Giving Yourself the Gift of Discipline: Yogi Bhajan Class Lecture/Meditation with Picture
A student once asked his teacher to show him the cycle of life. The teacher took the student to the ocean and asked, “Do you see the waves, and the sun shining on the ocean, causing the water to go up?” “I only see the waves coming from the ocean to the shore!” “Concentrate! See how the water rises up, becomes clouds, touches the top of the mountain, becomes rain and returns to the land, to the same shore.” Some people elevate themselves above the attachment of the earth. They bring prosperity to the earth and greenery to the same shore from which they have gone. Lift yourself higher and higher, with your chakras open and working in unison. The higher you go, the vaster your horizon will become.
Most people do not understand the value of self-discipline. It is like having a car with no brakes and no steering wheel and believing you are driving! Life does not mean anything if you have not enjoyed it. Many people have the capacity, intelligence, privilege, environments and stature in life, but they do not enjoy self-discipline. They are wandering within themselves.
You have a promise to your destiny: To be disciplined to its process. You are not seeking anything from me and I am not giving you anything. We have very deep promises made between our souls and ourselves. Prana was given to us, and our bodies were given to us to execute that prana. Our relationship with ourselves is not through our physical body; it is through our psyche. Those who lean on that psyche will grow in discipline. There is only one relationship between a master and a disciple — a disciple would like to affectionately surpass the master. We have a natural instinct to follow the heights. You need a thirst to reach that height. For that thirst you need discipline.
A student said, “I have no sense of satisfaction although I have been doing sadhana for 20 years!” Not 20 lives? 20 years of sadhana is nothing! Some students who have 2000 years of sadhana are still here! Sadhana gives you the way to conquer life. It is your humility which gives you discipline, for humility makes you flexible. We have such blindness that we do not know how to be grateful. The purpose of life is to be grateful. The purpose of our discipline is to bring the grace and greatness of God into our inner thoughts. The strength of life is not what you think it is. The strength of life is life itself.
You feel happy when you can give something. When you give yourself discipline and your discipline gives hope to somebody, therein lies real happiness.
MEDITATION - Hust Kriya
Position: Sit straight in a cross-legged position. Raise the arms to shoulder height, parallel to the floor and bend the elbows so that the hands are in front of your chest, palms facing down, right over left, 1 to 2 inches apart.
Eyes are closed.
Mantra: Mentally chant the mantra, “Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sat Naam Jee, Wah-hay Guroo, Wah-hay Guroo, Wah-hay Guroo Jee” with the instrumental tape “Duni.” ** Breathe very long and deep: Three complete repetitions of the mantra for each breath cycle (inhale, hold, exhale).
Time: Continue for 11or 31 minutes.
To end: Inhale deeply, hold the breath and squeeze every muscle of the body. Exhale. Repeat 1 time. Then inhale deeply, hold the breath and make your hands like steel, with all your force focused on the gap between them. Exhale and relax.
During the meditation it is possible that your elbows or upper arms will start hurting. This indicates that the central nervous system is weak. Breathe to compensate; it will give you strength, and the pain will disappear. Be steady. Let your central nervous system access the energy of the central nerve to give you strength. Let the rhythm of your breath give you enough prana. See whether you are in control or your body is in control. If your body is in control you will give up. If you are in control you will have the feeling of elevation.
If you practice Hust Kriya every day for 11 minutes you will be a different person. If the balance of the hands is correct your brain will balance itself; if the breath is balanced your consciousness will balance itself with the universe.