Tapasya Series-1: Cultural World Austerities for Survival

Tapasya, which is derived from the Sanskrit root word ‘tapa’ meaning heat or energy, has roughly been translated as austerities or penances. And a Tapasvi, the one who engages in Tapasya, has often been called an ascetic. 

Here, Tapasya means austerities used for advancement in inSelf Yoga.

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Austerity→ DNA of Earth & closer astral dimensions

Austerity or Tapasya is essential for all living beings in this environment. In this earth and other closer astrally dimensions, the need for austerities is fundamental and part of DNA in this side of existence.

Even animals, birds, and insects like ants need to do austerities to survive in this world. Sustenance or survival for living is a constant struggle in this existence. 

Even the smallest food particle or sugar piece which could be twice their size has to be lifted by ants for survival.

Ants are one of the finest examples of austerities.

Human beings are no different from the ant situation in terms of the need for austerities. 

Let's understand these 2 terms before going into modes of cultural austerity. 

Accountability vs Responsibility:

There is an open and subtle difference between accountability and responsibility. Both are completely different words, often used interchangeably. One needs to watch out when these 2 words are used anywhere.

1. Accountability is direct and that individual fully owns the project and acts on it and takes it from A to B (Start to Finish or Agreed upon finish)
   1. His skin is in the game which means if anything goes wrong during the act, he can bleed in other words, he instantly pays the price good or bad
   2. More controllable by the doer and can have things in control in most of the time until there is an act of God.
   3. Eg: Several simple tasks oriented jobs are good examples of accountability,
      1. Finishing a certain project within the agreed timing, quality and price. One gets rewarded and moves away
      2. Eg: Finishing a plumbing job to satisfaction, time and price.
2. Responsibility is indirect, the individual may be directly or indirectly involved with the assignment or project.
   1. The project has to go in the right or agreed-upon direction and he is responsible for the actions of the accountable people acting on that project.
   2. Several factors play out that most of the time the responsible persons may not be in control of anything.
   3. Responsibility is to be in control of several uncontrollable things (near-impossible job)
   4. This is a dangerous task and most scary, one never knows when the accountable people are going to deviate 
      1. Any misdeeds by accountable people ultimately fall on the shoulders of the Grand Responsible Person on top. 
      2. We see this often with CEO and other big party presidents apologizing for mistakes made by simple workers down the lane.
         1. Eg: Same plumbing job if it was gone wrong by the plumber, the manager of the company who sent that plumber to my home takes responsibility of the misdeeds of the plumber.
         2. That plumber might have had a bad day and now, his manager is also going to have a bad one.
         3. Imagine having 30 plumbers reporting to the manager and each plumber has 1 bad day per month, think how many bad days are gonna happen for their manager.

All direct-acting jobs are accountable and indirect leadership jobs are responsible jobs. So, one has to draw the line on the level of accountability and responsibility of any job or project before taking one.

Pure Consulting is different from these two, they are neither accountable nor responsible for their work.

1. They don't have any skin in the game, so both the win and loss don't affect them, they get their payment and walk away, either you win or lose doesn't bother them.
2. Of course, their long-term reputation will be lost if their advice or consulting services keep failing or lacking realism or truth. There could be some negative karmic returns.
3. So, even consulting needs to have some degree of accountability and responsibility in it to make sure their services have certain truth in them.

Modes of Austerities in Cultural Life (Cultural Austerity):

Human beings can have several modes and complexities of austerities compared to an ant. 

The intensity manifested in each mode can change according to the layers and complexity involved.

Cultural Austerities can be in 4 modes:

