I’m writing this a few days after the New Year when people have already begun to break their resolutions. Let’s ask why.
Will power alone, which Paramhansa Yogananda defined as “desire plus energy directed toward a goal,” is a weak ally. Like a muscle, will power suffers fatigue. An interesting study showed that the worst time to seek leniency in a courtroom is late on Friday. With his will fatigued, the judge simply defaults to the standard sentence.
Will power waxes and wanes during the day—it fades in late morning, takes a little upturn after lunch, and then drops further by late afternoon. Energization Exercises and other practices are beneficial in restoring our energy, but most people hit a low point in the evening when they are tired. If relying on will power alone doesn’t work, what does?
The solution is to work on the underlying tendencies that produce the habits we are trying to change. If we change the tendency, the “symptom” of habit will simply fall away.
A friend told us a very interesting dream that illustrates this point. In the dream, she was driving when she noticed two tall, thin women walking who were slightly distorted, as if long and drawn-out. Looking at their eyes she thought, “Those two look like trouble.” For safety she locked her car doors, but as she was about to drive away, she looked in the rearview mirror, and they were sitting in the back seat. She intuited, “The only way I can get rid of them is through meditation.”
When she awoke she understood the significance of the dream. The “Long Drawn-Out Twins,” as she named them, represented her tendency to hold on to, and even dramatize, events and emotions—to draw them out for far too long. Doing so kept her stuck in the past.
So, if we want to make deep changes, we need to get to a deeper level. Use your intuition to find those tendencies that “look like trouble.” Giving them a slightly silly name helps emphasize the idea that you don’t want to let them into your vehicle. If you look in your rearview mirror and they’re sitting there, use the power of meditation and the grace of the Masters to throw them out of your car. Then drive off into a brighter future.
In joy,
Nayaswami Jyotish
12 Comments
I love the idea of giving negative tendancies silly names to discredit them. So simple but effective. Im going to do that from now on :-)
That’s a great one, Jyotish, thank you!
Thank you very much. All your words are very inspiring. Love and regards.
I love this example…it is so simple and yet so profound. Thank you Jyotish for touching me with Light.
Beautiful message. Thank you.
I love the imagery used in this tale. Very effective.
With all due respect, Nayaswamiji, I disagree with the idea that willpower “suffers fatigue… waxes and wanes during the day.” This may be true for most people and even spiritual seekers (and I think that is what you were trying to illustrate) – that their initiative generally varies according to their energy levels. Yet the yogis taught that the origin of the Will is not limited: true, our body’s overall energy level may fluctuate, but the Will itself is more than the body, for it originates in Spirit. Thus it can be used to an infinite extent, regardless of the state of fatigue of the lower ‘containers’ of energy – including the body. So we should mentally never give up, even when physically tired. Now I understand that this is an IDEAL, and that for most yogis it takes a lot of time and dedication to develop their assertiveness so that it gets strong. But nonetheless, it is a truth. So to say that the willpower fluctuates is not a completely true assertion, in my opinion. As Yoganandaji said, ‘continuous will is divine will’.
But I did find insightful the advice about looking at inherent tendencies to change habits – I will experiment and implement that in my own life.
Dear Rush,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. You are certainly right in an IDEAL sense. The power of God flowing through us is potentially infinite and we should do everything we can to open ourselves to that potential. The flagging of the will is what is experienced by those who have not been able to open themselves to that flow. Much of this is in the mind and the more we believe we can be a channel, the stronger the flow will be. However, in this world of duality most people have samskars (tendencies from the past) that create blockages. These express themselves on the mental/physical plane. This article was meant to address the issue of how to recognize and address the deeper tendencies that create our habit patterns.
I’m very visual, so images like this always help me to remember. Thank you for the great story!
I could instantly “feel” so vividly the spooky, metaphysical sense the dreamer must have felt when she suddenly found the two odd ladies in her back seat, despite her just-recently-locked doors! And I can imagine having a response like hers as well, as I have had in similar dreams of my own: that the only escape is mental. What powerful and effective symbolism–I love it!
Thank you Jyotish! Master’s comment about us having more energy than the city of Chicago in one gram of our Being comes to mind here also. Thank you Master!
Dear Jyotish, this is very interesting way to think and change our attitude in life. Thanks. Jai guru