Will Power - Not so ambitious? But still you need to cultivate it!

We know it is good to use polite, decent and restrained language, in our daily dealings at home, on the street, in business, in politics, in society. But, in spite of ourselves, we use wrong language, from which arise many dissensions, small and big, at home, in society, in national and international affairs. Very often we do not remember the power of words, their capacity to break or make, wound or heal. More often, our will just fails to carry into practice what we know about the power of words. Through use of wrong language we are apt to make such wounds in other’s hearts as will not be easily healed; or we may anger people to such an extent that dire consequences may follow. And we ourselves shall have to reap them, however bitter they may be.

We know that it is beneficial to live a moral life, yet, in spite of ourselves, we commit sinful acts. And having committed them we have to take their painful consequences. We can give away our entire property but there is no way of giving away the fruits of our karma. We shall have to enjoy or suffer them ourselves. We know it is good to live according to the commandments of religion and obey the precepts of the Guru. We know it is good to get up early in the morning and practice spiritual disciplines. But when in the morning the alarm clock dutifully rings, we feel annoyed and silence it as though it had committed some crime, and then pull the blanket over the nose and sleep half an hour more, only to hurry and worry all day long. In the evening when we return home we are a mass of tension, and so highly inflammable that any little thing is apt to set things on fire.

We may observe, even in little things how little of what we know to be good for us, to be beneficial for us, we are able to put into practice. On the contrary, we continue to do harmful things. We know it is not good to neglect our studies, but somehow we cannot turn our ears or eyes from the radio or TV, specially when a cricket match, a circus show, a fashion show or a movie is going on. If our mind timidly protests, we just give it a thrashing: how can I miss such an exciting thing, for the boring bla-bla-bla of my classes? And the consequences of it are too obvious in the ever growing restlessness and dissatisfaction among the youngsters.

It is well-known that some of us can resist everything except temptations! There is a great fascination in the prohibited, great attraction in the destructive, great pull in the bizarre and wicked things in this world of maya. They pull us by the ear and make slaves of us. We do things in a hurry and then repent at leisure, and weep in the darkness of our own making.

Now, why do we behave this way knowingly? We do wrong things unknowingly too. But, that apart, why do we do wrong things and fail to do right things, knowingly? We must not commit the mistake of thinking that we do such things because we are essentially wicked or because of some kind of ‘original sin’ in us or because of our being forced by evil powers. Let us know it for certain that no one in this world is essentially wicked. Essentially everyone is divine, because the essence of every being is Atman, which is divine. The apparent wickedness of any person is only a fortuity, an outer mask, and hence it can be gotten rid of. No cow tells a lie. A tree does not steal or rob. A stone slab does not commit burglary. Only man does all these. But a cow, as far as we know, cannot think of God. A tree cannot practise spiritual disciplines. A stone slab cannot realize God. But man can.

To understand this concept of will-power from a practical point of view, we urge our readers to read a small booklet "Will-Power and Its Development" by Swami Budhananda. In this small but illuminating book the author brings out the importance of cultivating this faculty in man and also its means. The readers are sure to find this booklet not only interesting and informative, but also of extreme utility in helping them strengthen their will and thus veer the course of their lives towards success.

Source: Excerpts from 'Will-Power and Its Development', a book by Swami Budhananda.