Discipline
A quote by Henepola Gunaratana, from his book Mindfulness in Plain English, as included in Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith
“Discipline” is a difficult word for most of us. It conjures up images of somebody standing over you with a stick, telling you that you’re wrong. But self-discipline is different. It’s the skill of seeing through the hollow shouting of your own impulses and piercing their secret. They have no power over you. It’s all a show, a deception. Your urges scream and bluster at you; they cajole; they coax; they threaten; but they really carry no stick at all. You give in out of habit. You give in because you never really bother to look beyond the threat. It is all empty back there.
There is only one way to learn this lesson, though. The words on this page won’t do it. But look within and watch the stuff coming up-restlessness, anxiety, impatience, pain-just watch it come up and don’t get involved. Much to your surprise, it will simply go away. It rises, it passes away. As simple as that. There is another word for self-discipline. It is patience.
January 3, 2008 at 4:04 am
It arises, it passes away, and it returns.
The painfulness of it’s returning can open our heart.
If it’s too much for us however, it can close our heart.
The hollow shouting of our body and mind is itself the path.
At first our path is narrow and separate, because that is who we think we are.
When we become one with all of life, then our path widens and becomes more inclusive. If we persist with our training, eventually every moment and everything that is, is our path.
Even if we have had patience with our own hollow shouting, now we have to deal with the whole world. What will we do?
Discipline is the wisdom gained from years of experience of knowing what is helpful to beings, by trying, and often, failing. Failure is often a better teacher than success.
And, when we truly don’t know, discipline is trusting the deep stillness within.
That deep stillness knows, because it is part of - everything.
Discipline is getting out of clinging to the way of “my” ideas, and allowing “deep stillness” to lead the way..