Theos-Talk Archives (January 2006 Message tt00119)

1/8/2006 5:59 AM

Dear Friends and LRA 

You ask: "Dallas recently mentioned "indomitable will." Suggestions on how
to 
develop that great faculty will be welcomed."

Here are some ideas to consider:




WILL AND DESIRE --	HPB

	

Will is the exclusive possession of man on this our plane of consciousness.
It divides him from the brute in whom instinctive desire only is active.

Desire, in its widest application, is the one creative force in the
Universe. In this sense it is indistinguishable from Will; but we men never
know desire under this form while we remain only men. Therefore Will and
Desire are here considered as opposed.

Thus Will is the offspring of the Divine, the God in man; Desire the motive
power of the animal life.

Most of men live in and by desire, mistaking it for will. But he who would
achieve must separate will from desire, and make his will the ruler; for
desire is unstable and ever changing, while will is steady and constant.

Both will and desire are absolute creators, forming the man himself and his
surroundings. But will creates intelligently - desire blindly and
unconsciously. The man, therefore, makes himself in the image of his
desires, unless he creates himself in the likeness of the Divine, through
his will, the child of the light.

His task is twofold: to awaken the will, to strengthen it by use and
conquest, to make it absolute ruler within his body; and, parallel with
this, to purify desire.

Knowledge and will are the tools for the accomplishment of this
purification. 

[Lucifer, Vol. I, No. 2, October, 1887, p. 96]
(HPB Collected Writings, Vol. VIII, p. 109)  

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TRUE WILL, MOTIVE, THOUGHT READING, etc


Q From J.	What is true Will? Is it a faculty of the soul? How is it
one with the Divine Will and how may we make our will at one with the
Divine? Is it something which now we know not, or may we perceive its germ
in our own Will, or is it an instinctive movement of the soul?

Answer - (I) The will as known to man is that force which he exerts
for the accomplishment of his aims - he uses it blindly and ignorantly - and
self is always the one for which he uses it. It is used as a brute force. As
ordinarily used it has little tendency to lift the personality farther than
the attainment of material results. It has for its source, the lower
elements of the soul. The true will is a concentrated force working steadily
yet gently, dominating both soul and person, having its source in the spirit
and highest elements of the soul. It is never used for the gratification of
self, is inspired by the highest of motives, is never interposed to violate
a law, but works in harmony with the unseen as well as the seen. It is
manifested through the human will for things visible

(2) It is more that a faculty of the soul, for it is the soul at
work. The spirit is unmanifest except through the soul. The soul manifesting
the spirit is the true will. The human will is the lowest form of this
manifestation.

(3) As the true will is the manifestation of the spirit through the
soul, it must be at one with the divine, inasmuch as the spirit is the
divine in man. It is the God in man, a portion of the all-pervading.
Asserting itself through the soul, the true will is brought forth and in
truth we say, "It is the will of God." We may make our finite wills at one
with the divine by elevating our aim, using it for good or in the "search
for God," in striving to find how to use it in harmony with the "laws of
God." By proper use in the right direction the human will becomes purified,
elevated, and being exerted only in conformity with our highest ideal,
eventually becomes at one with the highest in man.

In our ordinary material state we know only the human will. Through the
human will we reach the divine will. We become aware of the true will
through the ordinary will just as we become aware of the soul through the
body. It is not instinctive of the soul. The soul is father of the human
will - the spirit is father of the true will.

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MOTIVE -- PURITY

Q	From E.	"A great deal depends on purity of thought and motive," Oct.
Path, p. 220. 
Please explain what should be the actuating motive in developing psychic
capacities.

Answer - The desire to "find God," the desire to know one's self, our
possibilities and capabilities, that we may be of true use to the world,
these are the motives. The thought should be unselfish, undisturbed by
material affairs - free from wonder-seeking curiosity, concentrated, and in
entire accord with the motive, the "search for God."


