Tag Archives: Commitment

On Boredom

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By George A. Boyd © 2003

In boredom, the mind seeks engagement. People sometimes attempt to fulfill this need through entertainment, becoming intoxicated, going to parties, or idle past times such as playing games or gambling. The mind seeks a meaningful goal to engage, it seeks to be productively engaged.

Boredom is the first step on the pathway to productive engagement of the mind. Here are the steps:

  1. Seeking something to do (boredom)
  2. Getting an idea (excitement)
  3. Strategizing how to make it successful
  4. Developing plans to operationalize the strategy
  5. Executing the plan, making decision to do it
  6. Sustaining action towards the plan completion (commitment)
  7. Adjusting course, making contingency plans or alternate plans to handle unforeseen issues that arise (adjustment)
  8. Completing the goal or meeting a benchmark on an ongoing series of goals (success)

To avoid wasting valuable time and to engage the mind in meaningful and productive activities, we suggest that you ask yourself questions like these to engage the creative, actualizing the power of your Subconscious mind:

  1. What can I do right now to move forward on my important goals?
  2. What questions do I have right now that I can answer through research and contemplation
  3. (If you have not set goals) What key things would I like to accomplish with my life? (Use this time to formulate goals).
  4. What personal shortcoming could I work on right now to see if I can eradicate it?
  5. What could I learn right now that would enhance my ability and knowledge?
  6. What can I meditate upon that will increase my understanding and help me make progress on the spiritual path?
  7. In what activity can I now engage that will be service to other people or to God?

Since people spend much time doing activities that do not advance and actualize their dreams, driving the Subconscious mind by this means will help people to lead much more fulfilling lives.

Activating Will and Fulfilling Your Word

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By George A. Boyd ©2022

Q: I often say I will do something, and then, when the time comes for me to carry it out, I don’t do what I say. How can I fulfill my word and not be such a flake?

A: This is a matter of connecting with your will, and then, ensuring you do what you say you would do. Many people intend to do something, but they don’t follow up on what they tell others, because they are not backing up what they have promised through will-empowered action.

The language that you tell yourself what you are going to do often gives a clue as to whether or not you are actually going to do it. For example, statements that don’t directly connect to action include:

“I’d like to do that. That sounds like fun.”

“I wish I could do that.”

“I want to do that.”

“I could do that.”

“I would do that if [some condition] is present.”

“I might do that.”

“I intend to do that.”

“I plan to do that [without specific time frame].”

“I resolve to do that.”

On the other hand, statements that link to the will include:

“I must do this and I will do it, whatever it takes.”

“I will do this, without fail.”

“I shall do this.”

“I have planned this for date and time certain, and I will ensure it is completed.”

“I am committed to carry out this action at the date and time specified.”

“It is a matter of honor… of keeping my integrity…to ensure this is done.”

“You can count on me that it will be done.”

You may have been surprised to find resolve on the disempowered list. Why is this? A resolution is a decision to take action, but volition must be sustained to ensure that the action you resolve is carried out for as long as is necessary to (a) turn it into a habit and made a regular part of your routine, or (b) perform the chain of actions required to achieve a goal is carried out and the objective is attained.

If you are having problems keeping your word, it is important that you learn to tap into your volition and act from this dynamic, change-creating force. One of the ways you can actively connect with your will is to change the language you use when you promise someone something. Examples of changing your internal dialog include:

Instead of saying, “Oh I’d like that… it sounds like fun,” you can say, “I will be there, without fail.”

Instead of saying, “I want this,” you can say “I will obtain this through [explain exactly what you will do] by [when you plan to achieve it].

Instead of saying, “I intend to do this,” you can say “I will do this, without fail.”

If you can reliably activate your will, you will change your life and achieve the realistic goals you set. Try this and see how this changes your life.

Making Improvements in Your Life

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By George A. Boyd ©2021

Q: I feel stuck in my life and I don’t feel like I’m making progress. How do I get unstuck?

A: You need to give your attention to activities that shift your health, relationships, work and finances; and that empower you. Most people waste their time doing things that do not move them forward, so they feel that they are spinning their wheels. Let’s look at some of these things you can do that can create movement:

Health – Regular exercise; regulation of your diet; doing deep, full breathing; and doing hatha yoga for stress release and flexibility will help improve your health

Relationships – Enhancing your communication; and when necessary, obtaining psychotherapy or couples counseling to clear the issues you are bringing into the relationship can help clear interpersonal conflicts you are having

Career and Finances – Learning to set goals and to achieve them; establishing habits that upgrade your productivity and effectiveness; developing the abilities to be assertive, to negotiate, and persuade others underpin greater success in your career—and as you are more successful in your career, this is often reflected in increased income

Education – Gaining greater proficiency in study skills; reflecting on ideas to distill their meaning; and actively using knowledge you acquire facilitates you becoming a better student

Values and character – Examining your values through introspection; practicing loving-kindness meditation; active listening and empathic reflection; identifying values you want to implement in your life will assist you in refining your character

Wisdom and insight – Doing Reflective Meditation, Vipassana, and dialoging with your Soul can support your acquisition of wisdom and insight.

Consciousness and Spirituality – Awakening your attentional principle, spirit, and Soul; discovering the many dimensions of the mind through contemplation; and transforming your personal and spiritual potentials through mediation can augment this area of your life

The things that enable you to make these shifts in these and other important areas of your life are:

  1. Visualize what you want to achieve
  2. Believe these changes are possible
  3. Learn how you can make these changes
  4. Set a goal to achieve this and break this goal down into a series of achievable steps
  5. Choose to begin enacting this goal and begin working on the first step
  6. Continue this process until you are able to achieve what you visualize

As you shift your focus to constructive activity instead of time-wasting activity, you will find that your life will begin to change for the better. This will encourage you to continue this positive movement.

