All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Meaning: O will power!  You are vaster than the extent of heaven and earth, and the expanse of water, and the spread of fire.  You are ever great.  I bow to you.

The power inherent in will or determination is basically spiritual in nature.  When a person shapes his imaginations with the chisel of intellect, cuts through the tangle of their web and converts their multiplicity into singleness, when all imaginations converge into one, only then determination starts to sprout.  When all the emotions of heart, the entire vital force of the being and all the mental energies are poured into it, this tender shoot grows to become stout.  The entire existence, the whole personality comes to rest on it.  Only in the lives of those who are able to do so, miracles of the power of determination are seen to happen.

Inner determination does not develop in those whose personality is unintegrated and whose inner energy currents are flowing randomly in different directions.  Such persons lack concentration, resolve and competence.  For them, determination is merely a word which has no meaning.  They will begin any work but are unable to stay with it for long, and abandon the task midway on some excuse or the other.  If they cannot catch hold of a solid pretext, the lame plea of boredom or ennui is always handy to rescue them.  Such persons do make resolves at the drop of a hat but simultaneously keep many options ready, whereas resolve or determination is a condition of optionlessness.  Once the determination is made, its goal has got to be fulfilled.  It should become synonymous with life, its whole identity and definition, the alter ego.  One has to live for it and die for it; there can be no separate existence.  Only in those persons in whose inner depths such complete conviction grows, there is a meaningful and full development of determination.

Once we are firmly resolved and make an inner determination to achieve something, we immerse ourselves completely in the task of completing it.  Come numerous obstacles, endless criticisms, or great sufferings, we do not allow our resolve to be shaken or diluted, and continue with our ceaseless striving till the resolve is fulfilled.  The truth is that those who lead a spiritual life and look upon the omnipotent God as their controller and benefactor find the hindrances, too, ultimately turning into indirect aids to their efforts.  These challenges, in fact, go to increase their strength and act as a spur for heightened effort.  It is only in the absence of spiritual disposition that obstacles are able to disappoint and dispirit us, and our determination gradually wanes and breaks.

It is necessary to identify the reasons that lead to the disintegration of the resolve because only by such identification can we circumvent them.  The chief among these is the habit of worrying or brooding.  We are wont to forget that this world is an objectification of the grand divine design and is controlled by that very Divine Will.  He who overlooks this truth lacks in total devotion to God.  Consequently, mind becomes stuffed with all sorts of anxieties, tensions and confusions.  When this brooding tendency becomes chronic, the feeling of mental torment becomes a permanent feature, howsoever comfortably placed we may otherwise be.  The inner determination of such a person is always weak.

Apprehension, doubt, fear and impatience are some of the other factors that enfeeble the resolve by making a person pessimist.  The world has a relative existence.  Every phenomenon here has both positive and negative aspects and one can have positive or negative attitude towards any circumstances.  If we become adept in optimistic thinking, our inner strengths go on increasing and so does our determination.  On the contrary, if we allow ourselves to remain in the grip of pessimistic thinking only, the power of determination progressively weakens.

The counsel of Master Mahashaya, a disciple of Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa, is very pertinent in this connection.  Master Mahashaya was among the closest disciples of Sri Sri Thakur.  His spiritual faculties had developed fully by the blessings of the guru.  Once a novitiate of Belur Math wished to know from him the secret of spiritual life.  In response, Master Mahashaya said: "Listen son, if you have ever to know how much spiritually evolved a person is, examine how much developed his power of determination is".  Master Mahashaya then proceeded to outline some important guidelines for increasing this power.  These are:

(1)    Accept your failures with grace and maturity.  We become unsuccessful for want of firm determination.  So, after every failure, make an intensive introspection.  Instead of foisting your shortcomings on others, accept them and rectify.

(2)    Grow tall in the real sense.  This means that you should enlarge your virtues rather than ego.  Increase in will power will be a natural corollary.

(3)    Welcome the tests and trials God puts us to.  Believe it, every suffering in life comes to improve our ability.  If the sufferings are faced stoically and dealt with correctly, inner determination grows.

(4)    Learn the proper mode of dealing with antagonists and bad persons.  As long as we are in this world, we will have to learn to deal with all kinds of persons including those who are our opponents and are malicious.  Be magnanimous and tolerant in your behavior towards them too.  Concern yourself only with the positive aspects of their lives; keep aloof from the negative ones.

(5)    Start tapa.  It plays a big role in augmenting the power of determination.  Regimens of fasting (upavas), tasteless food (asvad) and silence (mauna) etc lead to rapid growth in mental resolve.  In this process, there is crucial importance of tender emotions.  Those, whose emotions are God-oriented, their resolves never remain unfulfilled.