Yuvacharya Mahaprajna
The potential power of our will is infinite. A large portion of the power, however, lies dormant and only a very small fraction is active. Once we commence to 'will the will’, the undeveloped dormant portion becomes activated.
Our primal drives constantly demand appropriate action and we continue to satisfy these urges. The narcotics of sensual pleasures further weaken our willpower. The only way then to awaken and develop it is to stop feeding it with narcotics through the exertion of self-discipline.
When the will is supine, we nourish sensual desires and delude ourselves into believing that pleasure is happiness. When the will is partly awakened, a desire for self-discipline and spiritual awareness is born. We begin to discriminate between what is good and what is evil. True, we may still be affected by external temptations and sometimes may even succumb to them, but in due course the will is fully awakened and our attitude, thought and perception begin to be increasingly governed by reason. Once we stop succumbing to our sensual desires, our supine will begins to awaken from its stupor. The stranglehold of delusion is first weakened and then destroyed. We become watchful for truth and discipline. Then the vigilant rational mind becomes strong enough to regulate responses to the instinctive drives and carnal desires.
Having fully awakened our supine will, we have to reinforce it with determination and self-discipline. Thus strengthened, our rational mind establishes its supremacy. It is then able to regulate our responses to even the most powerful urges and drives. Environmental conditions may temporarily influence our behaviour, but the power of the will and rational mind is supreme.
Self-discipline acts as a fort against the onslaught of contamination by carnal desires. Ultimately even the external environment fails to influence the behaviour of one who is self-disciplined.
