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Likhana Yoga The Discipline of Writing

February 05, 2013

In the Gts sixth chapter, Arjuna seems to want to persuade Krishna that it

is pointless to try to control the unwieldy mind. And when Krishna initially responds to Arjunas

complaint, he appears to concede the point: O great-armed one, no doubt the mind is difficult to

curb, being unsteady. But this cozy reassurance extends for only half a verse. Krishna then makes

his main point with an equally brief but pithy formula for curbing the mind: But by practice and

detachment (the mind) can be subdued (6.35). This news might have disappointed Arjuna, but

heroic bhakta that he is, hes ready to take the lesson and apply it in his embattled life.

For us lesser mortals situated on the battlefield of the computer screen, these two principles

practice and detachment can be usefully applied to the process of writing; moreover, we can

appreciate the process of writing as an excellent means of disciplining the mind so that it becomes

more the friend we would all prefer it to be, the fine instrument that it is meant to be for clarifying

our thoughts and expressing ourselves effectively. And while we are at it (that is, while we are

looking for ways to be inspired to put the best of ourselves forward into the writing task) we might

very well identify this process of writing as itself a type of yoga. I call it Likhana Yoga, the

discipline of writing (one meaning of the word yoga is discipline). Perhaps we could display aslogan over the entrance to our Likhana Yoga studio (the BC library?): We Practice Writing

With Detachment! Lets reflect briefly on these two principles of disciplining the mind,

considering how they can apply to writing.

Practice (abhysa) makes it so much better . . .

Becoming skilled in anything requires practice, whether the skill is walking (as a toddler), mdaga

playing (as a gurukuli), or writing (as a BC student). Good writing, like good mdaga playing, is

worlds above the writing or playing of beginners: rather than being muddled, painful to read, and

pointless, good writing is clear, engaging to readers, and conclusive.

In his bookThe Craftsman, Richard Sennett notes that to become a virtuoso in any craft or art

whether it be violin building, ballet dancing, or prize-winning novel writing requires an average

of 10,000 hours of dedicated practice. I suspect that as a Bhaktivedanta College student you might

not feel ready to put quiteso much of your time your life into writing practice. Still, you should

be ready to put plenty of time again and again into your essay writing. Think of your writing as

yoga practice, and youre bound to find yourself learning to think and express yourself more

clearly. And youll surely find that you have good ideas to express in writing, ideas important

enough to express well!

To me, practice suggests, first, doingsomething rather than just thinking about doing it. To think

aboutwriting may be a first step, but sooner, rather than later, one has to put words to paper (or

words in a computer file). Sooner is of course better than later, but now is best for entering into the

act of writing.

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Second, practice means repetition writing a sentence, paragraph, or whole essay, and then doing it

again, improving after recognizing weaknesses or faults. An important form of repetition in the

process of writing is revision. Writing, rewriting, and rewriting again and probably yet again is a

standard procedure in the craft of writing. Even the pros do this; in fact, its quite rare that a good

writer does notsubject his or her writing to self-critique and revision.

Repetition also means writing again on topics you have already written about in an earlier essay,this time building on new information and understanding, from a new angle, with clearer sense of

what you really want to say, or for a different audience. Or, repetition can mean writing something

entirely new, but with added substance based on your previous writing experience. In any case,

repetition in writing enables us to reinforce improved work and to get over the haunting

disappointments and fearsome nightmares of mediocre or bad work. It strengthens the writing mind.

Effective practice in writing also opens us to correction learning to recognize the difference

between effective and ineffective written expression. And essential to this kind of learning is the

second principle for taming the mind of which Krishna speaks.

Detachment (vairgya) from our babies

Several years ago, as I was hesitantly dipping my writing-toes into the chilly waters of academe, a

devotee-scholar (in English literature) advised me, You have to learn to kill those babies.

Babies, he explained, are the well-intended words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole

sections of an essay-under-construction that an aspiring author becomes charmed by and attached

to, thinking they express brilliant insights when actually they hinder, rather than help, the writers

purpose. To kill those babies cruel as it sounds means to be ready to decisively remove

anything that doesnt serve your present writing task (hint: if you are like me too attached to

deleteforeverthose brilliant-but-useless brain-children you can instead banish them to a dump

file from which you can always recall them for duty in other contexts).

I have found that detachment with respect to writing is best applied with a simple, cheeky, and

challenging question: So what? Every sentence, every paragraph, every section, and indeed whole

essays, should be able to stand up to this nasty question. Detachment means being your own best

critic. Leave the reassuring words to your friends and family. When writing, we need to be our own

devils advocate who constantly nags us with awkward questions, doubts, and challenges.

Finally, we might recall from Bhagavad-gt that yogs can be recognized (among other symptoms)

by their detachment from success and failure. In writing, as with other skills, failure can lead us to

success; to be shown whysomething we write is sub-standard or how it could be improved is, for

the yog-writer, seen as just that an opportunity to make something mediocre into somethingmeaningful. But one needs to then go forward and make improvement if not in the same essay, in

the next one. Success is sure to come with persistence, a higher level of success that of the

practitioner oflikhana-yoga. Such ayog, undaunted by the winds of uncertainty, inexperience, and

distraction, engages the mind in word-crafting through practice and detachment that leads to

wonderful things valuable thoughts clearly and persuasively expressed in essays one can always

be justifiably satisfied to have written. Best of all, one can see that Krishna is right: The mind is

difficult to curb, but by practice and detachment it ispossible to do so, not least by engaging the

mind seriously in likhana-yoga.

by Krishna Kshetra Dasa