Atha yoganushashanah

“Now the discipline of Yoga.”

– Patanjali Yoga Sutra

Patanjali is the father of yoga science as we know it. He was the greatest scientist known in this respect. His treatise on yoga starts with a simple one-liner, “Now the discipline of Yoga.”

I love this beginning.

Patanjali mentions in just one sentence what is expected of someone when he or she embarks on the path of yoga. He or she needs to comply with a certain set of rules, then practice the art and science of yoga.

Discipline and practice go hand in hand.

This is no different from what we face with events in our own lives.

I recently applied for privileges to practice at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor. They went through the process as required, and I was scheduled for an interview process and orientation at the same time. Formalities were completed when I met with the leadership of the hospital.

I had a copy of the rules and regulations. The fact that I had to comply with the rules and regulations was conveyed to me. Whether it is a hospital or a newspaper company, they all have their sets of rules and we need to comply. A discipline is needed to facilitate running the business properly.

Why then do we need a set of rules in our personal lives? Why should there be a discipline for myself?

The ‘multi-vidual’

Most of us, most of the time, live lives as if there are many individuals in one body.

I am a smoker. I want to quit smoking. What is the problem? Why can’t I quit smoking?

There may be many reasons for not quitting or not being able to quit. I am going to focus on one aspect here.

The smoker-individual inside me loves smoking and is addicted to smoking. He starts getting withdrawal when he goes without a cigarette for more than two hours. He becomes moody and irritable as well. He takes his cigarette and lights it up.

Now there is another individual inside who wants to quit. He has a weaker personality. He makes New Year’s resolutions. When he makes the resolution he makes it quite strongly. The smoker-individual is asleep while this smoke-quitter is making resolutions.

When the smoker wakes up, the quitter is nowhere to be found.

We live a life of multiple individuals.

Lawyers have always known this. That is why there are contracts and agreements. I sign a contract, then I have to comply. I cannot go and say that I did not sign it. It was another part of me who did not sign it.

Society tries to find the individual inside this ‘multi-vidual’ and sharpen it up. This becomes our personality. And discipline is what helps us become individuals and maintain that individuality.

The ‘indi-vidual’

I went to medical school and became a doctor. That required me going through many practice sessions. Discipline of medical school was also there. I became a doctor. I am an individual now. I have a persona. I work in hospitals. I continue to go to conferences and take part in continuing medical education to keep myself up to date.

Practice and discipline keep me in line. These two tools help me to maintain my excellence. These two can take us to new heights. Gandhi was a great example of a disciplined individual.

The Ten Commandments are needed to keep us on the right path. We need to maintain a disciplined life to help us from going astray. We all want to be good people. Discipline of some sort is needed so that we can continue to be good. The ‘multi-viduals’ are still inside us, waiting for their opportunities to rise.

Discipline and practice keep them there.

The ‘non-vidual’

This concept is hard to understand mainly because it is an Eastern phenomenon. The journey is from multi-vidual (multiple individuals) to indi-vidual to non-vidual (no individual). There is nobody there. That does not mean it is an empty box or an empty body. It now is a cosmic body. It has transcended the individual and the multi-vidual. We will analyze this further in our next column.

Dr. Krishna Bhatta is a physician in Bangor. This is the second in a series. The next will appear in these pages May 27-28.