Q	It might be the "ne plus ultra" at the time of entrance, but how
after a period of years?

Answer - All these states may be entered into while in the body. The
condition of unsatisfied longing does not cease except in Nirvana. Beyond a
certain point the intellect is useless. Up to and at that point the
intellect is increased in its powers. It is never decayed or paralyzed. It
is useless because a better tool is used.

All states and conditions above the ordinary material are desirable. In the
absolute sense, any "conditioned" existence is undesirable. "Advanced
students" try to be free from desires. "Rupaloka" means place of form;
"Arupaloka," place of no form. There are many Lokas


--------------------------------------------------------------


THOUGHT READING

Q	How can I cultivate thought reading? The impressions received are
involuntary.

Answer - By continual exercise of the power. By concentrated thought
in obedience to the will. By purifying the thoughts as well as the body. But
your aim must be higher than the mere acquirement of a wonder-working power,
or you will fail. With all the power you possess concentrate your thought
upon the object you desire, and receive that which is given by what is
termed intuition.


		
WILL & ASTRAL BODY

Q	From M. - What steps must I take to open the heart so as to exercise
the Will for governing the Astral body?

Answer - There is but one way to open the heart. That is by living
the life. It is a simple matter to govern the will, but this is not the true
will. The governing of the Astral body is the smallest of the tasks of the
true will. 

The will should be used to obtain wisdom, and when so used it will control
the Astral body without effort. We should exert psychic powers only to
benefit others, never to free ourselves from the disagreeable. 

Let your aim be to "find God;" your motive, to know yourself for the sake of
Theo-Sophia and humanity: you desire, to help humanity, and the True Will,
will be developed, the heart opened and you will not only control the Astral
body but all in the Astral. You must seek beyond the Astral for powers, but
it is not wise to desire the acquisition of powers. Let your aim be beyond
that, and the powers will grow of themselves. 

If the strong-willed or sick depress you, seek to aid each in some way,
forget that you are depressed, forget your self, and they will not affect
you. The life of the Occult student is full of sorrow, anguish and
depressing influences. These go to make him a student in the Occult. 

A portion of his training is to become aware of these only in so far as they
affect others. As to their affecting his own personality, he does not know
they exist. If you desire to help humanity, then you possess the true
motive. If you use your will in this cause, wisdom, peace and all the powers
will be given."	W Q J Articles, II p. 451...

==========================================


WILL and FREE WILL


A basic idea is expressed as:  

"Will is the force of any and all degrees of intelligence; it is inherent
in consciousness as "the power to act."	Q & A., p. 40

A curious discovery is made as one delves into the question of the Will,
volition and choice. Is it free or not?

The deeper one penetrates the more one finds that there are many degrees of
bondage and freedom. In fact the ultimate "freedom" or "bondage" is
indeterminable - just as the "beginning (or ending) of time," or, the
"extent (or limits) of space," are not to be discovered.

Man as a member of the group of evolving Thinkers (Humanity) is of two
views. One is immortal and universal, because the triune Monad is
deathless; and the other, due to his residence in matter for a life-time is
personal, selfish and isolationist.

Why is this so?

It is because in Man three lines of evolution are to be found. In the S D [I
- p. 181] we find:

".there exists in Nature a triple evolutionary scheme, for the formation of
the three periodical Upadhis; or rather three separate schemes of evolution,
which in our system are inextricably interwoven and interblended at every
point.

These are (1) the Monadic (or spiritual), (2) the intellectual, and (3) the
physical evolutions. 

These three are the finite aspects or the reflections on the field of Cosmic
Illusion of ATMA, the seventh, the ONE REALITY. 

