Discipline And Divinity

The reason that man seeks a “meaning” and a “purpose” to life is because he is desperate to run away from LIVING by any and all means necessary.

Let us deal with what we have right in front of us, shall we?

Let us examine that which has stared us in the face since the day we were born.

The premise under which we have lived our lives, and that which is being preached to the masses, is the idea that if you Pay for something today, you will get it Tomorrow.

The idea that you should do something because it’s “good for you.”

No matter how logical this idea sounds, it destroys our lives.

Why?

Because we live our lives following precepts and prescriptions in exchange for a tomorrow which absolutely never comes.

Never.

I have a better idea. And I’m going to literally stake my life upon it.

My friend, I do not do this in order to “prove” anything to you. For if I did that I would immediately distance myself from the authenticity of the idea, and place myself into the world of Ego. And the world of Ego is the world of a living hell. There is no more accurate description that I can give.

I have placed my life in the hands of this idea because there is no other way in which I wish to live my life. I wonder if perhaps this is what life has been trying to teach me all along. But perhaps I was too ignorant to see the writing on the clouds.

If someone were to say to me “You must be disciplined!” I would tell him to sing his sermons somewhere else. For I don’t follow prescriptions.

Why?

Because prescriptions don’t have the power to reach the bloodstream. It has nothing whatsoever to do with whether the message is Correct. It has everything to do with the vehicle of its transmission.

For instance, there are many subjects in science, philosophy, and mathematics that I find to be incredibly interesting. But if you present them to me (or anyone else) in the package of “school” and “assignments,” I’ll toss them in the trash.

If someone says that we should be Disciplined, are they correct?

To be honest, I would never even get to the point of entertaining the word “disciplined.” Because the word “should” would get caught in my throat. “Should” is a deal-breaker. It is the most INEFFECTIVE vehicle for transmission of any idea.

If someone is going to use “should” they might as well replace it with “should not.” Because no one is going to listen. Nor “should” they :).

Let us discuss the matter of Discipline, AUTHENTICALLY, shall we?

We spend our lives hoping for this and dreaming of that. We spend our lives “working toward” things. We work today for a “better tomorrow.”

And this is precisely the understanding under which we are given the prescription of “discipline.”

Forget about tomorrow, my friend. Why talk about something which no one in the history of civilization has ever seen?

Let us also forget about “today.” For everything that is not RIGHT NOW, is simply a tomorrow. The coming afternoon is a “tomorrow.” The next five minutes is also a “tomorrow.”

As a lover of the Asian arts and the wisdom from the ancient East, I recall the procedural details of the Zen temples.

The “mindful” folding of one’s clothes.

The “mindful” sweeping of the floor.

The “mindful” washing of the dishes.

The “mindful” practice of one’s martial arts form.

On the face of it, it seems holy and proper and sanctified. ( I can hear you now, “My God, is he now even attacking zen temples? Doesn’t this man consider anything sacred?”).

But temples and monasteries are similar to any other trade. Within them, there are the common and there are the Elite.

And what separates the two is Authenticity.

Most in monasteries are going through the motions of discipline. Because their master told them to do so. They are doing it precisely because it is their “duty” and because it is “good for them.” And because this is what a proper Buddhist does.

But Siddhartha did not become The Awakened One because he was “more disciplined” than anyone else. In many ways he was less disciplined. For the Sadhus that he met in the forest who were committed to the mortification of their flesh and denying themselves food and water for years on end were enormously disciplined individuals.

But they did not become Awakened. And he did.

Why?

The reason is because the discipline of those Sadhus was in service of maintain their self-image as “disciplined ascetics.”

But image and form were of no use to Siddhartha. He wanted FREEDOM. Period. Exclamation.

And perhaps this freedom did not come from the PRACTICE of discipline. But from the discipline itself.

If I may put it simply, it would be as if someone was about to wash the dishes and as he stood before the sink he had the GENUINE feeling that he simply couldn’t wait to EXPERIENCE THE DISCIPLINED WAY OF WASHING.

Not washing “mindfully” as a practice/penance for a future reward of enlightenment.

But Enlightenment right here, right now! The disciplined way of doing something IS ITSELF THE ENLIGHTENMENT. No waiting necessary.

If a business man who is building his business “puts in his time” and “pays his dues” and “gives his blood, sweat, and tears” he is wasting his life. And I say this with first hand knowledge, for I have wasted as many years as anyone believing such ideas.

It is not that he is wasting his life because his reward won’t come. It is that he has paid with his life for a tomorrow which was not worth the price.

I will proclaim this from the rooftops. You may accept or reject it. You may consider me wise or a man gone insane.

But I hail it with all my heart:

If the reward is not immediate, the action is not worth it!

If you are going to do it NOW, then you must be rewarded NOW!

For if you are not, you have signed a faulty contract.

To live every action with discipline is perhaps the way to instant divinity.

A disciplined stride, disciplined speech, disciplined breathing, disciplined stirring of the warm soup, disciplined smiles, disciplined admonishments . . . a wholly disciplined micro-existence.

What does it mean to walk and speak disciplined? How will you know?

This question is not answered by words after the action takes place.

It is answered by the intention before the action commences.

For where there is Sincerity, failure cannot exist.

Any principle or idea that you are considering, do not ask yourself if it is “worth doing.”

Ask yourself, “Is it worth devoting your life to.”

For devoting your life even to answering such a question would not be a wasted life.