1st Will Power

  1.  Will Power: the Main Ingredient

Will power may be called a strong desire to achieve our goals.

If we want to be successful in our work, we must have a very strong ‘passion’ for the job.  

Towards graduation, students must maintain their ambition to study hard.

To have ‘rose on the bed’ relationship (not the other way around), partners must make a solid-mountain resolution to take all challenges in life together.

To attain Enlightenment and to be free from unsatisfactoriness in life, people must keep their interest in the Dhamma practise.

There are two important factors to generate will power; the external and internal factors.

The external factor is ‘good friend’. In Buddhist teachings, a good friend is a priority. The Buddha asked other monks to consider him as a good friend. A good friend doesn’t mean the one who loves to flatter or speak nicely to us all the time.  But he or she can be very direct to us whenever we start to lose the path towards inner peace.

Good friends will remind us when we forgot to meditate each day. Good friends will discourage us when we are tempted by the Monster-Discount- Summer Sale in David Jones.

Good friends will discourage us from having more drink when we start to sing some strange songs and can’t walk on the straight line.

A good friend can be an inspiring example of a peaceful lifestyle. Buddhist teachings consider ‘association with the wise’ as one of the highest blessings in life.

Homo Sapiens species is on top of the animal kingdom, we have survived climate change and many disastrous world phenomenon due to our will power to adapt and to evolve. We love to communicate among the same species; we love to exchange ideas and tips in every minute details of living; from making stone tools, casting bronze axes, hunting mammoths, cooking Chinese food, to digital face book.

In general, parents are good friends. Your ‘bossy’ husband can be a good friend. Your ‘nagging’ wife is also a good friend.  Your annoying roadside authorities can be good friends who discourage you when you park your car in the wrong spot (and they are so happy to fine you.)

Even the doctrine of heaven and hell can be used to encourage people to do good and stop people doing bad. The right application of reward & punishment program can inspire some people to have their will power. Some young gentlemen may like to work much harder if there are some nice girls working around them. Some boys may like to study much harder because parents promise them the latest apple smart phone. Some actresses try to perform their best and expect an Oscar.

The internal factor is our own joy and happiness. Joy and happiness are the key elements for self-inspiration. Joy comes from the feeling of success.

For example, we are overweight and would like to be healthy, and we have been dreaming for evening jogging for many years.  Suddenly, only god knows, on the auspicious morning we just made it. We feel joy and happy even though it is only the first day of exercise and we are still overweight.

The day-one joy and happy feelings will inspire the day two jogging, and happiness of the day two exercise will encourage day three and so on. 

In the March 2015 weekend meditation retreats, there were about 24 new people. Many of them might feel quite difficult to master their mind. Some might be able to quiet their minds and feel peaceful.

In both cases, the tiny glimpse of inner peace arising from meditation will be self-inspiration for their future meditation practise. The Buddha said ‘the taste of inner peace excels all other tastes in this world’.  The single experience of inner happiness from one meditation will give one of the strongest positive impression to the human mind. Because it is really nice. So wisdom is the internal way to create ‘will power’.