tamhonkhoe.comConvergence 0 – Week 4: Discipline
Published after review by the project owner. No reviewer from within a tradition has checked this page yet.
This week: read two passages and one teaching slowly, choose one small task (2–5 minutes) and do it at the same time each day.
Measurable goal: keep one small fixed task on at least 6 of 7 days.
1. Traditional teaching
The last three weeks practised short actions: pausing, noticing what we have received, putting ourselves in another's place. This week asks: how does a good action get done again tomorrow, and the day after? The three traditions below all speak of strength over oneself and of steady practice, but each places it in a different frame.
Taoism: overcoming oneself is true strength
[Traditional teaching] The Tao Te Ching is a short book of 81 chapters, traditionally linked with the name Laozi. Chapter 33 sets things side by side in pairs: knowing others and knowing oneself, overcoming others and overcoming oneself.
1. He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty. He who is satisfied with his lot is rich; he who goes on acting with energy has a (firm) will.
2. He who does not fail in the requirements of his position, continues long; he who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.
A note on context: the word in brackets, "(firm)", was added by the translator James Legge. [Inference] In the Tao Te Ching, "overcoming oneself" does not mean forcing oneself to be hard: many other chapters praise softness and yielding, like water (for example chapter 8). "Satisfied with his lot is rich" is close to Ben Zoma's saying in Week 2, but sits within a different way of thinking. The Taoist reviewer will say how the last line ("dies and yet does not perish") is usually understood.
Islam: small deeds, done regularly
[Traditional teaching] This tradition teaches doing good deeds with sincerity and moderation, without straining beyond one's strength. Hadith 6464 in Sahih al-Bukhari, narrated by Aisha, sits in a chapter on taking a middle course and keeping deeds regular. It teaches that
the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant
even if the deed is small. The same hadith also teaches that no one enters Paradise by their deeds alone. The English translation on sunnah.com is in copyright, so this page quotes only a short phrase. Read the full hadith at sunnah.com, Bukhari 6464.
A note on context: [Inference] Here regularity is a moral and religious matter before God, not a time-management trick. The teaching that deeds alone do not earn Paradise shows that regular practice is not understood as "collecting points". The Muslim reviewer will say how this hadith is usually taught.
Stoicism: lay hold of today's task
[Traditional teaching] Seneca wrote letters to his younger friend Lucilius. The first letter is about time. This tradition teaches that time is the only thing truly ours, so using it well is a task for reason rather than something to let slip away.
Lay hold of to-day’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow’s. While we are postponing, life speeds by. Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time.
A note on context: this passage is read more closely in Stoicism 1, Week 2. Seneca was wealthy and powerful; in this very letter he admits that he still wastes time himself.
Where the traditions differ
[Expert judgement] All three value strength over oneself and keeping a rhythm. But they differ on these points:
| Taoism (Tao Te Ching 33) | Islam (Bukhari 6464) | Stoicism (Seneca, Letter 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discipline for what | Knowing oneself, overcoming oneself, contentment | Doing what Allah loves, with sincerity | Not letting life slip by in vain |
| How | Softly, without forcing oneself to be hard | Moderately and regularly; small deeds count | Laying hold of today's task |
| Set within which belief | The Tao, living in accord with nature | Faith in Allah and His mercy | Reason and virtue |
This week borrows only one shared action: doing one small thing steadily. You do not need to accept the beliefs of any tradition to do it, and the week should not be read as saying the three traditions are "really the same".
2. What science finds
- [Verified] A 2017 meta-analysis of 33 studies of self-control training programmes found a small effect: g = 0.30. After correcting for publication bias (studies with good results are more likely to be published), the effect was smaller still, about 0.13–0.24. (Friese et al. 2017)
- [Inference] This week's exercise does not aim to "build willpower"; it only keeps one small task fixed. We have not found a review that measures exactly this kind of exercise.
Limits: these figures are averages across many different studies and do not predict what will happen for any one person. This exercise does not replace treatment if you have a mental health problem.
3. Practice for adults
About 10 minutes a day in total.
- Choose the task (first day, 3 minutes). Pick one small task you can do in 2–5 minutes that helps you or someone else: making the bed, reading one page, walking for five minutes, watering a plant, writing three lines in a journal. Choose something so small it is almost impossible to fail.
- Link it to an anchor (1 minute). Attach it to something you already do each day: "after brushing my teeth in the morning", "as soon as I get home".
- Read slowly (3 minutes a day). Read one of the three teachings above. Stay with the sentence that stands out most clearly.
- Do the small task (2–5 minutes). At the anchor you chose. Do not do extra to "make up" for yesterday.
- Tick it (a few seconds). Mark the day on a calendar or a sheet of paper. The weekly goal is at least 6 of 7 days.
- If you miss a day. Do not blame or punish yourself. The next day, do the same small task at the same anchor.
Note: [Expert judgement] this week does not set any discipline around food, fasting or intense exercise. Discipline here means keeping a rhythm for one small task, not forcing yourself to suffer.
4. Kids' corner 6+
Game: "One pebble a day" (5–10 minutes, with an adult playing too)
- Adult and child choose one small task the child can do each day: putting shoes on the rack, watering one plant, packing books into a school bag.
- Prepare a clear jar. Each time the child finishes the task, the child drops one large pebble (or puts a sticker) into the jar.
- At the end of the week, count the pebbles together and ask: "What was it like doing a little bit every day?"
Use large pebbles that cannot fit in a child's mouth. If there is a child under 3 at home, use stickers instead. Do not reward with food, do not punish when the child forgets, and do not compare the child's jar with siblings'. If the child gets bored, stop the game.
daynentang also has lessons on children's chores and keeping promises (in Vietnamese) for families with children aged 2–8.
5. Stop practising if
- You feel panic, have flashbacks of trauma, have a lasting sense that you or the world are "not real", lose sleep for several nights, or have thoughts of harming yourself.
- Keeping the discipline turns into self-blame, self-punishment or lasting tension whenever you miss a day, or you find yourself wanting to tighten control over eating or sleep. Then stop this exercise.
- If so, stop and see Get help now.
- If you have a history of psychosis, bipolar disorder or severe PTSD, ask a doctor before increasing sitting time beyond 20 minutes.
6. Foundation skills on daynentang
daynentang has a lesson, Việc nhỏ có ý nghĩa (small meaningful tasks), on choosing small things worth doing each day. It is currently in Vietnamese only; your browser's translate option can help.
7. Practice for today
Choose one small task under 5 minutes and one anchor in your day right now. Write on a slip of paper: "After , I will ."
Scientific sources
- Friese M, et al. (2017). Does self-control training improve self-control? A meta-analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(6), 1077–1099. doi:10.1177/1745691617697076