February 23, 2022

Dama means discipline which is essentially –

• Our ability to overcome our likes and dislikes. 
• Our ability to do what is right instead of what our body is telling us to do.

Story
Once Kauravas, with an intention to cheat, invited Pandavas for the game of dice. Yudhishthira, the eldest brother played from the side of Pandavas and Kauravas invited their uncle to roll dice on their behalf. The uncle knew the trick to roll the dice in a way that he could get any combination he wanted. During the first round Yudhishthira lost all of the gold in his kingdom. He thought of stopping after he lost but his body and mind kept wanting to play another round so he could win what he had lost.  In the next round he lost all his elephants ,then his live stock, his kingdom itself, his brothers, HIMSELF and even his wife in the end. Every time he  lost a round he thought of stopping but he could not because he did not practice self discipline. Had he been able to control his actions he could have saved his kingdom and his brothers and wife.
When we lack discipline and are not able to do the “right” thing, we lose everything that we value. 

How to develop better discipline/ Dama? – 

Training our bodies to rise above the desires of the body for example – giving less comfort to your body, not using any condiments for one week (chutney, ketchup, pickle, mayo, mustard etc)

Another way to develop Dama is by taking on more responsibility – when we have more responsibilities, we are forced to make changes in our lifestyles and habits that help us take care of our responsibilities. Whenever we are asked to do something we get different thoughts like – I don’t have time, it’s too hard, it’s unfair, why do I have to do it etc. The attitude should be to say yes first and then figure out a way to make it happen.

RAW

Take on one new responsibility and reflect on how that forces you to make changes in your day and habits.