When we keep a daily discipline for the self and stick to that practice, be it through meditation, prayerful presence or silent reflection, these disciplines help to keep our mind anchored during the day. This helps to inhabit a state of conscious awareness. We become aware of our thoughts, and by using a subtle process of checking and changing those thoughts, we will be able to create stability in our inner life, despite the lack of certainty and stability in our outer world. When we do not have awareness, we find ourselves falling into negative states of thinking like, overthinking, worry, anxiety or even depressive thoughts. These are heavy and low frequency thoughts that will definitely deplete our energy. “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” – Blaise Pascal All thoughts are energy vibrations that go out into the field of the universe. It is like we are in a game, living in an interactive play station. When we change the quality and quantity of our thoughts, we can change the quality and experience of our life, because everything is connected at an energetic level. High-frequency thoughts and feelings, those of love, compassion, acceptance and appreciation, will automatically give us an uplift in life – they create a light vibration. Equally, low frequency thoughts of anger, ego, depression and fear will put us on a downward spiral. The law of energy, the law of attraction is that whatever we give out will attract the same back to us. “Reality is created by the mind; we can change the reality by changing our mind.” -Socrates It is good to know what is influencing our mind. Our habits are a result of repeated patterns and behaviours, we may call it our nature, but this is a product of our thoughts, words and actions. These habits are based on our beliefs. Therefore, we need to be aware of how our beliefs are influenced by our education, media, propaganda, because basically, whatever we mentally and emotionally digest will affect our thinking. This is why we have to take care of our mind and make sure that we do not overload our minds with unnecessary information, and that is quite a challenge nowadays, in the era of information overload. Sometimes it is good to take a little time out and review the contents of our mind, to see where are we sitting in this frequency field? This is a simple process of checking. • Check the quality and quantity of your thoughts. • Are your thoughts of high or low quality and frequency? • What is the benefit of a positive thought? Can you make a list? • What is the consequence of a negative thought? Make a list of that too. Spirituality is all about light. Spiritual light puts us on a high vibration. This brings a lightness of mind, a lightness of nature and of being-ness. Practising a discipline and routine will help us on our journey. Find a practice that suits you and stick to it. The regularity and consistency of doing so will bring rewards in no time. We cannot afford to be wishy washy in our focus or our effort. We need to create more time and space in our day to allow more light to come into our lives, and meditation is a good tool for this. Rajyoga meditation is all about disciplining the mind. Discipline does not mean rigidity. In fact, quite the opposite. Once a discipline is set, then one can be flexible, by knowing one’s limits and boundaries, which brings trust in the self. It is a lot like building the core muscles when exercising or doing hatha yoga, because then one can bend, and flex as needed without any strain or injury. Magically then, discipline in one area of your life will spread to discipline in all areas. So, start … somewhere … anywhere….
Aruna Ladva is an author and Rajyoga meditation teacher based at the Global Retreat Centre, Oxford, UK.