Integrating Ancient Wisdom in Modern Life: Austerity
- Kriyā (Sanskrit: क्रिया, ‘action, deed, effort’) is a “completed action”, technique or practice within a yoga discipline meant to achieve a specific result, self-realisation. Kriya Yoga purifies your action, mind and soul. Mind interested in work, action. So Kriya Yoga’s goal is purity of Mind through action. Austerity – purity of action, Self-study – purity of mind, and Surrender to Higher – purity to soul is Kriya Yoga.
- Patanjali says austerity, he means, “Be simple, don’t cultivate it”…because cultivated simplicity is not simplicity. How can a cultivated simplicity be simple? It is very complex; you have been trying, calculating, cultivating. Austerity is a simple life, a life of understanding. You need not move into a hut, you need not go naked. You can live simply in life, with understanding. Poverty will not help but understanding will. You can force poverty on yourself, you can become dirty, but that won’t help.
- Live a simple life of needs being fulfilled, with no mad desires. You need food, you need clothing, you need shelter – finished. You need somebody to love; you need somebody to be loved by. Love, food, shelter – simple.
- What is Austerity? Austerity is preparing ourselves by self-discipline to unite me with myself. Austerity has nothing to do with death, it is related to infinite life. Austerity is not interested in death but in attaining a more total life. The man of austerities says no continuously to his mind. That is what austerity is, saying no to the mind.
- Self-discipline is a fire in which our desires are burned and we can see the goal in ourselves. Self-discipline helps us not to divert our attention towards inconveniences of physical or mental health when we are practising Austerity. With this we purify our Mind in friendliness and in gratitude.
- Austerity is one which gives joy to the mind and which is not creating pain or suffering to the body or 5 senses. So that you become your own master.
- What is not Austerity? Austerity is not masochist. It is not enmity with self – Body, mind or emotion. Austerity is to bring balance in the living not by renouncing the world, but by changing modus. Austerity brings self-discipline. Which will not waste your energy on useless words, actions or thoughts. It will be conserving the energy, producing the energy and utilising the energy for self-inquiry.
- By saving your energy on useless, you start conservation of energy. You will be able to produce the energy because you are now capable of transcending your desires, anxiety, anger etc into focusing your mind, purifying your mind, which will produce energy in you. Because of your Austerity you will direct this energy and utilise it for self-inquiry.
