Will is the power that moves the cosmos and everything in it. It was God’s will that shot the stars into space. It is His will that holds the planets of the solar system in their orbits. And it is His will that directs the cycles of birth, growth, and decay of all animate and inanimate matter.

Made as you are in the image of God, you have within you God’s hidden power. That power is your own, but God-given, and comes from soul levels deep within yourself. It is impossible to live without using this power. Without the use of will power you cannot walk, talk, think, work, or feel. Even the slightest movement of the muscles or the winking of the eyelids is initiated by the use of will power. The challenge of life is to learn to live and work from a sense of His strength and guidance within, and not from ego-consciousness.

A strong will always finds a way

Learning to use your will power dynamically is the first step in this direction. There is dynamic will and mechanical will. Mechanical will is an unthinking use of will power, but dynamic will is a vital force involving continuous, never-discouraged determination and effort. When your will power is dynamic, your silent slogan is: “I will continue my efforts until I achieve my goal, no matter how difficult the task.”

A strong will, by its own dynamic force, creates a way for its fulfillment. It sets into motion certain vibrations, and Nature responds by creating circumstances favorable to its accomplishment. But dynamic will power alone is not enough. It’s also necessary to use your will power constructively, for wholesome purposes. When will power is used for harmful or trifling ends, it becomes weaker due to the lack of support from Truth. By developing dynamic will power, and using it in the right way, you will be able to attune your will to God’s infinite will.

Three important rules

There are three important rules for making your will power more dynamic:

  • First, determine to do some of the things you thought you could not do. Attempt simple tasks first. Then, as your confidence strengthens and your will becomes more dynamic, you can undertake more difficult accomplishments.
  • Second, be sure you have chosen something constructive and feasible, and then refuse to consider failure.
  • Third, devote your entire will power to accomplishing one thing at a time; do not scatter your energies or leave something half done to begin a new venture.

Fitful explosions of energy

By keeping your concentration at the spiritual eye, at the point between the eyebrows, it’s possible to develop great will power. But this practice must be combined with and supported by the heart’s devotion. Otherwise, the development of strong will power can lead to fitful explosions of energy that serve no practical purpose—or even worse, to harshness, cruelty, and the use of power to control or abuse others.

Fear is one of the greatest enemies of will power. Avoid it both in thought and action. Fear depletes the life force flowing through the nerves and causes the nerves themselves to become as though paralyzed. Fear doesn’t help you to get away from the object of fear; it only weakens your will power. You must be cautious but never afraid. When the consciousness is kept on God, you will have no fears. Faith and courage will enable you to overcome every obstacle.

Other enemies of will power include worry, indifference, timidity, restlessness, boredom, mental and physical laziness, pessimism as regards the future, and an unmethodical life. Worries are often the result of attempting to do too many things at once.

Acting in attunement with the Divine Will

God made you in His image so that you might guide your will with wisdom, even as He does. Your ultimate task in life is to find your way back to God, but He has also given you a task to perform in the outer world. Often, however, God’s plan for how you are to fulfill that task is buried beneath the conflicting desires of human life, and you fail to receive the guidance that would save you from error.

Always sit in silence and ask God for His guidance and blessing, especially before deciding about any important undertaking. Always be sure, within the calm region of your inner Self, that what you want is right for you and in accord with His purposes. Then use all the force of your will to accomplish your objective, while keeping your mind centered on the thought of God, the source of all power and accomplishment. When you act in that way, behind your power will be God’s power; behind your mind, His mind; and behind your will, His will.

Human will, no matter how powerful, is limited by the boundaries of the human body and the perceptible physical universe. Divine Will has no boundaries; it works in all bodies, in all things. Divine Will can change the course of destiny, wake the dead, put a mountain into the sea, and change the course of the solar or stellar systems.

You must exercise your will in every undertaking until it drops its mortal delusion of being human will and becomes one with the all-powerful Divine Will. You will not know what Divine Will is until you have developed your own will and learned to harmonize it with God’s supreme will.

Why struggle is necessary

People often demand to know why life is so challenging and filled with so much tragedy and pain. Life was made purposely difficult for you, that you might develop your inner powers by directing will power and discrimination toward the solution of life’s mysteries. If the world were perfect, with nothing but angelic beings soaring about and singing everywhere, there would be no struggle, no inner growth—and, in the end, no worthwhile victory.

The Divine has given you the power to overcome your difficulties, and you must learn to use it. You were not meant to await passively the declaration of God’s will, but to strive actively to be His channel of divine love and joy. Only by arduous effort can you bring out God’s image in yourself.

Live more dynamically in the awareness of God’s presence, attuning your will to His infinite will. The more you do so, the more you will find His power strengthening and guiding you in everything you do. Through soul attunement, you will be able to think correctly concerning life’s challenges and difficulties, and if your thoughts or actions go astray, you will know how to realign them.

Awaken to divine truth

The power of will is yours. If you make a determined effort to awaken to divine truth, you will no longer walk nervously in fear and uncertainty on the path of life. The Cosmic Power will light your way, bringing you health, happiness, peace, and success. Power from the dynamic source of your being will flow through you.

– Originally published in Clarity Magazine

From articles and books

14 Comments

  1. This article has motivated me to fight back all the difficulties and overcome all the fear I had. Now I am determined to accomplish the mission as now I understood how God is with you. Thanks for sharing this with me.

  2. Beautiful and perfect article on spiritual development and
    tackling the affairs of the world. I have read all the books by Kriyanandaji and feel like reading these again and again.His spiritual
    stature is matched by his simplicity and straightforward approach to
    the matters spiritual as well as temporal.There is no doubt
    that he is the true representative of Paramhansa Yoganandaji who revolutionized the spiritual thinking and approach to the Divine in so simple and divinely inspired way……Thanks for the article which must be read by all students. GS Jaidka

  3. AH! THANKS.
    This is such a good article!! It will give me courage to lessen the fear, nervousness and inhibitions to act even if I am right. I will sincerely try this to remove fear and negative thoughts which have been gradually developing in me.

    1. Very much practical & educative article to discuss &get approval from GOD before starting any business/job .I will follow strictly & to try to teach my children also. With regards .
      PARMOD KUMAR PURI.

  4. I like that this said to be cautious, but never afraid. Fear weakens our will power. I found encouragement from reading this, being led to have faith and courage, to overcome every obstacle. I want to develop great will power. I would love to guide my will with more wisdom. I will encourage others by telling them The Cosmic Power will light their way, bringing them health, happiness, peace, and success!

    1. Hi Brother! Yes this reading came in time for me as well. I was feeling this cloud of fear near me causing me pain and distraction, growing more and more in just the last week which was not there for the past and as I was reading these comments I noticed that yours was on this side of the current time line. Blessings to you Brother and yes encourage others it is our Father’s will which is our shield that surrounds our hearts with Love. Let his will be our guide. Peace Shamani.

  5. Can you teach us the method of how to develop our will power please? I know you mentioned some things in the article.

    Thanks
    Mintra

    1. Hello, Mintra.
      The article itself offers some specific steps for developing will power.
      There are three important rules for making your will power more dynamic:
      •First, determine to do some of the things you thought you could not do. Attempt simple tasks first. Then, as your confidence strengthens and your will becomes more dynamic, you can undertake more difficult accomplishments.
      •Second, be sure you have chosen something constructive and feasible and then refuse to consider failure.
      •Third, devote your entire will power to accomplishing one thing at a time; do not scatter your energies or leave something half done to begin a new venture.

      Another practical step would be to learn the Energization Exercises, which apply the will to the energy flow.
      Joy to you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *