Three components that enable us to implement our resolutions
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, basically the intention, the emotion and the action, these three are the components for us to implement our resolutions.
Whatever willpower we want, that means from the stage of intention to the stage of action. So, how do we move forward? So, if I take a metaphor of an airplane, an airplane takes off from one point, flies through the air and then lands at the destination. So, we could say our intention is like the take-off point and the action that we want to do, that is like the landing point.
So, from the intention to the destination, from the take-off to the landing, in between, sometimes something goes wrong. So, the plane crashes along the way. So, our resolutions crash.
Now, why do the resolutions crash? Because, just like when a plane is moving through the air, if the plane runs out of fuel, then no matter how expert the driver will be, the pilot’s expertise will not matter much if the fuel is not there. So, just the intention of the pilot or the expertise of the pilot won’t get them if the fuel is not there. Now, for us, similarly, the fuel that will take us along, that sometimes falls short.
So, usually, some people say, I have weak willpower. I mean, some people hear about, some people are great achievers in their life, they have strong willpower. So, now, is it that we are born with a certain level of willpower? Some people have a lot and some people have less.
It may be that we all have different levels of willpower, but willpower is not some mystical gift that some people have and some people don’t have. Every one of us can develop it. It’s like, anybody can fuel their car, their plane adequately, and then their plane will fly.
Of course, it could be that some planes themselves have limited capacity. So, if the fuel capacity of the plane itself is limited, then, say, it can cover 500 miles. And if we embark on a journey of 1000 miles, no matter how much fuel we put in, it will not be enough.
Then, in that case, the plane has to land, refuel, and then again start after that. So, similarly, for us, with respect to our resolutions, whatever we make, Krishna talks about determination in the three modes of material nature. He talks about goodness, passion, and ignorance.
And, so we could say, determination is simply another word for willpower. Determination means, this is what I want to do.