The life of discipline

The life of discipline

Here we are all seekers. We are all members of the United Nations Meditation Group. As seekers, we have to know that it is our discipline — physical, vital, mental and psychic — that can bring about considerable improvement and progress at the United Nations.

How do we discipline ourselves? It is through discipline in the world within and in the world without. It is only through discipline that we can climb up to the highest, ever-transcending Reality. He who has not disciplined himself is a real failure in the inner and outer world. He who has true discipline is a great hope, a great success and a great promise, as well as God’s perfect instrument.

Discipline is at once self-observation and self-examination. In the outer life what we need is self-observation; in the inner life what we need is self-examination.

When we examine ourselves in the inner life, we have to be extremely sincere and careful. We have to know that there is a goal, although that goal is right now a far cry. But there is a goal, and we will reach that goal without fail. We have all started on our journey, but at times we forget the goal or we feel that we have reached the goal or that we are the goal. We want to relax; we want to sing and dance. But this is a mistake, for the goal is still a far cry for us as individuals and for us as members of the nations which make up the United Nations. If we have a goal, we should strive for that goal. Then, once we have reached the goal, we should strive for a higher goal, for the highest, ever-transcending Goal.

When we observe ourselves in the outer life, we have to observe ourselves as we are, not as we appear to be or want to be. We have to see ourselves as we truly are, even if we only see ourselves as we truly are on the surface level. Always we have to be alert so we do not try to add anything to our life or take away anything that we are. Here, our sincerity helps considerably. Sometimes when we are observing ourselves — our physical, vital, mental and psychic — we want to be something which we are not. We want to add something to our life. At that time, we do not hesitate to adopt foul means. We want to achieve our goal by hook or by crook. But when we adopt foul means, we go away from the path of Truth and Reality and we enter into the path of destruction.

Again, sometimes we try to make ourselves seem less than we are. We feel that if we do not expose or reveal ourselves, our achievements, to the outer world on the physical, vital and mental plane, we will be safe. When we are truly bad, we want to hide; we do not want to expose ourselves. We think the world will ridicule us, humiliate us and look down on us. And when we have something good and divine within us, we also try to hide for fear that it might be stolen by others. We act like a miser and we want to claim our good qualities, encouraging qualities, only for ourselves. At that time truth is not revealed; truth is not to be found in our lives. Bad qualities, discouraging qualities, we do not want to show to others; and good qualities we also want to hide.

But once we know how to examine and observe ourselves, we come to realise that we can get satisfaction in our lives only by transforming our bad qualities into good qualities, and by bringing our good qualities to the fore. And how do we do this? Through discipline. If we bring our bad qualities to the fore for illumination, then, if the world criticises us, at that time we will work harder, with more determination to perfect these qualities. If we bring to the fore our present imperfections and undivine qualities, world criticism will help us to acquire determination. And if we bring to the fore our good qualities, we will make the fastest progress.

One way to make progress is through constant aspiration and dedication; another way is to bring to the fore all our good qualities. For we have to remember that the Source of all our good qualities is God. God is our All; He has given us what He has and what He is. Because God has created us, He is more than willing to grant us capacity, vision and light. Then, if we share these good qualities with others, according to our capacity and willingness, our good qualities will increase. If we have good qualities in infinite measure and we share these with others, our heart expands right in front of us. Any good quality that we give in good faith is bound to increase because that good quality has a Source, which is God, the Author of all good.

Discipline is nourishment. Without nourishment we cannot fulfil God or ourselves; without nourishment we die. But we have to know that there are different kinds of nourishment.

Physical nourishment we know; every day we eat. Vital nourishment is when we spread our arms and say, “This is my home, my country, my world, my universe." This is how we enjoy our vital nourishment.

Mental nourishment is what we get when we read books or teach or learn from others. Mental nourishment is in the thought world. We get thought waves from others and give thought waves to others through our writings, paintings, songs and in many other ways.

Psychic nourishment is in the heart. Psychic nourishment does not mean reciprocal giving, in which we give to others and expect something back. It is not like taking a loan from the bank and then putting it back. In psychic nourishment we just give, and when our giving is pure, it becomes unconditional. In the beginning we just try to sacrifice ourselves. The mother makes sacrifices for her son, but in her heart of hearts, she has the expectation that when the son becomes great she will share in his greatness; she will get credit for it. But then she becomes spiritual and says, “Just because I am blessed with a child, I will do everything for him unconditionally.” She feels that in the course of time it is up to him to take care of his mother or to forget her. The mother has played her role in the son’s formative years and whether or not she gets something in return is up to him. So in psychic nourishment, we only give; and gradually it becomes unconditional.

When physical nourishment, vital nourishment, mental nourishment and psychic nourishment have played their role, there is still something called God-nourishment. That nourishment is conscious, constant and unconditional surrender to God’s Will. When we can make that kind of surrender, we nourish God and God nourishes us; we feed God in God’s own way and, while we are feeding God in God’s own way, we feel true satisfaction. True, God can feed us in our own way. But it is not until we please God is His own way that the real in us, the divine in us, can achieve satisfaction. So when we please God we please ourselves.

Here we are all seekers. We all can become perfect instruments of God and we all can discipline ourselves inwardly and outwardly. For inner discipline what we need is a constant inner cry; for outer discipline what we need is a constant soulful smile. The combination can make us perfect instruments of the Transcendental Truth, the Highest Reality, the Absolute Supreme.

6 July 1976
United Nations