QUALITY OF PRACTICE
स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढ़भूमिः-
We are constantly striving. But one question that goes constantly in the mind of every single practitioner, that when will we have the fruits of our practice. When the practice gives fruit?
When will we get the fruits of our attempts.
Maybe this question comes in your mind too
I am of the opinion that this question is natural because everyone practises to get the particular fruit. Someone practises Asana because he/she needs reliability or flexibility of the body. Someone meditate for peace of mind. lot of people perspires in the gym to give particular shape to their body.
The obvious meaning of saying is that if we do anything we do it only to get some fruit. In today’s society no one works without desire of Fruit. This is also true that every action must have some reward. no action (karma) happens without reward. Rewards are our motivation which inspire person to do action.
In fact actions is the dominant one on this earth and by Karma the world moves.
As you have understood that without Karma no fruits are obtained. And you have got to do Karma. But the question is how and what kind of practice is certainly possible to obtain fruits?
And this is what I am going to talk about today and this is what I also have understood by experiencing on my own.
Before we begin I want to ask you one question-
I also want you to consider the question properly before giving the answer. For it is on consideration that you will be able to understand my point correctly.
The question is-
Do you remember any Asana you wanted to learn to perform but you are not able to do it till the date? Any yoga posture in which you have not yet become outstanding?
…Think of this question by taking a little time…
Let’s try to understand this in a little depth.
Have you ever wondered what should be the quality of practice to get the fruit. Lot of people aspire for Fruit without knowing the quality of practice and they claim that they did particular practises but did not receive any reward.
Firstly it is necessary to know that realisation of any reward depends upon persistence of practice.
“The practice should be firm grounded if the practice is not firm enough to not be able to bear fruit”.
You may now be wondering how to make practice firm and strong what are the criteria ? what are the quality of practice?
Pre-dominant practises only gives fruit
The quality of practice is based on three facts-
1- DEERGHKAL SEVIT
2- NAIRANTARY SEVIT
3-SATKAR SEVIT
Over here I have written in Sanskrit but I will try to explain you in detail-
1- DERGHKAL ( long-term)
2- NAIRANTARY (Constant)
3- SARKAR (Respectability)
It’s important to have these three quality in your practice, then only you can get right Fruit. if any of these three are lacking in your practice then you will not be able to reap the reward.
Long-term- practise Is a process. And process hold the results. Process is not a day’s work, it is not a moment of Magic. It requires a lengthy procedure. Your practice needs long-term quality in order to become grounded.
Now the question is how long the practice should be-
“Practice becomes long term when there is no time limit”
If I ask you, tell me when did you started brushing your teeth? And how long will you keep doing it
Perhaps your answer will be that you started brushing your teeth from childhood and will continue doing it till life. If you see it there is no time limit. you haven’t tight your process in time limits. Through it, I want to convince you that practice transcends time limit. You should not try to dissect The exercise for particular time such as two months to years or even two days.
If you start your practice with the thoughts that you will be doing till particular date or time it does not make it a long-term process.
Practice is a long-term process and that only can happen when that practice gets into your daily routine. Practice should continue undisturbed until the fruit is achieved. Some people tie their practice to the boundaries of time, due to which the mind is not focused on the process of practice and because of that a person is not able to reach the depth and getting the reward keeps on going away from him.
In earlier time when the practitioner used to start the practice he would not finish it until he had got the Fruit And that’s why the practice was sustained years and years.
So if you want to prolong your practice you will have to keep your practice out of time and involved in your routine when your practise falls into your daily routine it gradually becomes stronger.
NAIRANTARYA (CONSISTENCY)- The second point which is helpful in tenderingthe practice is - consistency
Long-term practice alone does not help in the persistence of practice. It also requires consistency in practice I have seen and heard lot of students in my yoga journey when he come to practice with me .
I used to ask them - How many years are you practicing ?
Answer is-
Someone has been practicing for 10 years . Someone for 15 years. But when i try to understand in depth. I found in those 10 years their practices has not been steady and consistent. Some people practices once in 15 days,some practices once in week, some people practice once in a month.
Consider this carefully long- term practice is necessary in order to reach the goal but it is also necessary to be consistent with it. Only having long- term quality in practice doesn’t make practice steady and grounded.
So test your practice once again and ask yourself-
Is your practice long-term? If yes then
Is your practice has the quality of consistency?
If your practice has both of these qualities (long- term and consistency) then your practice is fruitful.
The third important facts that contribute significantly to the quality of practice is-
Respectability- it means you respect your practice properly.
Respectability contains 4 qualities.
1- Tapas
2- Brahmacharya
3- Vidya
4- Shraddha
These four qualities complete the respectability in practice
Tapas means the power to endure conflict.
It means that your body is able to practice even under adverse condition
There are some practitioners, that do not have strong penance. And in the face of adversity, they interrupts practice.
I Try to explain you by one example.
Let's say you're practicing in morning and that's when your phone rings. What will you do?
There are three answers of this question-
1- Some people will keep practicing by turning the phone off.
2- Some people will leave the practice in middle and check their phone and will start practicing later.
3- But there are some people who’s phone will not ring at all because either the phone will not be with them during the practice or they have already switched off.
Where do you put yourself out of these?
2- brahmcharya- the second quality of respectability is Brahmacharya. A seeker whose attention is only in processes. Who keep his full potential, power and attention systematic in one direction only.
3- vidya (knowledge)- Without meaningful knowledge no practice flourishes.
So to achieve any goal, you choose the practice. So you need to have full knowledge of practice before you choose . The full science of practice and the right knowledge can only help in achieving a goal. If you're only practicing without right knowledge and right technique, the results will likely be wrong. So before starting any exercise, get full details of the practice. And also look at these related experiments
4- shradha(devotion) -.
If you do not believe in your practice, this unfaith can be an obstacle to fruit. You still need to have full faith in yourself and your practice . Because of this only internal energy is transmitted and that energy paves the way forward. If you have doubts and if you think of it.
Is that practice going to give me fruit? Is this practice perfect?
Such suspicion declines the power of practice.
Whatever things I have told you so far. All of them have an important contribution to the perseverance of practice. All of that points I have told you yet must be in your practice in order to fruitful your practice.
prashant