| WILL-POWER - 2 |
| Two things will oppose this creative move within us: (1) Our regrets about the past, and (2) our worry about the future. Both of these are detrimental to the cultivation of will-power, because they successfully undercut all forward-looking, creative, positive movements within our minds. They are also wholly unnecessary performances. Exaggerated regrets for our past and over much worry about our future, will only damage our present, weaken our minds and injure our future also. It is, however, more important that we live a wakeful life in the living present with an unencumbered free mind honestly trying to live according to our highest convictions. He, who suffocates this moment with the worries of moments that are yet not, is doing everything possible to make his future fearful. And if this moment we have lived well, done our best, we may very well leave the rest. For nothing better can ever be done for future than always dong our very best right now. We may, however, always examine our doing best and trying to find methods of even bettering our best-doing. Worry for the future is a mental disease, the medicine of which is to live entirely in this moment with all our powers poised and applied. Those who want to develop will-power must scrupulously avoid living in the past or future, and live in the living present. If we live in the present wisely according to our best light, our futures cannot but be good whatever the astrologers may say. To live in the living present wisely, we require the guidance of a sound sense of values. We should be able to persuade ourselves that we are not fooling around. We must be able to tell ourselves, in and through whatever we may be doing, that we are gradually but surely proceeding to the fulfillment of our destiny. This sound sense of values must be ascertained with due regard for our physical, mental and spiritual needs. Indian sages have ascertained such values to be four: wealth, righteousness, pleasure and liberation of the spirit. We can guard the sense of value by doing three things: (1) by constant discrimination between the real and the unreal; (2) by keeping ourselves busy doing those things that we have decidedly accepted as beneficial; and (3) by avoiding idle curiosity about things which do not concern our main pursuit in life. It is extremely important to remember that in developing will-power the greatest help will come from the power of concentration we have already attained. In fact these two always go together. The power of concentration helps the growth and development of will-power and will-power helps the power of concentration. |
| How can we increase the power of concentration? The Simplest way to do it is to pour our whole mind into the work on hand, whether it is cooking, polishing shoes, playing basketball, watching birds, experimenting in the laboratory or praying in the chapel. In other words, when you are meditating, you must not be seeing the movie!. And for this we require a sufficient reserve of mental energy. That is to say, in order to develop the will-power we must stop all squandering of our mental energy. This squandering of our mental energy is done through useless talks, purposeless work, futile controversies, wild fantasies, backbiting, day-dreaming, lewd thinking, concern for things which is none of one�s business, hypothetical fears and finding fault with others. To build up a sufficient storage of mental energy, which is so necessary for motoring the will-power, we must stop doing things which drain our mental energy. (Courtesy Swami Budhananda) |
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