Right Life
For most people, life follows a general pattern, with some exceptions. Childhood is typically spent playing and gradually transitioning into school. During adolescence, the focus shifts more toward academics while exploring interests in sports, music, or other hobbies. Some pursue these passions professionally, while many choose careers based on academic interests and available opportunities.
As individuals enter the workplace, time is largely devoted to career advancement, earning money, and securing the essentials for a comfortable life, such as a home or car. Eventually, marriage happens, and attention expands to include family responsibilities, raising children, planning vacations, and maintaining social connections. Once these immediate family priorities are taken care of, career and social positions take priority along with caring for aging parents.
At some point, we retire from our professional lives, and our children complete their education and become independent. Still, with more time left in life, some choose to engage in part-time work or community service, while others focus on spending more time with family and friends. Throughout these phases, most people maintain routines to manage their health and address any concerns. Along the way, we experience a mix of achievements and failures, love and hatred, happiness and suffering. Eventually, at the end of this somewhat programmed life, the inevitable day comes when we must say farewell to the world.
This is the general pattern of life for most people. Is this the right life? We often get so caught up in the routine activities of our automated existence that we rarely pause to reflect.
What is the right way to live? Spiritual wisdom offers insights and guidance on this profound question. In Long Pilgrimage, John G. Bennett captures the essence of Shivapuri Baba’s teachings on living a right life.
Shivapuri Baba, born in 1826 in Kerala, was an enlightened sage who attained enlightenment at the age of 50 after spending about 25 years meditating in the forests of South India. He spent the next 40 years, from 1875 to 1915, journeying on foot across much of the world, before finally settling on Shivapuri Peak near Kathmandu. There, he lived a life of deep contemplation and teaching until he entered Mahasamadhi in 1963 at the age of 137. I am fortunate enough to have visited Shivapuri Peak and meditated at his Mahasamadhi site.
Shivapuri Baba recommends that the following three disciplines be mandatory for the right way of living.
- Physical Discipline
- Moral Discipline
- Spiritual Discipline
We all have fundamental needs to meet, such as clothing, food, shelter, and maintaining our health. In addition, we bear responsibilities toward our families and other dependents. Beyond that, we have duties to our community, country, and the wider world. These obligations—whether as family members, professionals, or citizens—make up what is known as the Physical Discipline.
Physical Discipline plays a significant role in our lives, and we devote much of our time to meeting its demands—whether through work, maintaining our health, or pursuing material success. When we excel in these aspects, achieving health, happiness, and prosperity, it may seem as though we’ve accomplished life’s purpose. But can we truly call this the Right Life?
To address this, we must first understand the true goal of life. Is the goal merely to meet our personal and family needs, achieve professional success, and contribute to the community, country, or even the world? If we view life only within the boundaries of physical birth and death, it might seem reasonable to believe that this is the ultimate purpose. There is nothing else we need to do beyond our death.
But the truth is, physical death is not the end of life. It is merely the death of the physical body, not of you or me. If you reflect deeply, especially through meditation, you will come to realize that you are not the physical body. You are not even your mind or your thoughts. You are the one who perceives your thoughts and observes your body and mind—this perceiver is the real you, your true nature.
Identifying with the body, mind, or thoughts is the work of the ego, not the true self. The essence of spiritual teaching lies in realizing that you are not who you think you are—you possess a deeper, eternal identity. Understanding this true nature is the real purpose of life. Since the true self transcends physical existence, the purpose of life extends beyond the material realm. While we may not fully achieve this goal within our physical lifetime, we can make meaningful progress toward it.
What we do as part of our Physical Discipline primarily serves the ego, not the true self. While fulfilling these physical responsibilities is important, they are insufficient to meet the deeper purpose of life. The way we generally live tends to overlook the Moral and Spiritual Disciplines. Without integrating these aspects, we cannot truly realize the ultimate purpose of life.
In reality, these three disciplines—Physical, Moral, and Spiritual—are interconnected and essential to fulfilling the purpose of life. Without meeting our physical needs, it is impossible to live solely by morality and spirituality. Moral learning guides us in performing our Physical Discipline in the right way. Spiritual Discipline helps us to realise our true nature while Moral Discipline helps in Spiritual practices.
What is Moral Discipline and why need it?
Every day we fight the war of Kurukshetra within us. As the ego, we are restless, and selfish and lack the self-control needed to manage our emotions and temptations. We do not hesitate to lie or hurt others. However, in our true nature, we are selfless, calm, truthful, compassionate, and possess self-control to manage our emotions and temptations. Though we appear as the ego, the real I is always within us. We regret lying, and though we behave restlessly we like to remain calm, we feel good after helping others. We always have the inherent tendency to display our true nature, but more often our strong ego overpowers them. Moral Discipline helps us to win this war.
The mind and intelligence serve as instruments for the real self to engage with the world. However, they are part of nature and are subject to duality. A pure mind manifests virtues, while an impure mind gives rise to vices. The mind can either be outward-focused or inward-focused. Under the influence of the ego, the mind is constantly directed outward, attached to the material world. Spiritual practice, on the other hand, requires the mind to turn inward, focusing on the true self. Moral Discipline purifies and strengthens the mind.
The intelligence we develop in school enhances our problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity, and it equips us for professional success. However, we are not taught how to use intelligence discriminately to distinguish between right and wrong. A criminal who carefully plans and executes a crime is intelligent, but not wise. It is through the practice of Moral Discipline that we cultivate wisdom.
Chapter 16 of The Bhagavad Gita outlines 24 divine qualities, which Shivapuri Baba emphasises as essential to cultivate Moral Discipline. Moral discipline is different from simply fulfilling our Physical Discipline. Developing Moral Discipline requires a conscious and deliberate effort beyond the routine tasks of life.
What is Spiritual Discipline?
Fulfilling Physical Discipline creates the environment needed for Spiritual practice, while Moral Discipline prepares the mind and intelligence for that deeper pursuit. Spiritual Discipline, in turn, is the practice we engage in to realize our true nature. It includes activities like meditation, devotion, and seeking guidance from a realized guru who can guide us on the path. Although there are different spiritual paths, they all lead to the same goal—the realization of our true self. This discipline requires dedicated, persistent effort and unwavering faith.
A right life is one where we balance our Physical Discipline—caring for our families, communities, country, and the world—while also cultivating Moral Discipline to purify and strengthen the mind, nurturing discrimination, and practising Spiritual Discipline to fulfil the ultimate purpose of human existence. Neglecting any one of these aspects—whether it’s our responsibilities, moral development, or spiritual growth—leaves life incomplete.
References:
- Long Pilgrimage by John G. Bennett
- God Talks With Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gita by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda