Everyone wants peace. With so much clutter in our lives. So much activity. So many dreams. So many plans. So many things to do… can we really find peace?
It’s a question most ask, all look and a few find. Lost in the sea of desires it is difficult to find peace. In my quest for peace I have come across many concepts and ideas, stimulants and aids.
Each branch of yoga has its path. As one treads on the path, one discovers some external and internal truths. Understanding this is the key. Most of us who read self-help books have always heard the fundamentals but then they are often forgotten in the everchanging dynamics of life.
However, a few ponder and make everlasting changes. Controlling desires is the way to overcome temptations of materialistic peers and the society.
As I ponder on my various experiences in the search of peace, it occurs to me that the cornerstone of mediation is discipline.
The disciples do the routine tasks, hating them.
The disciples do the routine tasks, hating them. Sleeping on time. Eating on time. Waking up on time. Exercise on time.
Only once these fundamentals are grasped, can our quest for the higher power of mediation, or tapasya, begin. Only through strict discipline can this be imbibed. They say man is a creature of habit so tapasya can be easy if it becomes a habit. But then, habits are formed only with extreme patience with oneself and after the initial grind of hard work.
Asana is making your body flexible and toned, making you capable of sitting for long hours of mediation. So the next fundamental is to prepare you body. Through meditation you will receive a high power – like a wave of electricity. You needs more body strength to carry the high voltage that meditation will enable within you. Hence, the asanas. The nadi and chakra are the channels that get rejuvenated through regular practice of asanas.
Next is the regular practice of pranayams. The, prana or energy, is what is channelized in meditation. Regular practice of pranayam provide glimpses of the energy that is about to be received. But once you body is ready to receive, the receipent tends to misuse the energy and uses it to fulfill her desires.
The clutter and chatter come back… slowly the practice stops and the discipline is broken. The aspirant is now back to square one and the journey needs to be restarted.
You will be pulled back because, if you transcend, you will conquer.
It is not easy to restart and that becomes a challenge.
So once an aspirant reachs the stage ready for meditation she should go for a retreat instead of a picnic. To an ashram instead of adventure. Have satvik food instead of party food. This is important.
Most don’t understand the cycle.
You will be pulled back because, if you transcend, you will conquer. You will move into a phase of understanding desires and their charm.
A vipasanna, or insight into the true nature of reality, will really help.
But mortals like us who are on the path to peace, have not option but to restart. Live moves on but here we restart. Restarting once again to conquer.