tapas
यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम्Whatever you do,
whatever you eat,
whatever you offer in sacrifice,
whatever you give away,
and whatever austerity you perform,
do that as an offering to Me. -Bhagavad Gita 9.27
Develop virtues like generosity, forgiveness and love. Mere Yogic Kriyas alone will not help you much. Do self-analysis daily and eradicate your faults and evil, slavish habits. Rectify your defects such as selfishness, pride, jealousy and hatred. You must cultivate a compassionate and loving heart first. At all times you must share what you have with others and practice selfless service. Then only will you get purity of heart.
There are two paths: the pleasant and the good. Most of us take the path of the pleasant. But the pleasant is slavery, it ties you to the world. The good is freedom, but it is also difficult. tapas is leading a disciplined and routine based life. This means that we bind ourselves so that our mind is still and calm because we perform the same actions at the same time every day. Once we
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7:00-10:00 | Sevaka |
| 10:00-12:00 | Sakha |
| 12:00-2:00 | Sevaka |
| 2:00-4:00 | Sakha |
| 4:00-8:00 | Sevaka |
| 8:00-10:00 | Sakha |
| 10:00-11:00 | Sevaka |
| 11:00-7:00 | Sleep |
sevaka
sevaka periods are simple they are the bottom seven limbs of the Yoga Sutras. These deal with the inner world so they are the focus of the sevaka period. It does not incorporate yama limb as that deals with the external world.
The execution of this is simple. Go down the limbs, meditate if you scheduled it. But the basis of this is to avoid the world as much as possible and focus on the inner world. So as much as possible away from screens.
- yama. The yama branch of the yoga sutras deals with work and our interaction
with the external world. So this branch needs to be addressed as part of the
sakha.
- ahimsa. What violence have I done in thought, word, deed?
- satya. What untruth have I spoken in thought, word, deed?
- asteya. What have I stolen in thought, word, deed? material things, time, energy
- brahmacharya. Did I do hard tasks first?
- aparigraha. Did I do my own tasks?
- niyama
- saucha
- santosha
- tapas
- svadhyaya
- ishvarapranidhana
- asana
- pranayama
- pratyahara
- samyama
sakha
sakha is completely focused on the world and worldly affairs. I am trying to make this piece as efficient as possible.
- Prayer. Start with a simple prayer.
- Calendar. Any meetings.
- Routine. Everything should be standardized and what I do daily has a checklist associated with it. Whether I like it or not this checklist needs to be completed on a daily basis. In this regard, the Routine is exhaustive. The goal is not to have much if any freedom. Organize the tasks that are in there into the Project.
- Project. Once the Routine is completed, organize and complete any tasks into the projects. Work on the hardest problem first.
Study
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi. How to focus and improve an little bit every day.