The Power of Determination

The Power of Determination

SPIRITUAL:

Your Determination Awakens all your Latent Powers and Desires

Ma Prem Naina

It is perfectly alright to desire something, but how much effort do we put in to fulfill that desire?How many steps do we take to convert our desires into reality? Desire alone has no strength in it. Desire alone is not enough, determination and effort are also needed if we really want to achieve what we desire.

Osho points out, "According to my criterion, the only proof of your desire is the effort you make to satisfy it. Otherwise, there is no proof that you have a desire. Whena person desires something, he makes some effort to get it, and that effort is the proof that he desires something."

Osho further adds, "The centre of human intellect is the mind, the centre of human feelings is the heart and what is the navel centre of? The navel is the centre of willpower. The more activated the navel, the more intense the willpower becomes and you can attain more determination, power, and the life energy to do something. Or think of it in reverse, the more determined you are, the more you gather energy for doing, the more your navel-centre will develop. Both are interdependent. The more you think, your intellect will develop; the more you love, your heart will develop; and the more determined you are, the more the center of your inner energy will develop."

The greater our sense of determination, the higher our sights, the deeper is the awakening of the energies latent within the self. The height of our achievement is in proportion to the power of our energies. The roots of the trees that touch the sky go deep into the ground. If we are bestirred by hope and desire to touch the sky, then the dormant powers lying in our innermost recesses of our being are awakened. The height of our aspiration is the depth of our power. Setting our sights low is demeaning our own selves. What we ultimately wish to become must be our dictate from the very beginning because the beginning itself is part and parcel of the final attainment.

We all have seen rocks which cannot be broken by the strongest chisel, yet a shrub or plant manages to sprout through its cracks and crevices. When the tiniest seed filled with determination to push through the strongest barriers and reach the sun, even the hardest rock has to give way.

No matter how strong and powerful the rock is, it is dead and because it is dead it has no will. The seed is tender and weak, but alive. Where there is will there is life and where there is no will there is no life. The seed's will become its power and with this power its tiny roots sprout, enter the rock and spread out.

Although we are constantly surrounded by situations that go against us but we should remember that all those who have ever attained were also encircled by similar circumstances. We should not use situations as excuses because the excuse, not the situation, is the real hindrance. No matter how unfavorable the circumstances may be, there is no real obstacle. It is like saying 'it is too dark to light the lamp'. The darkness is never that black nor are the conditions that unfavorable that they can prevent us from lighting the lamp. The only obstacle is our own disillusionment.

Osho shares an interesting story in this context. "A man once asked a fakir the way to attain God. The fakir looked into his eyes and saw thirst. The fakir was on his way to the river so he asked the man to accompany him and promised to show him the way to attain God after they'd bathed.

They arrived at the river.As soon as the man plunged into the water, the fakir grabbed the man's head and pushed it down into the water with great force. The man began to struggle to free himself from the fakir's grip; his life was in danger. He was much weaker than the fakir but his latent strength gradually began to stir and soon it became impossible for the fakir to hold him down. The man pushed himself to the limit and was eventually able to get out of the river. He was shocked. The fakir was laughing loudly and he could not understand his behavior.

After the man had calmed down, the fakir asked him, "When you were under the water what desires did you have in your mind?" The man replied, "Desires! there weren't desires, there was just one desire - to get a breath of air." The fakir said, "This is the secret of attaining God. This is determination. And your determination awakened all your latent powers."

If we want transformation to happen, it can take place in a moment. Just one moment of will, of complete determination is enough. Determination and time are the important things. The achievements of the world are made in time and those of truth, in determination. It is the intensity of sankalpa, of determination, that gives a fathomless depth and an infinite expanse to a moment. In a real moment of intense determination, great strength is generated. By determination alone, one can awaken from the dream to the truth.

The goal is always somewhere near, what is needed is determination and will to approach it. Just as a continuous stream of water that even breaks huge rocks, if a man constantly endeavors to break the rocks of ignorance, those rocks that seemed impossible to break in the beginning will one day turn to dust. Each individual has to find his own path, by his own efforts and not tread on one that is ready made. The dignity is in attaining through our own efforts and determination.

Ma PremNaina (NainaRajkumari) is a Master's in Business Administration and also holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication. She was initiated into Osho's Neo Sanyas in 2003 and has been heading the publications and media relations at Osho World Foundation before moving on to join Solidaridad Network Asia as Head of Communications. She lives in New Delhi.

Top Headlines

No stories found.
Sentinel Assam
www.sentinelassam.com