Acharya Mahaprajna
People everywhere are complaining about the lack of discipline. Even though one of the aims of education is to create discipline it has not been possible for it to achieve it. On the contrary, man everywhere is showing signs of increasing indiscipline. The reason is not far to seek. At the heart of all discipline is self-discipline and true education has to aim at its creation. Today discipline imposed from without is given all importance and self-discipline is regarded as redundant. By confining the source of discipline to an external authority or compulsion we are getting farther removed from self-reliance which is an intrinsic part of self-discipline. In fact, one who is not self-reliant cannot be self-disciplined. Among the many hurdles on one's way to being self-reliant is the widespread tendency among the people to deny all support and encouragement to those who want to grow self-dependent.
There is a very old tenet that requires that Jain monks not ask for external treatment of physical ailments (tegichchham nabhinandeiga). Is it possible to suffer from a disease and eschew its treatment? What the above tenet does is enjoin the monks to rely upon their inner strength and internal resources to treat the disease. They are required to be self-reliant even in this matter. Behind such an injunction is the conviction that the human body contains within it both a propensity for disease and a capacity for its cure. No external aid is necessary to cure it of disease. In ancient times various yogic asanas, mudras, and techniques of breath control were developed to cure the diseases and in this the science of the pulse was also fully made use of. All this was done with a view to inculcating the habit of self-reliance. One of the connotations of self-discipline is self-reliance in combating physical maladies. As a result of intense research various self-controlling mechanisms were evolved. For example:
- Vajrasan after the meals or use of mahamudra for weak digestion.
- Breathing through the right nostril for fifteen minutes after the meals for indigestion.
- Pressing the nerve above the elbow for acute headache.
- Exerting pressure from above to below on the spinal cord, 5 to 10 times for stomach ache.
There are hundreds of nerves in our toes, heels, ribs, knees and the spinal cord, using which complete cure can be effected. Such a wonderful science has been all but forgotten.
In the absence of a disciplined body, a disciplined mind and disciplined speech, self-discipline is impossible. The body has its own system of discipline. Its chief components are the flow of blood, bone and tissue formation and general strength. If there is no proper flow of blood within the body the latter cannot be disciplined. It, in turn, rules out self-discipline. Diseased blood affects the mind. Similarly, if something is wrong with the essential ingredients of the body (phlegm, wind, bile) or with the intestines, stomach, liver, pancreas, lungs, and the heart, how can one be disciplined? The very foundation of self-discipline rests on the proper functioning of the above three ingredients and on the proper flow of blood. It is only when they are in order that the mind can be disciplined. The body and the mind are so closely related and interdependent that for the health of the one the health of the other is a prerequisite. The more basic of the two, however, is the health of the body, perfect functioning of the total physical system. A healthy body ensures discipline. Likewise, any sign of ill-health in the body gives rise to indiscipline. The fault with us is that we are concentrating on the leaves and the blossoms and totally ignoring the root. How can then one expect any discipline in life?
The spiritual preceptors in the past discovered many important ways of disciplining the mind. They recognized that the most difficult thing is to stop the mind becoming a prey to innumerable uncertainties. Man's imagination is so active that he needs to quieten or suspend the activities of his mind in order to derive peace. A ceaseless procession of images in the mind, most of which unrelated to real life, weakens the mind and the only way to stop it lies in spirituality. Of course, doctors too have a way of quietening the mind. They prescribe all kinds of pills that act as tranquillizers. But deadening the nerves or artificially inducing temporary sleep offers no solution to the problem. In fact, it accentuates it in as much as these drugs create a mental imbalance and do infinite damage to the various organs of the body. The spiritual science had discovered a very important method of achieving a sort of mental vacuum - a mind free from thoughts and uncertainties of all kinds - and complete peace of mind. It consisted in steadying the tongue and the vocal cords. Anyone experienced in yoga will also prescribe what is known as khechari mudra for quietening the mind, which requires a fixed retroflex position of the tongue without letting it touch either the palate or the sides of the mouth. He might as well suggest to press the tongue against the roots of the teeth and not letting it move at all and the most experienced practitioner of yoga will prescribe kayotsarg or total relaxation of ti^ vocal cords. All mental distractions and doubts are the consequence of the use of language, whether actually uttered or in the form of internal verbalization. If the inside of a man could be photographed it would be unmistakably revealed that even the slightest mental activity is invariably accompanied by the vibrations of the vocal cords. There is an undeniable interdependence between thinking and the vibrations of the vocal cord. It is for the same reason that whenever the mind's activity gets out of hand yoga requires bringing the chin close to the laryngeal cavity and pressing the former hard against the latter. A five-minute exercise of this kind will bring all mental activity to a halt. All this goes to prove how the body, the speech and the mind are closely related. A study of this interrelationship is necessary for a close understanding of the basis of spirituality.
A grossly material approach to life has virtually ruled out the realization of self-discipline. For its total emphasis is on work, production and worldly goods. Any talk of religion or spirituality is regarded as retrogressive and contrary to the quest for modernity and scientific and technological progress. However, of late there has been a resurgence of interest in religion and spirituality and accordingly there is also a lot of talk about the need for self-discipline. One indication of this revival of interest is the popularity of yoga all over the world, though in most cases yoga is taken to means merely a schedule of asanas or yogic postures.
Now the question arises: Why this renewed emphasis on yoga? Why is it that yoga has found a respectable place even in many hospitals and surgeries? Why do even medical experts advise their patients to take to various breathing exercises on the lines of yogic postures in order to seek permanent relief from many kinds of diseases and pains? Furthermore, why is it that even psychiatrists advise their patients to take to meditation? Even in the field of conventional medicine and therapy there is an increasing emphasis on prevention of disease and a strict regimen for that purpose. In a manner of speaking these are small efforts at inculcating self-discipline.
It is as clear that there is now a renewed interest in and an intense awareness of the need for self-discipline. But it is necessary to understand the true dimensions of what we call self-discipline. For the common impression is that what one has to contend against is only the baneful effects of our immediate and visible surroundings. But the truth is that every individual is being much more affected by the innumerable stars, suns and galaxies in outer space than by his immediate surroundings. The only way to counter these effects of outer space is through the rays which radiate from within our body. Until these rays are trained to counter the effects of all external entities, self-discipline will be impossible to achieve. This alone is the way to develop self-discipline.
We noted earlier that the most important aim of education is the inculcation of self-discipline and that it can be achieved only through the Science of Living or Jeevan Vigyan. The objectives of other branches of knowledge are very different and so are their results. If one aims at controlling the body, the speech, the intellect, the mind, and beyond them all, the centre and apparatus of emotions deep inside our being, it can be possible only through the spiritual science. It is therefore vital that the discoveries of the great masters of spiritual science be given due attention to, analysed, investigated and experimented upon.
It is in this context that the experiments being conducted on the basis of Preksha Meditation constitute an important achievement of the modern times. As a result of them the individual is able to perceive his breath, his vibrations and his electricity together with all his hormones and hormonic changes. Doing this is a great spiritual endeavour - one that strengthens the foundations of self-discipline.
All those who want to follow the above way have to cultivate the following beliefs:
- Self-discipline will be possible only after acquiring balanced life-force or vital energy.
- Self-discipline will be possible only when one becomes practised in leading a life, transcending excessive attachment and aversion.
- Self-discipline will be possible only when there is a complete balance between the strengths of the body, the mind and the intellect.
These are necessary conditions for developing true self-discipline and any talk of bringing about discipline through education in the absence of such self-discipline is futile.