1. The Monadic is, as the name implies, concerned with the growth and
development into still higher phases of activity of the Monad in conjunction
with:-

2. The Intellectual, represented by the Manasa-Dhyanis (the Solar Devas, or
the Agnishwatta Pitris) the "givers of intelligence and consciousness" [see
S D II 167] to man and:-

3. The Physical, represented by the Chhayas ["astral bodies"] [see S D II
109-10] of the lunar Pitris, round which Nature has concreted the present
physical body. This body serves as the vehicle for the "growth" (to use a
misleading word) and the transformations through Manas and-owing to the
accumulation of experiences-of the finite into the INFINITE, of the
transient into the Eternal and Absolute. 

Each of these three systems has its own laws, and is ruled and guided by
different sets of the highest Dhyanis or "Logoi." Each is represented in the
constitution of man, the Microcosm of the great Macrocosm; and it is the
union of these three streams in him which makes him the complex being he now
is. 

"Nature," the physical evolutionary Power, could never evolve intelligence
unaided-she can only create "senseless forms," . The "Lunar Monads" cannot
progress, for they have not yet had sufficient touch with the forms created
by "Nature" to allow of their accumulating experiences through its means. It
is the Manasa-Dhyanis who fill up the gap, and they represent the
evolutionary power of Intelligence and Mind, the link between "Spirit" and
"Matter"-in this Round. 

Also it must be born in mind that the Monads which enter upon the
evolutionary cycle upon Globe A, in the first Round, are in very different
stages of development. Hence the matter becomes somewhat complicated. . .
Let us recapitulate. 

The most developed Monads (the lunar) reach the human germ-stage in the
first Round; become terrestrial, though very ethereal human beings towards
the end of the Third Round, remaining on it (the globe) through the
"obscuration" period as the seed for future mankind in the Fourth Round, and
thus become the pioneers of Humanity at the beginning of this, the Fourth
Round. 

Others reach the Human stage only during later Rounds, i.e., in the second,
third, or first half of the Fourth Round. And finally the most retarded of
all, i.e., those still occupying animal forms after the middle turning-point
of the Fourth Round-will not become men at all during this Manwantara. They
will reach to the verge of humanity only at the close of the seventh Round
to be, in their turn, ushered into a new chain after pralaya-by older
pioneers, the progenitors of humanity, or the Seed-Humanity (Sishta), viz.,
the men who will be at the head of all at the end of these Rounds. " S D
I 181-2


The personality and personal ego are made up of the skandhas (which are
nothing other than the powerful karmic effects of our past deeds,
intentions, feelings and thoughts, attached by our earlier choices to
"monads of lesser experience than ours)" --- this makes our personality of
today, a consequence of our past.  

That which is a 'result', an 'effect' of the past, can hardly be thought of
as being completely free, or having free will in the broadest sense of that
term. And yet the One Consciousness of the triple Monad, because of its
nature as part of the ATMAN (universal), is indeed free within these cyclic
evolutionary conditions.  

Why? Because the time has come for the Karmically "bound" to emerge from
its chrysalis and gain its own immortality. Kama-Manas has to transform
itself, voluntarily into Buddhi-Manas because it sees and learns that the
laws of uniformity, universality, and companionship rule every
life-supportive aspect of the Universe. 

>From a theosophical point of view, it thus appears the Reincarnating ego
(lower Manas / Kama-Manas) is not entirely free to do as it chooses. Like
everything else, it is subject to the Law of Karma. 

So too, the Higher Ego (Atma-Buddhi-Manas) for that period of time while it
voluntarily resides along with the terrestrial ego (Kama-Manas) as its
"tutor," appears to be bound by the conditions and choices of the latter.
[see S D II 167] Yet as an immortal "time" is of no great consequence, nor
is the very real "pain" it suffers along with the "Lower Manas," it is now
associated with.

Can it choose 'not to incarnate,' for example? Can it choose not to take
part in the evolutionary process and go off and do something entirely
different? No longer, for the immediate moment, as it has voluntarily taken
up a spiritual responsibility and the duty of cooperative assistance to a
"lesser brother." 

