How can one strengthen his will power and increase his determination? And how to avoid further weakning of the both?

From: Jugal

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
soul thank you how can one strengthen one’s willpower and increase one’s determination and how can one avoid further weakening of both at a philosophical level we understand that the atma is tiny and the atma has the power of desiring but this power of desiring is always influenced by others because we are tiny our power of desiring will either be influenced by maya or by krishna so willpower is nothing but sustained and strong desire so this is our desires are shaped by either maya or krishna similarly our willpower is shaped by either maya or krishna therefore if we want to improve our will to check influenced by if we expose ourselves to materials and gratificatory stimuli then our willpower for devotional service will naturally be eroded by that but if we connect ourselves with krishna through krishna’s devotees through krishna’s holy names through krishna’s scriptures through krishna’s deities then that will attract us to krishna it will infuse within us the desire to connect with krishna through loving service and that desire as it becomes sustained and strengthened that will become our delays post facto risk we need to subject ourselves to regular and if possible continuous contact with krishna so that our devotional desires are infused and sustained secondly at a practical level the only way by which we can increase our willpower is by exercising our willpower just as in bodybuilding the only way I can improve my muscles is by exercising my muscles so if my current capacity to lift weight is up to 10 kg I cannot lift 50 kg but if I don’t lift any weight there is no way my muscles will improve so similarly our internal willpower muscles need to be exercised if they are to be strengthened and so exercising our willpower muscles means making promises and keeping promises we need to make promises for ourselves within our willpower if I am habituated to sleeping 8 hours everyday if suddenly I decide that I will sleep 4 hours everyday that is not going to work that is a person with a 10 kg weight lifting capacity suddenly resolving to lift a 50 kg but from 8 hours I can come to 7.5 so similarly we can think about other activities where we would like to exercise our willpower and make realistic promises that are within our capacity but they are not within our comfort zone that means if I lift 10 kg my muscles will stay as they are if I lift 10.5 or 11 kg then it will be a little strain for me but my muscles will improve by that if I lift only 5 kg that is within my comfort zone my muscles will never improve so we need to take up resolutions to do some things which are possible but difficult for us if something is impossible resolve trying to use our willpower to do that that will only discourage us further so if we start by taking some small promises and keeping them then that exercise of our willpower will increase our willpower and what decreases our willpower conversely subjecting ourselves to too many materialistic sensory stimuli will decrease our emotional willpower and not keeping our promises will further increase our conditioning will deepen our internal story which we tell ourselves that I have a weak willpower and it will make it more difficult for us to not keep promises therefore whenever we make any commitments any promises we need to take them seriously taking them seriously means first assessing whether it is realistically possible for me to keep them it will be difficult but is it possible and if it is possible then I need to do whatever I can everything that I can to ensure that I keep the promises so when we start doing like this when we start making promises and keeping promises then slowly but surely our willpower will increase and of course as devotees we need to connect ourselves with Krishna because willpower is not just a matter of our desire it is a matter of curing our desire and disease cannot be cured just by willpower alone along with the willpower I need to have a process if a person has loose motions and if he says by my willpower I will not respond to the call of nature person will simply end up torturing himself not only will it be a torture but the person will not be able to control himself also so yes if I am sick I need to use my willpower in getting the disease cured but the willpower is not just to curb or crush the symptom the willpower is to go to a doctor learn the right process and then stick to the process if the doctor tells me to take medicines three times a day although the medicines are bitter I have to take them and if the doctor tells me to restrict my diet to some very simple food like soups then maybe for a day or two I have to do that so the willpower has to be coupled with a process and without coupling the willpower with the process we end up simply torturing ourselves and opening ourselves to defeat in the long run so what is the process for curing our desires that is the remembrance of Krishna that is the medicine which cures our desires from tamasic and rajasic from those within the modes of passion ignorance to the mode of goodness and beyond pure devotional desires so we need to seriously cultivate remembrance of Krishna on a regular basis through chanting our prescribed rounds, through hearing the scriptures, through associating with devotees, the indulgence of deities and in this way we will be able to attain success in improving our willpower thank you