1. Physical:
   1. Jobs:
      1. agriculture, construction, gardening, plumbing
   2. Job Responsibility:
      1. Mainly using the body's energy for lifting and moving heavy objects with dexterity with the minimal mental requirement
      2. Accountable job
   3. Sponsor:
      1. Kundalini can get tired of expending all their energy to physically strenuous activities.
      2. Generally, men are gifted with this.
   4. Recharge:
      1. Needs sleep, rest, and rich food intake
   5. Cons:
      1. Body parts can wear out quickly with age
      2. Physical labor is being replaced by modern machinery and robots. Prakriti is wiping which was once a prime mode of sustenance
2. Mental:
   1. Jobs:
      1. computer jobs, researchers, scientists, etc
   2. Job Responsibility:
      1. Heavy use of mental energy (Buddhi), very minimal or no use of physical labor
      2. Accountable job 
   3. Sponsor:
      1. Buddhi Orb (Intellect) with Imaginary & Analytical Orbs sponsors all the activities inside it
      2. Kundalini mildly or indirectly sponsors the Buddhi for these operations
      3. Mental labor replaces several forms of physical labor. Prakriti is favoring this form of labor, for now, in a few decades, even this will be replaced.
      4. Men are more in this field, but women catch up quickly. But men will have the upper hand in pure mental work with less or no emotion involved due to totally different balance of Mental-emotional operations in men's and women's psyche.
         1. Eg: In Chess, women grandmasters could not compete with male grandmasters in the last 2-3 centuries of recorded chess history.
   4. Recharge:
      1. Needs sleep, rest, and rich food intake
   5. Cons:
      1. Buddhi/ Intellect can be overused and abused in this process
         1. which in turn will affect the kundalini and can cause various physical and mental trauma or unsatisfaction in life and psyche
      2. The human body can be excessively exhausted by strenuous mental operations 
         1. Eg: Chess players lose several pounds over a week in chess tournaments, personally I have faced it.
3. Emotional: 
   1. Jobs:
      1. Therapist, Counsellor, Psychiatrist, or Psychologist
   2. Job Responsibility:
      1. Emotional responsibility and exchange with the patient or other person
      2. Accountable and Responsible job
   3. Sponsor:
      1. Kundalini and emotional exchanges of ideas, energy, sorrow, and affection energy
      2. Kundalini directly sponsors such operations and dominates the buddhi to lead it
      3. Buddhi of 2 people can get fused thru Kundalini influence and mirror each other thoughts and emotions, this comes with several future life karmic equations. 
      4. Women are naturally endowed to be more emotional companions than an average man.
   4. Recharge:
      1. From a deity
      2. Prakriti
      3. Group's energy like family, friends, colleagues, company
   5. Cons:
      1. Several entanglements in this and future lives are definite
      2. Energy leak is sure and can destroy physical, mental, and emotional health unless certain purificatory or emotional immunity methods are mastered
      3. Most difficult to navigate higher for yogic purposes with this kind of emotional attachment
         1. One possible solution is being emotionally detached (Raja-Yoga) while dealing with other people is the sure way to get immune in handling others' emotional energy
4. Combination: 
   1. Jobs:
      1. Lawyer (can get emotionally attached to some cases), CEO, all Leadership positions
   2. Job Responsibility: 
      1. Combination of Physical + Mental + Emotional
      2. (Physical, Mental, Emotional) in various proportions like
         1. (20%, 20%, 60%) - Householders, several front desk jobs, sales jobs
         2. (0, 40%, 60%) - CEOs, leadership, managers
         3. (50%, 0%, 50%) - Physical labor managers or bosses
         4. (20%, 70%, 10%) - Scientists, Researchers
      3. Accountable and Responsible job type
   3. Sponsor:
      1. All emotions are sponsored by Kundalini (Kundalini does not care about analytical reasoning)
      2. All mental and analytical activities are sponsored by Buddhi (based on the quality of mental work, Kundalini influence can be judged)
      3. With the mento-operational requirement of the job → ratio of Buddhi-Kundalini usage can change 
      4. Men and Women can succeed in this based on their respective proportions.
         1. Several women leaders I have worked with acted very compassionate like a mother (exceptions are there)
         2. Men beat the crap out of me to progress and transform to the next dimension. 
         3. Prakriti will decide whom to place on top of us based on karmic equations
   4. Recharge:
      1. From a deity 
      2. Prakriti
      3. Group of entity or pool's energy like a company or astral party of people with an agenda
   5. Cons:
      1. Several entanglements in this and future lives are definite
      2. Being Responsible for irresponsible people's act
      3. The ultimate receiver of several resentments from everyone's act
      4. Most difficult to navigate higher for yogic purposes with this kind of emotional attachment
         1. One possible solution is being emotionally detached (Raja-Yoga) while dealing with other people
            1. By the way, Raja Yoga is super difficult to master (it is one of the pinnacles of yoga)

For inSelf Yoga:

1. Every Yogic student should be
   1. self-accountable (as defined above) for his yogic practice. 
   2. self-accountable for the cultural and social obligations 
   3. responsible for other's upbringing. duties or certain projects entrusted by Seniors (Deities, Gurus) or Prakriti (society)
   4. Also play a consulting role with a lot of caution, responsibility, and accountability for what is being uttered
2. Pure Accoutanble cultural jobs like physical or mental are relatively easier because we are more in control of our acts directly.
   1. Emotional jobs that suck out or mix emotional energy have unnecessary subtle and emotional exposure which is harmful to higher yogic purposes. If possible, this has to be avoided.
3. Pure Responsible cultural jobs like leadership are going to appear attractive and easy money but it has a lot of land mines or traps that could defeat higher yogic purposes. Reasonable judgment has to be made by the individual, if possible this has to be avoided.

So, thinking of avoiding cultural austerities or tough jobs and leading a happy life here or hereafter is like living in a fool's paradise, it is like a moth entering the fire.

Every austerity has to be based upon realism (truth) and towards righteous conduct as defined according to their respective yardsticks given by Buddhism or Jainism or Krishna, or their land, etc.

Avoiding cultural austerity and exploiting others for a living is not an option unless their preferred destination is entering the fire.

Positioning oneself to execute the required and tough cultural austerities efficiently is a valid option to avoid painful rebirths.

This post is all about cultural austerities.

In the coming posts, I will write about spiritual austerities. Spiritual Austerities bereft of cultural austerity are dangerous unless one is empowered or waived by deities which is one in a million cases.