We might consider attributing certain powers to the 'higher Manas' and say,
for example, that the Mahatmas [Those Great of Soul] - in whom Manas has
fully flowered - are free because they have attained in the process of their
self-development many powers of a spiritual nature. But those are locked
away, and held inoperative by them. For example, they have a greater choice
than the average human being over which vehicle of consciousness they use at
any one time, but this choice is bound by the Karma of the special time,
individual, purpose, cycle and the environment they are in.

If we read the Mahatma Letters, we find ever and again that the Mahatmas
(Adepts) state They are not free to do what they choose. They are however
free to obey "the Good Law." They are often limited by the wisdom and
greater vision of their own revered superiors and, more importantly, by
Universal Law, as to what they can do to help humanity at large, or
individuals in particular. 

The Masters wrote:

"But you must know and remember one thing: we but follow and servilely copy
nature in her works." -- K H -- (M L # 6, Barker Ed., p. 22 )

"We cannot alter Karma, my "good friend"" -- M -- (M L # 97, Barker
ed. p. 433 )

A candidate for Adeptship is to be seen as the "Lower Manas" that has become
"Taijasi" - illuminated by Buddhi. It is asked by LAW, at the final "moment
of choice:" Will you elect for "bliss deferred" and work to help humanity,
or choose "bliss immediate," for a very long time, as do the Pratyekha
Buddhas. And thus distance yourself from humanity?
(see Voice, pp 76-79.)

Of course, we continually make choices of various kinds. We can choose
between a life based on the material values, or one based on the spiritual
realities. But, what makes us truly FREE? If we choose to answer this is an
interesting point to view, as following it, there are results.  

Are we then to assume that there is a "greater WILL" that inevitably bends
us to ITS purposes? And, is it possible in the course of Evolutionary Law,
the lesser will, which irrevocably decides not to bend to the Greater finds
its days are numbered. We need, in such a case, to understand the difference
between the levels of intelligence these respective Monadic choices imply.  

In the SECRET DOCTRINE under the title "GODS, MONADS AND ATOMS" H P B gives
us a survey of the process of monadic evolution

"The Scintillas are the "Souls," and these Souls appear in the three-fold
form of Monads (units), atoms and gods-according to our teaching. "Every
atom becomes a visible complex unit (a molecule), and once attracted into
the sphere of terrestrial activity, the Monadic Essence, passing through the
mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, becomes man." (Esot. Catechism.) 

Again, "God, Monad, and Atom are the correspondences of Spirit, Mind, and
Body (Atma, Manas and Sthula Sarira) in man." In their septenary aggregation
they are the "Heavenly Man" . . . . . "The Monads (Jivas) are the Souls of
the Atoms, both are the fabric in which the Chohans (Dhyanis, gods) cloth
themselves when a form is needed." (Esot. Cat.) 

This relates to Cosmic and sub-planetary Monads, not to the Super-Cosmic
Monas (the Pythagorean Monad) as called, in its synthetic character, by the
Pantheistical Peripatetics. The Monads of the present dissertation are
treated from the standpoint of their individuality, as atomic Souls, before
these atoms descend into pure terrestrial form. For this descent into
concrete matter marks the medial point of their own individual pilgrimage.
Here, losing in the mineral kingdom their individuality, they begin to
ascend through the seven states of terrestrial evolution to that point where
a correspondence is firmly established between the human and Deva (divine)
consciousness. At present, however, we are not concerned with their
terrestrial metamorphoses and tribulations, but with their life and
behaviour in Space, on planes wherein the eye of the most intuitional
chemist and physicist cannot reach them-unless, indeed, he develops in
himself highly clairvoyant faculties." S D I 619 


"In esoteric teachings, the most transcendental conceptions of the universe
and its mysteries, as the most (seemingly) materialistic speculations are
found reconciled, because those sciences embrace the whole scope of
evolution from Spirit to matter. As declared by an American Theosophist,
"The Monads (of Leibnitz) may from one point of view be called force, from
another matter. To occult Science, force and matter are only two sides of
the same SUBSTANCE." S D I 623


