1. Discipline
The key to self-growth is the Grace of God.
Such a grace becomes accessible only to one who has become
predisposed to faithful observance of disciplines.
Indeed, such faithful observance must become second nature to a
yogi.
In fact, the discipline itself is like a yogi, and a yogi is synonymous
with his disciplines. There is no essential difference between the

two.
Lack of discipline is in the nature of a bhogi (a pleasure-addicted
person). Indeed, it is synonymous with a bhogi and vice versa.
The spiritual journey which takes one from the base of an
undisciplined life to the highest peak of disciplined life is variously
called the journey of yoga (yoga-yatra), the journey of the
conscience (antar-yatra), the journey of the soul (atma-yatra), the
journey of divinity (deva
yatra), or the journey of the eternal truth (brahma-yatra).
This is not a straightforward journey, but a very intricate and uneven
one. It is virtually an uphill journey all the way.
(In this journey), it takes a long while to establish one’s foothold
after taking every step.
One is never certain at which moment he will lose his footing and
slide into a deep ravine, losing his very life. (FORMATTING HAS
BEEN CHANGED)