What does ‘watching oneself’ mean? When I say watch yourself, then I’m talking about your body, your senses your thoughts, your emotions, nor about your imaginations but I’m talking about that being, which is layer after layer hidden within. So body is the most external layer, then senses, the mind, the conscious, sub-conscious,
unconscious – behind that is the intellect, & then you. So when I say watch yourself, I am asking you to peel all these layers & move within. For this you need deeper understanding and wisdom – ‘gnana’.
What is willpower? When we say ‘we’, we is inclusive of mind, intellect, and consciousness, and if the mind is not well-trained, & if we have no high intellect, then it is clear that we will not have the higher power to make decisions and follow them, and whatever decisions we take we will not be able to fructify them. Right now, mind is the master, not you. You are just a slave of the mind – mind says get angry, you are angry; mind says go and be in rat race, and you are part of the rat race.
How to strengthen will power? Wisdom makes you strong, it makes you think clear and with wisdom, the choices you make, you will stick with those. See your ego is pretty big and whenever this ego makes a decision, it sticks with it. You may not be able to go beyond the mind because you are struggling thru the mind to transcend the mind, that wouldn’t happen.
But it’s not easy to still the mind! Yes, mind is the biggest enemy but it can also be your best friend. The master guides you how to train your mind so that it becomes your friend. Ignorance is like darkness where the child gets scared of the dark shadows and begins to think they are ghosts. Mother brings the light and the ghosts disappear. The Guru works like a mother, bringing the light of knowledge, that helps you overcome the ghosts of lust, greed, prejudice, and hatred. With the light of knowledge, we get clear insight and how to use the mind and yet be our own master.