How to Develop the Will - Swami Sivananda

How to Develop the Will

¬ Swami Sivananda

Attention, power of endurance, fortitude in suffering, Tapas (austerity) such as standing on one foot, sitting in the hot sun or standing in cold water in winter, raising the hands above and keeping them in the same position for a long time, fasting, patience, command of temper, forbearance, clemency, firmness in meeting danger, power of resistance of attack, Satyagraha, keeping up daily diary, Japa of any Mantra-all pave a long way in developing the will. Uninterrupted steady practice of the above with firm faith will enable you to develop your will to a high degree.

One should patiently hear the words of others even though they are not interesting and attractive. He should not fret himself. Patient hearing develops will and wins the hearts of others. One should do actions or tasks that are not. interesting. This also will develop the will-power. The actions that are not interesting will become interesting after some time.

Try to live happily in any place under any condition. Your will will become strong and dynamic. This is a great secret. Keep this in your pocket and unlock the elysian regions of the spiritual realms and the immortal abode. You can get success in any undertaking. You can conquer any difficulty.

The practice of concentration is of great help to strengthen the will. You must have an intelligent understanding of the nature of the mind, how it wanders and how it operates. You must know easy and effective methods to control the wandering mind. The practice of concentration and memory-culture are allied subjects.

All these are of great help in the development of will-culture. You cannot draw a demarcation-line to denote where the practice of concentration or memory-culture ends and the practice of will-culture begins. There is no hard and fast rule. The force of Brahmacharya Is at the back of the will. No will-culture is possible without Brahmacharya. Will is another name for the force of celibacy (Virya-Sakti). Every drop of semen is a magnetic force.

Constant repetition and meditation on the following formulas will doubtless develop your will-power.

My will is pure, strong and irresistible OM OM OM

I can do anything through my will now OM OM OM

I have an invincible will OM OM OM

You must really feel as you repeat the above formulas. Meditation on the immortal Atman will develop the will-power. This is the best method. Do not use the will in wrong directions'

You will have a hopeless fall. Do not test the strength of your will in the beginning. Wait till it becomes strong, pure and irresistible.

Instructions on Will-Culture

l. One who wants to become a magnetic and dynamic personality or a prodigy or a genius should utilise every second to the best possible advantage and should try to grow mentally, morally and spiritually every second. Idle gossiping should be given up entirely. Every one of you should realise the value of time. Will is bound to become dynamic, if one utilises one's time very profitably. Application and tenacity, interest and attention, patience and perseverance, faith and self-reliance can make a man to be a world-figure.

2. You will have to apply your will according to your capacity. Otherwise your will-power will deteriorate and you will be discouraged. This is one important point. Make a programme of work according to your capacity and see that it is carried out daily. Keep only a few items. If you keep several items which cannot be executed in a day, which are beyond your capacity, your interest will slowly fail and your enthusiasm will gradually decline. Your energy will be dissipated and scattered. You will get brain-fag. Whatever you wish to do daily must be carried out to the very letter.

3. Thinking too much is a hindrance on the execution by the will. It brings confusion, diffidence and procrastination. There is slackening of the force of will. The opportunity will slip away. You may hesitate to put the thing in action. Think for some time correctly and then decide. As soon as you have resolved, you must will immediately. There must not be any unnecessary delay. Sometimes you will, but you do not succeed. This is due to lack of right thinking and right feeling. You must think rightly and at the same time feel rightly. Then the will is bound to succeed. Right feeling should invariably accompany right thinking.

4. He who is attempting to develop the will should always try to keep up a cool mind. He should keep up a balanced mind under all conditions. He will have to perfectly discipline the mind. It is worth practising. Balance of mind is one of the important characteristics of a developed Yogi. That Yogi at all times is really a strong and happy man who can keep up a balanced mind. He will get success in all undertakings. You may fail to keep up the balance in fifty attempts. But from the fifty-first endeavour you will gain strength of will. You will slowly manifest balance of mind, You should not be discouraged in the beginning.

5. If a serious calamity occurs, your mind should not be upset. Just keep the mind cool and calm. Have presence of mind. Do not cry over spilt milk. Anyhow it has come to pass. You will-have to face it with cheerful countenance. Try to make the best of things. Find out methods to tide over the difficulty, to make matters smooth. Keep always an unruffled mind. Do not be carried away by undue sentiments and bubbling emotions. Control them. Reflect how the calamity or trouble or catastrophe has come. Devise suitable, effective, easy methods to tide over the crisis or trying situation. Many obstacles and calamities can be obviated quite easily. Do not brood over failures, defects and mistakes. This will weaken your will. Let the defects remain there. They will be removed quickly when the will becomes purer and purer, stronger.