"Now, if these two teachings were blended together and each corrected by the
other,-and foremost of all the One Reality weeded of its personality-there
would remain as sum total a true spirit of esoteric philosophy in them; the
impersonal, attribute less, absolute divine essence which is no "Being," but
the root of all being. Draw a deep line in your thought between that
ever-incognizable essence, and the, as invisible, yet comprehensible
Presence (Mulaprakriti), or Schekinah, from beyond and through which
vibrates the Sound of the Verbum, and from which evolve the numberless
hierarchies of intelligent Egos, of conscious as of semi-conscious,
perceptive and apperceptive Beings, whose essence is spiritual Force, whose
Substance is the Elements and whose Bodies (when needed) are the atoms-and
our doctrine is there."	S D I 629


"But what say the Occult Sciences to this, and what do they add? 

They say that what is called collectively Monads by Leibnitz-roughly viewed,
and leaving every subdivision out of calculation, for the present -may be
separated into three distinct Hosts, which, counted from the highest planes,
are, firstly, "gods," or conscious, spiritual Egos; the intelligent
architects, who work after the plan in the Divine Mind. [These three "rough
divisions" correspond to spirit, mind (or soul), and body, in the human
constitution.] 

Then come the Elementals, or Monads, who form collectively and unconsciously
the grand Universal Mirrors of everything connected with their respective
realms. 

Lastly, the atoms, or material molecules, which are informed in their turn
by their apperceptive monads, just as every cell in a human body is so
informed.. 

There are shoals of such informed atoms which, in their turn, inform the
molecules; an infinitude of monads, or Elementals proper, and countless
spiritual Forces-Monadless, for they are pure incorporealities, except
under certain laws, when they assume a form-not necessarily human. 

Whence the substance that clothes them-the apparent organism they evolve
around their centres? The Formless ("Arupa") Radiations, existing in the
harmony of Universal Will, and being what we term the collective or the
aggregate of Cosmic Will on the plane of the subjective Universe, unite
together an infinitude of monads-each the mirror of its own Universe-and
thus individualize for the time being an independent mind, omniscient and
universal; and by the same process of magnetic aggregation they create for
themselves objective, visible bodies, out of the interstellar atoms. 

For atoms and Monads, associated or dissociated, simple or complex, are,
from the moment of the first differentiation, but the principles, corporeal,
psychic and Spiritual, of the "Gods,"- themselves the Radiations of
primordial nature. Thus, to the eye of the Seer, the higher Planetary Powers
appear under two aspects: the subjective-as influences, and the objective-as
mystic FORMS, which, under Karmic law, become a Presence, Spirit and Matter
being One, as repeatedly stated. Spirit is matter on the seventh plane;
matter is Spirit-on the lowest point of its cyclic activity; and both-are
MAYA." S D I 632-3


"Atoms are called "Vibrations" in Occultism; also "Sound"-collectively. This
does not interfere with Mr. Tyndall's scientific discovery. He traced, on
the lower rung of the ladder of monadic being, the whole course of the
atmospheric vibrations-and this constitutes the objective part of the
process in nature.till the vibration of the auditory nerve commences-and a
new phenomenon now takes place: the subjective side of the process or the
sensation of Sound. Does he perceive or see it? No; for his specialty is to
discover the behaviour of matter. But why should not a psychic see it, a
spiritual seer, whose inner Eye is opened, and who can see through the veil
of matter? 

The waves and undulations of Science are all produced by atoms propelling
their molecules into activity from within. Atoms fill the immensity of
Space, and by their continuous vibration are that MOTION which keeps the
wheels of Life perpetually going. It is that inner work that produces the
natural phenomena called the correlation of Forces. Only, at the origin of
every such "force," there stands the conscious guiding noumenon
thereof-Angel or God, Spirit or Demon-ruling powers, yet the same. 

