We pass through boyhood, childhood, adolescence, youth, middle age and old age; it is an imperceptible but inevitable progress. We experience each only when we are passing through it. Problem behaviours such as teenage binge drinking, premature sexual activity, drug use, tobacco use, and obesity have a common root – the absence of self-discipline – and a shared antidote, namely, the development of self-discipline. Solutions are considered: management of thought, time and breath.
Childhood is the father of old age. Can old age condemn childhood or teenage, as evil? This is a question society might ask, given that lack of discipline in teenage produces a society with rampant problems – legal and social services dealing with health; laws regarding drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; institutions treating disorders relating to eating, gambling, alcohol and drugs, the rise and rise of sexually transmitted diseases and healthcare systems stretched to the max.
We look to three simple solutions: management of thought, time and breath. For most people, the mind is the master, not the servant. When we are led about by the mind, we have multiplication of I, Me, Myself, in other words, the tyranny of the ego. The ego, with its wants, desires and ever seeking pleasures, does not lead to peace and happiness.
Peace and happiness are an inside job, the fruits of self-discipline.
Management of Thought
‘What are thoughts?’ – “A thought is like a speck of energy”. by the very definition of energy, energy is capacity to do work. So control over thoughts helps to conserve energy and it to utilise fruitfully.
It is said that a string of thoughts constitutes a desire and a combination of desires, a mind. In other words, the mind is like a cloth, desires are like the yarn and like thoughts are the cotton if the quality of cotton is good, the quality of the cloth will also be good. The mind cannot be controlled unless the thoughts are controlled. just as cloth will disappear if the threads are removed, so also if thoughts are controlled, mind becomes clear and calm and energy is conserved.
One can understand the importance of the mind, when one realises the speed with which thoughts travel. even if a pin pricks the finger, the message from the brain travels faster than light. this tremendous energy should be used fruitfully by directing it for the right purpose and this is possible only through control of the mind.
How do we manage thoughts?’
There are two methods
1. Silent sitting
2. Self Audit.
1. What is Silent Sitting?
It does not mean just sitting silently because even when we sit silently, our mind is full of thoughts. The inner dialogue or chatter should stop, otherwise energy gets dissipated and the brain gets tired. From a hundred thoughts one should try and bring it down to a few and finally to one thought. Energy conserved this way can be stored in our system and used whenever we like with specific intervals during the day.
When and where to practice silent sitting? Any time of the day and at any place. However, the best time is early morning, before leaving for work and starting work for the day or before retiring to sleep at night. All members of the family should get involved in this exercise.
Advantages : The benefits that we can derive from silent sitting are, first and foremost, the increase in the power of one-pointed concentration. With improved concentration, the work that we do, the service that we render will be better. Secondly, silent sitting bestows peace of mind and emotional equilibrium, composure and poise which are greatly needed by both students and teachers. Also, it increases the power of endurance, patience and forgiveness. It improves our memory, grasping power and receptivity. At a deeper level, it awakens our intuition i.e. helps to be in tune with the voice within and helps develop our creativity.
2.Self Audit
It is commonly experienced that without proper audit and accounting, no success can be achieved in any enterprise in this world. Right from running a simple kitchen in the household to management of a large corporation, accounting and audit hold the key to success.
It is rather strange that man who gives so much importance to this accounting and audit in worldly matters is blissfully ignorant when it comes to accountability of his actions and the audit of his deeds. Man cannot ignore the importance of Self-Audit. To manage our thoughts effectively all of us should engage ourselves in self-audit before going to sleep. Ask yourself, have I done anything to make others happy? Am I today a better person than what I was yesterday? Self audit is accountability which helps in maintaining a balance. It helps us to realise our own faults and reinforce our good actions.
Today, we are prone to ignore our own faults and dwell on the faults of others. This needs to be corrected as competition means competing with one’s self rather than with another. In fact, the overall achievement of excellence does not depend on doing one thing a hundred percent better but doing a hundred things, one percent better everyday.
The Process
Sit up every night before you sleep and review all the actions of the day, segregate them into those which have helped us to improve and stay in tune with the voice of conscience and into those which have been adverse to this. Make a resolve not to repeat the deeds which have held us back in this process. Combine this process with Silent Sitting and surely you will find yourself empowered with immense strength, the following day.
Thus management of thought is of great help for everybody in everyday life.
Management of Time
Time waste is life waste
One cannot remedy the past, one is not sure of the tomorrow, the only best thing is to make the today as useful as it can be. So the present alone is real, every moment is vitally important, we must use this precious wealth of “Time” to our maximum advantage.
We often hear the refrain “I like to do many things but I do not seem to have the time.” What we really mean by that is, we do not have any more mental space to do anything more than what we are doing at this moment. The solution lies in creating mental space and not in blaming time. Let’s take an example. In a suitcase if we wish to pack a lot of things, we have to iron and fold them nicely so that the suitcase seems to take more capacity. The same applies to our mind and thoughts. The problem of no time gets solved by mental space being created. This can be achieved by practising management of thought, time and breath. This will help us to increase both the quality and quantity of our work.
Priorities : The secret of our success in any endeavour lies in the manner in which we determine our priorities. We must fix our priorities and develop our capacities to use time in an optimal manner. Otherwise our life would become chaotic and messy.
Finally, the number one enemy of time is anger. The greater our anger, the more the mismanagement of time. Anger burns up energy within, and lets it get out of control. Take your time, take a look in the mirror and tell yourself you are a peaceful person. Take a glass of water, lie down for a few minutes. Walk until your anger has left you.
Good Company : We must use our spare time for reading both at home and at school. “A house without books is like a room without windows”. The company of good people helps in generating good thoughts. Whenever we read a good thought, we must pen it on a card of 6″x4″ and whenever we feel low and dejected, all that we have to do is just to pick up any one of such cards and read the thought and more often than not the solution will be before us. Thus, good friends, good books, good music and nature are congenial for generation of good thoughts.
Management of Breath
What is Breath? : The dictionary defines breath as the amount of air taken into and then expelled from the lungs. We all breathe the same air. So it is a common factor. We cannot live without breathing even for a short time. Suppose, we are told to close your nostrils and keep it tightly pressed for some time what will happen? We feel suffocation, we feel choked and we want to release our pressure on our nostrils and breathe again properly. In the same way, if we duck a person’s head under water for some time and try to hold him there, you will find that person trying his best to escape from that situation. That zest tor life, that instinct to survive is there in each one of us and breath is the symbol. Now comes the question, why should we manage our breath?
Our human system has a rhythm of its own. Breathing is a continuous process and to enjoy continuity in any form it should be in rhythm. Ask a person who is suffering from asthma whether is enjoying his breathing. He will tell you that he does not enjoy it at all because for him it is sheer torture to breathe. So, we should try and put our breath into rhythm because all around us in nature there is an external rhythm. Everything in creation around us has a rhythm of its own. The echoes of the hills, the flutter of leaves, the whisper of men, the babble of children, everything has a rhythm of its own. We should try and tune ourselves to that external rhythm.
When man is at ease and peace, his breath is rhythmic, his heart beat is steady, his pulse is stable but the moment he gets worried or anxious or agitated, all these three factors become highly erratic. Your breathing goes out of rhythm and everything is upset. So rhythmic breathing is an indicator of peace, poise and confidence. In fact, a constant rhythmic breath keeps all negative emotions at bay. Explore forms of rhythmic breathing. If you take it up, it will add many years to your life.
Image Credits: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann, Pixabay / John Hain
