Tools of Transcendence And The Difference Between Will Power And Single Mindedness Part Two: The Deeper Aspects

In the last post we illustrated the idea of forces that oppose our finding and expressing our full potential. But we did not give examples. Physical examples are easy enough to give. We have all seen it. We have seen the runner who goes down the road or trail with one arm flailing and the other barely moving, the runner who when we watch from the back has one leg kicking out to the side due to extraneous internal or external hip rotation, or the shoulders rounded and head down, or the front leg reaching out in an over striding motion. There are more subtle things of course, like just running with too much muscular tension.

But what difference does it make really? Well, the principles of physics say that energy that does not get used to produce motion goes somewhere. Actually, it produces heat. Unnecessary compression of joints due to too much unnecessary muscular tension produces unnecessary wear and tear on joints. Poor skeletal alignment produces what are known in engineering as point loads. The joints are loaded in one point only, thus magnifying the wear in the joint by a large factor instead of spreading force out over the entire surface of the joint. This is what causes running injuries. And if you happen to be competitive, who can imagine winning a race with some of your energy going the wrong way?

We can look deeper into the ideas of conflicted intention, cross motivation and what it means to be single minded. Imagine the picture of two people rowing a boat in opposite directions represents your mind. There is not a single mind, a single intention, but a multitude of thoughts pulling in many directions. I have been fairly persistent, stubborn, determined at times. I can give an example. I remember in school having been required to read some of the classics such as Moby Dick and A Tale of Two Cities. I set myself out a goal to read so many pages a day and by golly, I got the books read. But I did not enjoy the process at the time, and found my mind wandering often. I probably got something out of the experience, but nothing like I would have had I been interested and focused. Will power can get a job done, but it cannot unlock all of our potential. Only single mindedness can do that. The implications for our training are enormous.

more in the next post