Conscious Decision

 

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Conscious Decision

Religion is nothing but an effort toward conscious evolution, an effort how to use this freedom. Our volitional efforts are now significant. Whatsoever we are doing non-voluntarily is just part of the past. Our future depends on our volitional acts. A very simple act done with awareness, with volition, gives us a certain growth — even an ordinary act.

We go on a fast, but not because we have no food. We have food; we can eat it. We have hunger; we can eat. We go on a fast: it is a volitional act — a conscious act. No animal can perform this. An animal will go on a fast sometimes when there is no hunger. An animal will have to fast when there is no food. But only man can fast when there is hunger and food both. This is a volitional act. We use your freedom. The hunger cannot goad us. The hunger cannot push us and the food cannot pull us.

You are sitting: decide that, “Now I will not move my body for ten minutes.” You will be surprised that though the body was not moving before, now the body forces you to move. You begin to feel many subtle movements in the body of which you were not even aware. Now the body will revolt. The whole past is behind it, and the body will say, “I will move.” The body will begin to tremble, there will be subtle movements, and you will feel many temptations to move. Your legs will fall asleep. They will go dead, and you will feel like scratching somewhere. Many things will be there. You were sitting without any movements previously, but now you cannot sit. But if you can sit even for ten minutes without moving, you will not need any other meditation.

A seeker will sit for six hours without any movement, and when every movement falls down, withers away, when there is no movement — not only no movement, but no inner desire to move — we are centred, we are crystallized! We have used the very ordinary act of sitting for our volition, for our will, for our awareness.

If one is angry and one has decided not to be angry, do not suppress it. Just say to the anger, “I am not going to be angry,” and the anger will disappear. Our will is needed because anger needs energy. If we say no with full energy, there is no energy left for the anger. A thought moves because deep down a hidden yes is there. That is why a thought moves in our mind. If we say no, that yes is cut from the very root. The thought becomes uprooted. It cannot be in us. But then with the no or yes, we must mean what we say. Then the no must mean no and the yes must mean yes. But we go on saying yes, meaning no; saying no, meaning yes. Then the whole life becomes confused. And our mind, our body, they do not know what we mean, what we are saying.

This conscious effort to decide, to act, to be, is now going to be the evolution for man. A Master is different from us because of this effort and nothing else. Potentially there is no difference. Only this conscious effort makes the difference. Between man and man, the real difference is only of conscious effort. All else is just superficial.