Skip to main content

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

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.

-Swami Sivananda

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

TimeActivity
7:30-9:30Clean
9:30-10:00Pray
10:00-12:00Work
12:00-12:30Pray
12:30-2:00Exercise
2:00-4:00Work
4:00-4:30Pray
4:30-8:00Family
8:00-8:30Pray
8:30-10:30Work
10:30-11:00Pray
11:00-7:30Sleep

Routine​

Clean​

The day starts with cleaning. I spend about two hours daily cleaning the house, gardening, and other upkeep tasks. Some days I may need to setup a Work task for something larger like cleaning the garage. But two hours should be sufficient for most days.

  1. Neti Pot. Clear out the nostrils and sinuses with a Neti Pot to breathe freely. This gives full oxygen to the brain and wakes up the body.
  2. Prayer with Kid. A simple prayer with the kid to get the day going.
  3. Breakfast
    1. Make Coffee
    2. Brush Teeth
    3. Change Clothes
  4. Cleaning
    1. Clean Kitchen
      • Take out Compost
      • Dishes
      • Wipe down counters
      • Sweep Floor
    2. Household Chores
      • Bedsheets
      • Laundry
      • Boy Laundry
      • Fridge
    3. Rooms
    4. Cars (Weekends)
  5. Garden
    • Weed

Pray​

  • Om x 6
  • Suklam Bharadaram mantra (Slowly)
  • Gayatri mantra (When the sun is up only. Slowly)
  • 8 Limbs
    • yama
      • 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
      • No reddit
    • pratyahara
      • Are you distracted by YouTube, social media, news, entertainment?
    • dharana, dhyana, samadhi
  • Jai Shree Ram

Japa​

  • One mala of Ista Mantra

Meditation​

  • During
    • Focus on the tip of the nose.
    • Visualize the Linga
    • Repeat the japa mantra
  • End
    • Om x 6

Study​

  • Read a text

Work​

Work needs to be done simply as an offering.

  1. Prayer
    1. Jai Shree Ram
    2. Patram Pushpam
  2. Routine
  3. Backlog

Exercise​

Family​

Unstructured time from 4:30 to 8:30 PM where I take care of various evening tasks and spend time with family.

  1. Play
  2. Dinner
  3. Bath
  4. Clean Kitchen

Yoga Sutras​

The Yoga Sutras are a means for discipline. If the Hanuman Chalisa is developing devotion then the Yoga Sutras are the Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga needed to discipline the body and mind. Texts under here are methods to improve meditation and prepare the body for better meditation.

  • Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali by Hariharananda
  • Four Chapters on Freedom by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Notes​