Unleash Your Inner Power

By Paramhansa Yogananda

Will is the power that moves the cosmos and everything in it. It was God's will
that shot the stars into space. It is His will that holds the planets of the solar
system in their orbits. And it is His will that directs the cycles of birth, growth,
and decay of all animate and inanimate matter.

Made as you are in the image of God, you have within you God's hidden
power. That power is your own, but God-given, and comes from soul levels
deep within yourself. It is impossible to live without using this power. Without
the use of will power you cannot walk, talk, think, work, or feel. Even the
slightest movement of the muscles or the winking of the eyelids is initiated
by the use of will power. The challenge of life is to learn to live and work from
a sense of His strength and guidance within, and not from ego-consciousness.

A strong will always finds a way

Learning to use your will power dynamically is the first step in this direction.
There is dynamic will and mechanical will. Mechanical will is an unthinking
use of will power, but dynamic will is a vital force involving continuous, neverdiscouraged determination and effort. When your will power is dynamic, your
silent slogan is: "I will continue my efforts until I achieve my goal, no matter
how difficult the task."

A strong will, by its own dynamic force, creates a way for its fulfillment. It sets
into motion certain vibrations, and Nature responds by creating
circumstances favorable to its accomplishment. But dynamic will power alone
is not enough. It's also necessary to use your will power constructively, for
wholesome purposes. When will power is used for harmful or trifling ends, it
becomes weaker due to the lack of support from Truth. By developing
dynamic will power, and using it in the right way, you will be able to attune
your will to God's infinite will.

Three important rules

There are three important rules for making your will power more dynamic:

First, determine to do some of the things you thought you could not do.
Attempt simple tasks first. Then, as your confidence strengthens and your will
becomes more dynamic, you can undertake more difficult accomplishments.
Second, be sure you have chosen something constructive and feasible, and
then refuse to consider failure.
Third, devote your entire will power to accomplishing one thing at a time; do
not scatter your energies or leave something half done to begin a new
venture. Fitful explosions of energy
By keeping your concentration at the spiritual eye, at the point between the
eyebrows, it's possible to develop great will power. But this practice must be
combined with, and supported by, the heart's devotion. Otherwise, the
development of strong will power can lead to fitful explosions of energy that
serve no practical purpose--or even worse, to harshness, cruelty, and the use
of power to control or abuse others.
Fear is one of the greatest enemies of will power. Avoid it both in thought and
action. Fear depletes the life force flowing through the nerves, and causes the
nerves themselves to become as though paralyzed. Fear doesn't help you to
get away from the object of fear; it only weakens your will power. You must be
cautious but never afraid. When the consciousness is kept on God, you will
have no fears. Faith and courage will enable you to overcome every obstacle.

Other enemies of will power include: worry, indifference, timidity,

restlessness, boredom, mental and physical laziness, pessimism as regards
the future, and an unmethodical life. Worries are often the result of
attempting to do too many things at once.

Acting in attunement with the Divine Will

God made you in His image, so that you might guide your will with wisdom,
even as He does. Your ultimate task in life is to find your way back to God,
but He has also given you a task to perform in the outer world. Often,
however, God's plan for how you are to fulfill that task is buried beneath the

conflicting desires of human life, and you fail to receive the guidance that
would save you from error.

Always sit in silence and ask God for His guidance and blessing, especially
before deciding about any important undertaking. Always be sure, within the
calm region of your inner Self, that what you want is right for you and in
accord with His purposes. Then use all the force of your will to accomplish
your objective, while keeping your mind centered on the thought of God, the
source of all power and accomplishment. When you act in that way, behind
your power will be God's power; behind your mind, His mind; and behind your
will, His will.

Human will, no matter how powerful, is limited by the boundaries of the

human body and the perceptible physical universe. Divine Will has no
boundaries; it works in all bodies, in all things. Divine Will can change the
course of destiny, wake the dead, put a mountain into the sea, and change
the course of the solar or stellar systems.

You must exercise your will in every undertaking, until it drops its mortal
delusion of being human will and becomes one with the all-powerful Divine
Will. You will not know what Divine Will is until you have developed your own
will and learned to harmonize it with God's supreme will.

Why struggle is necessary

People often demand to know why life is so challenging, and filled with so
much tragedy and pain. Life was made purposely difficult for you, that you
might develop your inner powers by directing will power and discrimination
toward the solution of life's mysteries. If the world were perfect, with nothing
but angelic beings soaring about and singing everywhere, there would be no
struggle, no inner growth--and, in the end, no worthwhile victory.

The Divine has given you the power to overcome your difficulties, and you
must learn to use it. You were not meant to await passively the declaration of
God's will, but to strive actively to be His channel of divine love and joy. Only
by arduous effort can you bring out God's image in yourself.

Live more dynamically in the awareness of God's presence, attuning your will
to His infinite will. The more you do so, the more you will find His power
strengthening and guiding you in everything you do. Through soul
attunement, you will be able to think correctly concerning life's challenges
and difficulties, and if your thoughts or actions go astray, you will know how
to realign them.

Awaken to divine truth

The power of will is yours. If you make a determined effort to awaken to

divine truth, you will no longer walk nervously in fear and uncertainty on the
path of life. The Cosmic Power will light your way, bringing you health,
happiness, peace, and success. Power from the dynamic source of your being
will flow through you.