6. Just reflect for a white why you have failed in the attempt and try to be careful in the second attempt. Try to remove those factors that led to your failure in the previous attempt. Fortify yourself now. Be careful and vigilant. Be on the alert. You must be quick and at the same time efficient and capable. You should not make mistakes.

7. Whenever you are in a dilemma or difficulty, never get discouraged. Never lose your heart. Use your skill nicely. Devise intelligent plan or scheme. Call forth all your latent energies or dormant faculties. When the house is on fire, how alert you are! How promptly and skilfully you act at that particular moment! You do not know wherefrom the energy and power are flowing at that time. You are fully concentrated. You contrive skilful methods then and there to save your property as much as possible and to save the lives of your kinsmen who are dwelling in the house. Marvellous actions you do. Then you say at your leisure, when the difficulty passes away: "Some mysterious power of God has worked through me."

8. Unwavering firmness and patience (Dhriti and Dhairya) are needed to tide over critical situations and to get success. Dhriti is spiritual patience. Dhairya is presence of mind. Samata (balanced state of mind) develops the will to a considerable degree.

9. Do not be troubled at all if there is delay in the development of the will. The will is bound to carry out all your orders in the long run. You can treat any ailment of other people by mere willing: "Let the patient be free from this disease." This will really come to pass immediately. You will be really astonished. You can treat any disease in your body by mere willing. Will strongly: "I must see Mr. Balakrishna at 8.00 a.m." The man will be at your door in the exact time. Will is your obedient and willing servant. It will fetch anything you want. If there is delay, apply the will once more with patience. In the beginning you will find it a bit difficult to apply the will, because it is a new practice for you. Gradually you will know how to apply the will. You will understand the knack and technique. Will can be applied in the twinkling of an eye and the object also will be realised in no time. Stronger the will, the quicker the realisation is. Practice will make you perfect. Experiences will teach you.

I0. You will have to be very careful in the use of the will. It is always advisable to reserve the will-force for the achievement of higher spiritual success. Worldly success is nothing. This life is like a bubble. It is a long dream. Worldly success will not give you everlasting peace and happiness. Try your will in one or two instances in worldly matters. You will understand and realise its power. Then apply the will in Self-realisation. Ignore the mundane affairs. They are worthless like straw or dung. Become a Yogin. This alone will give you absolute satisfaction.

11. Practise the assertions boldly and calmly. Fully understand the meaning of every assertion and try to feel. The feeling will slowly manifest. You will have to fight against your old enemies, the old Samskaras. Wait coolly. Try to develop patience, attention, power of endurance, balance or mind and presence of mind. These qualities are very necessary to develop your Will. Develop intention also. Practise will-culture for three months. You will feel your inner strength. The things that appeared difficult some time ago can be done with ease now. You will feel that you now have ai unruffled mind. Things that would easily upset your mind previously cannot do so now. You can turn out immense work quite smoothly. Your walk is graceful. Your speech is powerful. You are quite a changed man. There is a glow in your cheeks and a peculiar charm in your smile. You are able to influence many persons now. Your friends notice a magnetic aura in your face.

12. The practice of concentration should go hand in hand with the memory and will-culture. concentration is an auxiliary in all cultures. No culture is possible without concentration. Have regular concentration-exercises daily in the morning and evening. Have a spiritual basis in your concentration. You practise concentration not only for developing your memory and will but mainly for Self-realisation. That is the chief aim. Never, never forget this point. This is the fundamental difference between my system and the various other systems. Brahmacharya and Self-realisation are the keynotes in my system. I harp on these two points in various places. I want you to develop your memory and will for success ln life and achievement of the Brahmic bliss eventually. The practice of concentration will immensely help your memory and will-culture also. Keep a record of your experiences

in concentration in your diary and send me a copy of it every month.

13. Develop Sattvic virtues also. You will understand the method of developing various virtues. Develop that virtue which you are hopelessly lacking. Courage, mercy, universal love, nobility, compassion, contentment, frankness, honesty must be developed to a high degree. If you develop one important virtue, all other virtues will cling to you. If you have humility and courage, all other virtues will come by themselves. You should spend daily some time for the development of virtues.

14. Eradicate evil qualities. The development of virtuous qualities will itself remove the negative qualities. But it is better to make a positive attempt in the eradication of these evil qualities. Then the progress will be rapid. It is double attack on the enemy. Then success becomes easy and sure. If you could remove lust or anger or egoism, all other evil qualities will disappear by themselves. All evil qualities are the attendants of egoism. If egoism is destroyed, if the commander is killed all the soldiers or retinues will take to the heels out of fright, because they have lost their head. All vices originate from anger. If anger is destroyed all sorts of vices will vanish. Therefore, concentrate your attention in killing egoism or anger. Then the whole work is done.

