Increase Mental Strength through Endurance

More Yoga Wisdom.

How to increase mental strength, courage and self-confidence?

“Now the question is: how is mental strength increased?

Let us suppose someone attacks you. What will you do? Will you grab your rifle and run after them? No. First see how much tolerance you have. Endure it to the extent that you are able. Afterwards, if the matter goes beyond your capacity to bear, then that is another matter.

Now, when you have proven that you have within you enough capacity to endure, then what will happen? Your courage will increase. You will have faith that a certain amount of strength is stored within you.

To be tolerant like a fruit tree means that a human being must be as enduring as a fruit tree, which tolerates so many blows and counter-blows. However, this does not mean that if a wicked person comes to strike you or kill you that you will bear it without protest. It means that you should test how much strength to endure you have within you, so that a deep belief in yourself will awaken through knowing to what extent you can endure.

Now it is seen that you do not put your capacity to endure to the test. If something happens you react right away. I will say that instead of doing that, from time to time test how much capacity to endure you have inside you so that your self-confidence will become steadier. “

(extracted from “The Source of Internal Stamina”, Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 9
by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti)