How To Come Out Of Bad Habits

Excerpts from discourse by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

How to get rid of vasanas? (impressions) This is a question for all those who want to come out of habits. You want to get rid of habits because they give you pain and restrict you. The nature of vasana is to bother you, or bind you, and wanting to be free is the nature of life. Life wants to be free and when a soul doesn’t know how to be free, it wanders through lifetimes wanting freedom.

The way to come out of habits is by taking vows. This is samyama. Everybody is endowed with a little samyama. A vow should be time bound. This would bring good conduct and save you from being wayward. Consider the time and place for vows to be taken.