The word discipline has come up a lot in my life…and more notably in recent years.
The main question: Is discipline bypassing? And if that is the case, when we use discipline to overcome a habit or to train ourselves in some way, are we polarizing ourselves to the negative?
Example - I have a mental weakness for ice cream. I REALLY enjoy ice cream and get excited in the grocery store when I see a new flavor! BUT – the sugar and milk and other ingredients do not make me feel well…not terrible, just not great. I don’t eat ice cream every day, but I do not like that it has a hold on my mind to the point where I cannot seem to pass the ice cream isle.
I know that if I really set my mind to it, make a choice to be disciplined in my actions, I can stop this habit. However, I waver about it because there are so many conflicting thoughts…
Some call this type of discipline bypassing. That there is something to be learned from the struggle with damaging habits. And that no matter how hard you try, until the karma is burnt up, you will continue to struggle with whatever it is…so you should just ride it out, embrace it and go fully into it until you just don’t want it anymore.
The problem I see with this is that it feels like a “predestined” approach to life. Removal of free will. And seems to imply that even if something is damaging the body or another person, you really can’t do anything about it because “karma”.
The other way to look at it seems to be from the perspective of Jesus. He was a disciplined person who “overcame” the mind by mastering it, not giving in to temptation when it was offered to him in various ways. He remained on his path no matter the cost, even to death. He stayed firm on his path to the point that his skin sweated blood before the cross. This is a thing that actually happens when a person is under great stress. It’s called Hematidrosis.
If Jesus resisted temptation by sheer force of will and discipline of the mind, I feel like I should be safe resisting ice cream (and other temptations) right??? 