15. You must have discipline of the senses (Indriyas). Conserve energy. This is most important. If the sense (Indriyas) are turbulent, you cannot have concentration. Watch every sense carefully and correct it by suitable methods such as Mauna, Trataka, fasting, celibacy, renunciation of sensual enjoyments, Dama and Pratyahara. The senses draw you out and make your mind outgoing. Curbing of the senses really means curbing of the mind. The senses cannot do any independent work without the direct help of the mind.

16. Another important point is physical culture. I again remind you that no culture is possible if you do not possess a sound and healthy body. Keep your body strong and healthy by regular exercise.

17. If you want rapid progress, if you want substantial growth, keep a daily diary. Let this be a true diary with a clean conscience. Having armed yourself with the above Sadhana you can become a mighty emperor of this world. You can enjoy health, wealth, spiritual bliss and longevity. I have shown graduated exercises according to the capacity of the student. Now it is left for you to expand and grow. You will have to apply yourself diligently. A hungry man will have to eat for himself. A thirsty man will have to drink for himself. Become a spiritual hero. Get success in every department of your life. These practices will become now part and parcel of your nature after some practice. You can go on developing them till you attain perfection.

18. There is a great difference between the eastern way of culture of the Hindu sages and Rishis, and the method of culture of the western occultists. The fundamental difference is that in the west, people train their will and memory for attaining material progress and worldly prosperity only. They have ignored completely the life beyond. This is a serious blunder indeed. Whereas the Yogins of India do develop their will for attaining Self-realisation. They exhibit psychic Siddhis to make their students clearly understand that there is a higher super-sensual life in the Atman, which alone can give real bliss and immortality.

They clearly impress their students in emphatic terms: "Na karmana- na prajaya dhanena tyagenaike amritatvam anasuh (Not by actions, nor by progeny, nor by riches but by renunciation alone can one attain immortality)." "There is no happiness in the perishable, finite objects. The real peace is in the Absolute alone. The Absolute must be sought and understood." This one ringing note is blown in their ears daily.

19. Therefore, the western occultists should not neglect the spiritual culture and should not forget the spiritual basis of all other cultures. One can have material prosperity to a certain extent. He should develop the spiritual side also. There should be a spiritual basis for all sorts of cultures and undertakings. This is the most important point. If this side is ignored completely, then that culture ii no culture at all. There should be the practice of a little Tapas (austerity) along with the will-culture. Saunaka, a wise householder, approached the Sage Angirasa and asked: "O venerable Sir, what is that supreme culture by knowing which all other cultures are known?" Angirasa replied: "It is Brahma-Vidya or the spiritual culture or the Science of the Self." Therefore I draw the attention of western culturists in this direction. Then they will have wonderful success and immense joy. Some Hindu Yogins completely ignore the material side and practise Tamasic Tapas. This is also not advisable. This is condemned by Lord Krishna in the Gita. Extremes are always bad. A healthy combination is highly desirable. Chudala and Janaka had this happy combination.

20. I want to place before you another important point. Those who are attempting to develop their will-power should remove the words 'Cannot.' 'Difficult,' 'Impossible,' etc., from their mind. These are the expressions of a weakling or an effeminate person. These are the expressions of a timid lady. Become a lion. Become a spiritual hero. Become a champion in the Adhyatmic field. By mere willing or chanting of OM, the mountains should be crushed into powder. By mere willing, mountains should move. By mere willing, the ocean should recede. By mere willing, all the waves of ocean should subside. Lord Jesus did this and you can also do. Whatever one has achieved can be attained by all if they will. This is the grand law of nature. Speak with force. Talk with emphasis in a Gambhira manner. Gambhira is not pride. It is the quality of magnanimity.

21. Therefore never entertain any negative terms in your mind. Understand the glory, splendour and power of the Self which is at the back of your mind, thought, will and memory. Understand the magnanimity and immortal nature of that hidden, interpenetrating, indwelling essence. Know that this Self is the storehouse of all knowledge, bliss, power, beauty, peace and joy. Feel that the sun, moon, stars and the fire do their respective functions at your command. Feel that the air moves, rain falls, fire burns, rivers flow, sun shines, stars glitter, at your bidding. Thou art the Glory of glories, Sun of suns, Light of lights. Thou art the Truth. Thou art the imperishable, undecaying, undying Atman that pervades this whole universe. Assert your Divine Majesty. Recognise the

Brahmic Glory. Realise your freedom.