Willpower
The human will, that force unseen, can hew away at any goal, though walls of granite intervene.
- James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
The first two limbs of Yoga are
- Yama
- Niyama
Guruji, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvatī (Ramamurti S. Mishra, M.D.) interpreted these as:
- Yama = Willpower
- Niyama = How to attain willpower
We then see why there is such a large number of addicts in Yoga communities and following Gurus.
By definition, an addict is someone who does not have willpower. Anything can be a source of binging or addiction: food, drugs, sex, alcohol, TV-watching, whatever. It is actually irrelevant what the addict is addicted to: Instagram, social media, selfies.
Yoga is a system of practices that includes skills and techniques for developing gigantic willpower.
Addicts latch on to others with willpower because they have not developed their own. In the positive sense of this - a truly enlightened Master is someone to “latch” on to because they will work you so hard, you can’t help but become a superpower. They help you gain tremendous willpower.
If the person who says they are a Guru likes you hooking on just for the sake of hooking on - because hey addicts are typically looking for the next intoxicant — this ain’t no true Guru. This is a schuyster. Ya know, who needs money. To create the next Yoga Disney Land. A euphoric place where giant elephant headed deities shake your hand. (Ooh sounds kinda nice)
But the truth is any true Guru I have worked with and — I love me a great Guru — calls me out on my bullshit and pushes me to burn up lifetimes of karma.
”Do not seek illumination unless you seek it like a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.” - Sri Ramakrishna
I got the Ramakrishna quote from Salinger but I have to thank the man (or my mom in her innocence) for having me read Salinger out loud to her when I was in 3rd grade. Jesus Christ mom. That was too early for Salinger.
Ha ha. Jai Sri Ramakrishna and Salinger and my mom. Victory.
The beauty with the addict archetype is that when the addictions are harnessed through deep yogic practice, 12-step recovery, psychotherapy and psychiatry, the will can be honed to achieve anything. Anything at all.
The power of an addict is that they can use the same dependence on external substances to hone their willpower to a degree that makes them formidable.
Caveat emptor:
For a long time - scientists believed that nerve cells did not regenerate. More recently they have found that nerve cells can be re-triggered. But still, the reason science believed this is that nerve cells regenerate so slowly, it seems that they do not.
Conclusion: try not to mess with the neurological system with alcohol and drugs. Because it’s an incredibly new science. So when the psychiatric episodes hit with folks who have a long-standing problem with any chemical substance such as alcohol, narcotics or psychedelics, there will be very few neurologists who can really do anything about this.
But where there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s totally up to the individual. It was always between you and God anyway, as MT said.
Victory to Yoga and all true spiritual, physical and mental disciplines.
Jaya Guruji.
Om shantih om,
Sumukhi
Meditation on elephants and Ganesha gives you the strength of an elephant.