Those of you who wish to improve in the areas of wisdom and insight, and consciousness and spirituality will benefit from learning to meditate. We teach many of these insightive and transformation skills you need to begin generating movement in these areas in our intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation or the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.

Those of you who wish support in making these life changes will find benefit from our Life Coaching Program, which trains you step-by-step into how to get back into control in your life and implement the changes you want.

The Seven Varieties of the One-Pointed Mind

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By George A. Boyd © 2018

Q: I find myself being wavering and ambivalent much of the time. I never keep my resolutions. It’s hard for me to decide on what to do and to make commitments. How do I reach the state of “one-pointed mind” that the most dynamic and successful people have?

A: There are seven “power states” of the mind. These are:

  1. Concentration – This occurs when you collect your mind stuff, which produces mental alertness and presence.
  2. Decision – This happens when you select one action from other options, together with putting aside other options.
  3. Commitment – This operates as an emotional affirmation and tenacity to complete a long- term goal.
  4. Union – This is the state of mystic union or Samadhi, in which your attention in a state of voidness and Being, or united with an essence of consciousness.
  5. Investigative focus – This is a state of inquiry in which the mind asks continual questions until it arrives at correct answer, exact knowledge, clear understanding, and full realization and mastery of the object of inquiry. This intensive discernment opens the Buddhic capsule of the Soul and brings about enlightenment.
  6. Faith – This is the absolute conviction of the existence and Presence of God through establishing a dynamic connection with the Divine through the cord of faith. Your reception of God’s comfort and love, God’s communication of guidance and direction to you, and your expression of love, devotion, and worship for God mark the presence of faith. This may also face the form of igniting the love and devotion of your spirit, together with an irresistible yearning to go back to your Divine Source.
  7. Creation – This occurs when you generate one-pointed intention marshalling the forces of your attentional principle to create and manifest what you desire. This can take the form of an affirmation, decree, or powerful suggestion. Making attunements also uses this magnetizing of your intentional force.

You can activate these “power states” through remembering an incident in your life when you experienced these states in your life. Inquire, what were the circumstances, the way your saw the world, when you were able to muster these powerful focusing forces within you.

See if you can replicate that energy through focusing your attention upon it, and notice what enables it to come forward.

You can also observe another person who models this quality, and determine what enables him or her to express this quality. Cultivate this quality in yourself. [My mentor, Eben Pagan, used to say that if you want to become successful, spend time with people who are more successful than you, and their qualities will rub off on you.]

Resolve to learn how to acquire these seven “power states” of mind. Do not stop until you have developed them to a state of proficiency.

If you understand how each of these “power states” of the mind operates, you can readily acquire them.

  • Concentration arises from one-pointed intention. Intention is a faculty of your intentional consciousness, which we call the attentional principle. You use intention to collect your attention and move it to discrete focal points. [We teach this practice in our Introduction to Meditation Program. We show you how to focus your attention and explore each level of your Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind, and activate your abilities at these levels.]
  • Decision arises from the faculty of volition that is anchored in the Self at the core of your personality. Your intellect frames the options available to you, and their pros and cons, and you choose the option that appears to be best.
  • Commitment engages your desire body, which provides the tenacity, courage, perseverance, and long-term staying power to stay with a decision you make for as long as it takes to reach your goal. This can take the form of obtaining a college degree, sustaining a marriage to raise your children together and spend your retirement with your life partner, or saving for your retirement throughout your working career. If you can make an important life decision, activating your desire body can translate your choice into the motivation that will drive you forward through the difficult periods and get you to your goal.
  • Union unites your attention with an object of meditation. Your intention focuses your attention on that meditation object. Your awareness opens. You become completely absorbed, at one with this object of meditation. [We teach you how to produce the state of union through our training in Raja Yoga, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]
  • Investigative focus activates your faculty of reason through your will. It can stimulate your quest to find out the causes of selected phenomena; in this aspect, it is the driving force of scientific research and discovery. In its higher form, it appears as incessant questioning that you direct to your attentional principle, your spirit, or your Soul. This opens the Soul’s illumined mind, and progressively leads your attention to the state of enlightenment—when all of your Soul’s wisdom and knowledge is opened to you. [We teach you how to tap into your intuitive stream that can answer your questions through our training in Jnana Yoga, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]
  • Faith connects you with God through the cord of faith and remembrance. Through this connection, you establish a dialog and loving relationship with the form of the Divine to which you pray and invoke. Its higher counterpart awakens when you focus your attention on your spirit. [We teach you how to awaken your spirit and show it how to travel back to its Divine Source through our training in Nada Yoga, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]
  • Creation focuses the forces of thought, contemplation, suggestion and affirmation to anchor what you intend in the Subconscious and Superconscious mind. Its higher counterpart is to “carry the Light” and make attunements. [We teach you how to activate the power of creation through affirmation and how to do attunements in the Invocational Methods and Agni Yoga modules of our training, which is a part of our intermediate training, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

Develop these “power states” of mind within yourself, and you will transform the way you study and learn, the way you operate in your career, and the way you achieve your personal goals. It will also enhance your meditation and communion with God.

The mind does not work at its best in a state of duality, polarity, or ambivalence. Find the point of clarity, synthesis, and purpose: this will enable you to summon forth these “power states” of mind. This will connect you with your innate ability to do what you say you will, to complete and achieve your personal goals, and to fulfill your spiritual destiny. Settle for nothing less.