Determination

What God has in infinite measure is descending Compassion. What man has in a very limited measure is ascending determination. Even though it is very limited, ascending determination is very well worth having.

God has countless divine qualities. Of all His divine qualities His Compassion is by far the best. Similarly, man has quite a few good qualities. Of all these good qualities, his determination is by far the best. In the fulfilment of his determination he gets what he wants to achieve.

When we see a man of determined will, we feel that he has no humility, that he is arrogant, egotistic, autocratic, self-asserting and so forth. We feel that humility and determination are poles apart. But this is because we do not understand the meaning of humility. When we use the term 'humility', we often feel that somebody has been humiliated by someone else. But humility is the feeling of sweetest oneness. It has nothing to do with humiliation. Humiliation means that somebody is trampling on us and looking down upon us; but true humility means that we can become one with the consciousness of anything or of anyone. If we are humble, then the other person will immediately open his heart's door so that we can enter into his heart and he can enter into ours. If we are humble, the whole world will open its heart to us because the world feels that we have the willingness or receptivity to hold it within our own heart even though it has countless undivine qualities. In divine humility we can see a true determination which is founded on simplicity, sincerity, purity and humility.

This quality which we call determination in our day-to-day life is called will-power in the inner or spiritual world. Real will-power comes from the inmost recesses of our heart, where the soul is located. It is not the product of the physical mind; it comes directly from the soul. The soul's light operates in our outer life as will-power to achieve or manifest something on earth. And this soul's will-power is full of divine humility, which comes directly from the Supreme.

What can will-power do? Will-power can remove all our confusion — confusion in the physical, the vital, the mind and the heart. How is it that everyone has not realised God? Why are there very few spiritual Masters and realised souls on earth? There is just one reason. It is because of confusion in either the mind, the vital, the physical or in our inner existence. The moment this veil of confusion is removed, we see the golden Face of the Supreme within us.

What else can our will-power do? This will-power, which is the soul's light, can enter into reality sooner than at once. We knock at the door of reality with our sincerity, our purity, our aspiration, our dedication and our devotion. We knock at the door of reality, but it may take a few days or months before this door actually opens for us. But when divine determination, divine will-power, knocks at the door of reality, immediately the door opens wide. Why? Is reality afraid of man's determination? No! Reality opens its doors immediately to will-power because it sees two things at once. It sees that will-power has the capacity to embody reality, whereas other qualities may not have the necessary strength to immediately embody reality when it is thrust upon them. Reality also sees that when it wants to manifest itself on earth, it is human will-power transformed into divine will-power which takes up the challenge to help. Man's other divine qualities hesitate; when reality wants to manifest through them, they feel that the time is not ripe. They say, "We are preparing ourselves. Please give us a little more time." But when reality comes to will-power, reality feels tremendous joy and delight because reality sees that human will-power is ready to place it on its shoulders and carry it all around.

If God comes and stands right in front of us, with our purity we will say, "O God, I am most grateful that You have given me purity." With our humility we will say, "O God, I am most grateful that You have given me humility." With our peace we will say, "O God, I am most grateful that You have given me peace." We will offer gratitude, but we will still feel some hesitation about using these qualities. We will feel that perhaps we are not humble enough, perhaps we do not have enough peace. Instead, either outwardly or inwardly we should say, "O God, I have this quality; now You utilise me." But when we have will-power we immediately say, "O God, You have given me purity, peace and other divine qualities. Now I am ready to serve You. Please tell me what I can do."

No matter how feeble our will-power is in comparison to God's adamantine Will-power, human will-power will say, "God, I am ready to fulfil You. Please tell me what I should do. I want to be Your instrument, I want to be Your dynamic hero and warrior. My power may be limited, but this limited quality I am ready to use. Do You want to sit on my shoulder? Then sit. Do You want me to run for You? Then I will run. If You want to bring me something to do, I will do it. On the way I may break my legs, but I will do my best for You." This determination, this will-power, is never, never afraid of doing anything or saying anything. It knows that its strength comes forth from the soul, and the soul has God as its very own.