As described by Seers-those who can see the motion of the interstellar
shoals, and follow them in their evolution clairvoyantly-they are dazzling,
like specks of virgin snow in radiant sunlight. Their velocity is swifter
than thought, quicker than any mortal physical eye could follow, and, as
well as can be judged from the tremendous rapidity of their course, the
motion is circular. . . . . Standing on an open plain, on a mountain summit
especially, and gazing into the vast vault above and the spatial infinitudes
around, the whole atmosphere seems ablaze with them, the air soaked through
with these dazzling coruscations. At times, the intensity of their motion
produces flashes like the Northern lights during the Aurora Borealis. The
sight is so marvellous, that, as the Seer gazes into this inner world, and
feels the scintillating points shoot past him, he is filled with awe at the
thought of other, still greater mysteries, that lie beyond, and within, this
radiant ocean. . . . . However imperfect and incomplete this explanation on
"Gods, Monads and Atoms," it is hoped that some students and theosophists,
at least, will feel that there may be indeed a close relation between
materialistic Science, and Occultism, which is the complement and missing
soul of the former. " S D I 633-4


It would then be right in a matter of saying that the aggregation of
substances and materials represented by the "personality," being "born of
time", i.e., anything in manifestation (no matter how subtle), is not really
free. There are always limits and some of these limits may even seem grand,
to us. That alone is free which is timeless and formless, the unborn and
uncreated, the limitless SELF.

HPB writes:   

"Know at once and remember always, that true Occultism or Theosophy is the
"Great Renunciation of SELF," unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as
in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who practices it out of
calculation of the ranks of the living altogether. "Not for himself, but
for the world, he lives," as soon as he has pledged himself to the work.
Much is forgiven during the first years of probation. But, no sooner is he
"accepted" than his personality must disappear, and he has to become a mere
beneficent force in Nature. There are two poles for him after that, two
paths, and no midward place of rest. He has either to ascend laboriously,
step by step, often through numerous incarnations and no Devachanic break,
the golden ladder leading to Mahatmaship (the Arhat or Bodhisattva
condition), or - he will let himself slide down the ladder at the first
false step, and roll down into Dugpaship. . . ." "Occultism versus the
Occult Arts"	H. P. B ARTS., VOL. II, P. 104


"...This desire for a sentient life shows itself in everything, from an atom
to a sun, and is a reflection of the Divine Thought propelled into objective
existence, into a law that the Universe should exist...." S D I 44
[see S D II 176, 578]


"The ancient philosophy affirmed that in consequence of the manifestation of
that Will--termed by Plato the Divine Idea--that everything visible and
invisible sprung into existence.  

As that Intelligent Idea, which, by directing its sole will-power toward a
center of localized forces called objective forms into being, so can man,
the microcosm of the great Macrocosm, do the same in proportion to the
development of his will-power.  

The imaginary atoms...are like automatic workmen moved inwardly by the
influx of that Universal Will directed upon them, and which manifesting
itself as force, sets them into activity.  

The plan of the structure to be erected is in the brain of the Architect,
and reflects his will; abstract as yet, from the instant of conception it
becomes concrete through these atoms which follow faithfully every line,
point and figure traced in the imagination of the divine Geometer. "	ISIS
I 61-2


"...the Force which we call the divine Free-Will (is) represented by the
Dhyani Buddhas..." TRANSACTIONS, p. 129.


Finally we have in ISIS UNVEILED:

"One common vital principle pervades all things, and this is controllable by
the perfected human will." ISIS, II, p. 590


===================================================

Best wishes,

Dallas
================================
 

-----Original Message-----
From: L.R. A
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 9:47 PM
To: 
Subject: developing the will

Hello Friends,
   
Dallas recently mentioned "indomitable will." Suggestions on how to 
develop that great faculty will be welcomed.
   
Thanks,
   
L.R.