By Dwija Ramesh

Recap:

In our class last week, we looked at fearlessness. In oneness, fear is not a possibility and it only comes from duality – the wrong knowledge that we are the body. This limits our potential. Our desire when we feel limited is feeling limitless. It is our erroneous thinking that places a false sense of security in the objects of the world. The vision required to experience fearlessness is nothing to gain – nothing to lose. We engage in our responsibilities only. Virtue development will help us do this by balancing and making our minds quieter.

Discourse: 

Today, we will cover discipline at the sense and mind level.

Discipline at the sense level can be seen as:

1. With understanding
   1. To transcend your likes and dislikes and know the reason behind it
   2. Sublimation – conservation of one’s energy 
   3. Let’s say: if you keep eating Snickers bars, you will get diabetes and have a new load of responsibilities. Thus we know that we should control our intake. Naturally, we let go of eating snickers all the time.
   4. We are actively holding onto something higher, so we can let go of the lower
2. Without understanding
   1. Suppression – energy dissipation
   2. Let’s say: you control your intake of Snickers bars because you want to look a certain way. In front of people, we act differently than in their absence. Our actions are one way but our thoughts are different.

When aligned with a purpose, we conserve energy and can channel it elsewhere, avoiding internal strife.

Discipline at the mental level can be seen as:

1. Attempt to rise above what we currently are
   1. Reflect:
      1. On what we need to improve on
      2. Continual reflection on our current state
   2. Reconcile
      1. Reflection helps us reconcile
   3. Improve
   4. Reconciliation helps us move forward
2. Being steadfast in the performance of our responsibilities 
   1. Going past likes and dislikes
      1. Understanding that they help us develop
      2. We need to internalize and resonate with this message
      3. It will then stay at the front of our minds – demands us to detach from our likes and dislikes

The more potent we, the instrument, become, the more subtle our purpose becomes. 

Activity: Get out your five goals from a few weeks ago!! If not, identify one goal that resonates with you. For the next 5 minutes, think of a plan to get closer to your goal over the next 6 months(keep it tangible!!)

We always have great ideas for ourselves, but it’s always us who prevent those same actions!

Now, list 3 ways your personality could derail you from your purpose. How are you going to combat those attempts? Purpose is the catalyst to your evolution. You have to identify with. A purpose in order to see any sustainable improvements.

RAW: Keep a tally of every time you avoid a responsibility and write down why.

Bringing your attention to this aversion and writing it down makes it more tangible. To change is to acknowledge you actions in every moment and improve. We have to seek to understand our personalities and our tendencies.

This week’s RAW is: Each morning, spend 5 minutes looking at your plan (from Activity) in terms of the three R’s (Refine, Remember, and Realize)