tapas

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम्

Whatever 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

There are two paths: the pleasant and the good. Most of us take the path of the pleasant. But the pleasant is a means of bondage. It ties you to the world. For example, coffee is pleasant but it causes anxiety and withdrawal when you stop so it isn’t good. Further, it does not help with the citta-vritti-nirodha.

The tapas that I perform is simply that I lead a very regulated life where I do essentially the same thing at the same time everyday and minimize my freedom to do things that I want. The reason is simple when I do things I want versus the things that are good for my practice I tend to waste the time.

By having a disciplined set of time for me to do things I essentially don’t want to think. I should do the things at the specific time.

Various forms of tapas are:

Bibliography:

Spiritual Diary by Sivananda