self and live life with this acceptance. Haven’t we all heard this before?  Yes, of course we have. The most significant revelation of the Master for the present day world which all of us have heard/read many times, is ‘all-acceptance, all-embrace’ (mene maniye cholo). From a different angle, the same thing is revealed by the Master as ‘Acknowledge, Recognize and Realize’.  ‘Adapt/Accept, Adjust, Accommodate, Absolute’—are the four A’s that the Master has recommended for practice in life for its total culmination and supreme perfection. All the above mean the same and lead to the same end result—establishment of the practitioner in his/her True Absolute Nature. How to implement this into our daily routine given the limitations that we all have?  I share below some thoughts and experiences.

 

The first step is to be very observant about our own thoughts, actions and reactions. It is easier said than done. We are not at all used to it. We have heard the Master say that He trained/disciplined himself, not others—’Ami nijeke sashan korechi’. Most of us do just the opposite and discipline others before self-discipline. This is an extremely deep rooted and far reaching statement. Introspection of this statement shall reveal to us the secret of living life. This science has not been presented by earlier True Masters in this way. When Master was asked as to why it was not presented earlier in this way, the answer was to the effect that perhaps it was not necessary at that time. Introspecting again on this shall reveal why – in today’s day and age - it is not only necessary, but essential for one to incessantly and dedicatedly self-observe one’s own thoughts, actions and reactions, under all circumstances.  People around the globe are having lesser and lesser time to devote to conventional methods of God/Self realization. Because of strong efferent materialistic movement of the present generation, tension and restlessness is growing by leaps and bounds. An unconventional science that will lead to peace and bliss in this utter materialism and chaos, is very much needed, although the common man is unaware of it.  Does it mean that they no longer have the birthright to be established in eternal peace and bliss? It cannot be. So a science is being revealed which can be followed by one and all, without any distinction whatsoever, and also without requiring any extra time to follow it. The key factor is “no extra time needed”. It is enough to have a basic understanding of the science and start implementation from that very moment [without any conventional diksha (i.e. formal initiation by a guru), puja, dhyana or other such formality], i.e. accept all as verily your own Self/I-Consciousness. Basic understanding is needed only for our inner faculties (mind, intellect and ego), otherwise they continue asking all kinds of awkward, untimely questions owing to a lack of training in acknowledging and following a great soul.  Most of us merely claim to be acknowledgers and followers of the Master. Some of us may be a devoted soul, but rare is a dedicated soul. Dedicated efforts to practice the ‘Science of Oneness’ at every step in life shall lead us to become true followers. Who is a true follower? Master said—‘Bhagabaner bhakta bhagaban swayam’ (God’s true follower is God Himself).

 

There will be a little uneasiness in the beginning, something that is always there when we embark on an unknown path even in our daily routine. We need an experienced person to help us through the rough patches till we are able to negotiate them ourselves. We have the words of the supremely experienced Master to guide us. All differences that were till yesterday big bones of contention, shall start having a new meaning as we move on with the implementation process.  As the inner thinking pattern changes, the whole outlook starts changing. The sense and idea of differences/distinctions which is at the root of many-ness of our inner and outer world start reducing.  If this process consciously goes on for some years with awareness, total unification of the inner and outer world with our central world (Godly Nature) shall reveal from within. Time may vary from person to person.

 

Close observation of our own self is key to having long lasting success in any sphere of life. It is absolutely essential, a must for true following of the Master.

 

Our systemic malady must be identified and its ramifications clearly understood before the new habit of ‘all-acceptance, all-embrace’ can be incorporated. Awareness is the key. We may start small, but let us understand clearly that par-excellence of awareness is Supreme Awareness, i.e. Self-Realization.