Somehow, I didn't think spiritual disciplines would come up in this class...It is, after all, a yoga and philosophy class. Nevertheless, they have, and now that I have read about them, it makes sense. Yoga itself is a spiritual discipline. It takes grit to sit still and breathe deeply, or balance in tree pose and breathe deeply without swaying branches or uprooting. According to the Kleshas, one may evade the grasp of the five afflictions by regularly practicing spiritual disciplines. Some suggested disciplines include studying sacred texts and dedicating action to God. Oh my. It's just like Christianity. When my mind is racing and I'm feeling overwhelmed, I study the Bible. When I don't know what else to do about a problem, or literally don't know what to do with myself, I get on my knees and pray. When I'm scrambling to finish a seemingly impossible assignment, I put on some worship music to pull myself out of the spiral of "I can't do this!!!" thoughts. When I get haughty (egoistic), I find myself in trouble; I end up struggling to forge my own path. I had everything under control before... God orders my steps when I let Him lead, when I follow after Him.
I still live in ignorance, have egotistic moments, and so on, but God forgives me. I tell Him I'm sorry for trying to take His job and plead with Him to take it back because I'm awful at it. When I focus on Him and His goodness instead of what's wrong in my life, or my shortcomings, I'm at peace.
great post. yoga is very much a spiritual discipline and I think it can enhance whatever spiritual practices we already have.
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