If the mind pushes us forcefully towards wrong, how can the mind be directable?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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yeah so when we try to we say we can direct the mind but directing the mind itself can become a big struggle and sometimes some force within us seems to push us in an unhealthy direction yes, as I said when the impressions come within us then they, depending on how strong those impressions are they push us in particular directions so we could say that there is the proposition or the proposal or the impulse which comes up from within and there is a response from us so the distance between the impulse and the response is the area of our free will the distance between the impulse and the response is the area of our free will but sometimes if we have acted in a particular way again and again and again then this distance becomes so less as to appear as if non-existent so it’s like sometimes we mimic a particular page as the home page of our browser or sometimes some program if we just download and that program manipulates our browser so that it makes changes the home page so that as soon as we click on the browser even if we have clicked some other link to open that link but when the browser opens, this home page will open up so in that in some cases the proposition and the response gets so tied up that it appears as if there is no free will so yes, when that happens then we have to understand that here the conditioning is very tight but even if I can’t work on the conditioning I can work with the conditioning that means say if somebody is an alcoholic and when the urge for alcohol comes, they just can’t say no I think when that happens at that time it may not be in our control but if you consider the graph of our consciousness with time there are times when these impulses surge up but it’s not that they are at that same heightened intensity 24 hours a day they come they stay for some time and when they stay, they may be unbearable irresistible but after that they subside so in between these two surges what do we do so if at that time so for us when the surge comes, there may be no free will at that time almost no free will but what we do in between is up to us and if in that time we are creating positive spiritual impressions if we are spiritualizing our consciousness we are strengthening ourselves then over a period of time when the impulses also come we will be able to better resist so sometimes at the moment of impulse we may have no free will but in between the moments of impulse is where we have free will and using that we can gradually increase the scope of our free will unfortunately what we do many times is when that impulse comes up we succumb to it, although we have made a resolution I am not going to do this but we succumb to it and then after we have succumbed we feel so bad about it we feel we keep beating ourselves up mentally we are such a fool, you can never do this you are useless, you have no will power you are hopeless and then next time as we are just beating ourselves up we are actually not doing anything constructive we are not empowering ourselves so then by the time the next time the impulse comes again we fall for it so therefore we recognize that some impulses may just not be resistible for us right now but then what do we do in between the impulses if we keep changing if we keep doing something positive during that time then gradually we will get the strength to resist those impulses when they come also and one more thing which we could do at that time is generally it is best to make positive resolutions rather than negative resolutions I will never do this again, we make a resolution like that, as soon as we bring a not that creates a sense of deprivation if I don’t do this, why I can’t I want to do it every habit that we have no matter how damaging it is that habit serves some need for us so if somebody takes drinks a lot it might be their way of socializing it might be their way of escaping from life it might be their way of feeling good about themselves so every unhealthy habit serves a healthy need so if I just say I will not do this habit, I will not do this activity then what happens is that healthy need is no longer being addressed and because that need is there, it is a healthy need but that healthy need will push us towards unhealthy habit so rather than focusing on, rather than making a resolution, I will not do this we try to do some introspection to find out why do I do this and don’t just get a pat answer give a pat answer, because I am so useless, I am so hopeless I have no will power, no that’s not the answer, that may be answer at one level, but another level is what need of mine is this particular habit serving and how can I serve that need in a healthier way so if we if somebody drinks because they want to, they want relief that’s their escape strategy and can they find a healthier escape strategy, somebody might find that music just hearing music might be able to hear spiritual music, that might give some escape, somebody might find that just if you have some good books to read that might help, somebody so we have to find out how can we address that need so in general negative resolutions will be sabotaged soon but if you make positive resolutions and focus on ok, I want to give this up but that’s not my focus I focus my energy my determination, my will power on doing this positive thing and in my intention I know, I am doing this positive thing so that I can give up this negative thing, but we don’t thrust the energy on giving up the negative we focus, thrust our energy on doing the positive and as we keep doing the positive in a committed way that will create positivity and the negative will fall by the side so in a sense, I conclude this that negativity within cannot be driven out but it can be crowded out so that’s why if you bring positivity inside, then the negativity will go away, is the answer to your question thank you