Spiritual Will Is The Antidote For All Unhelpful Desires

by Robert Wilkinson

Knowing how to apply our Spiritual Will is key to navigating the tides of life without getting led into unfortunate ideas and desires.

Though I have given you commentary about this subject over the past several months, due to recent comments and questions from clients it seems this is again timely. Of course, it's always a good time to review how we may take command of our lower vehicles of body, emotions and mind to bring forth the Higher Self and Soul-Spirit. Today we review the qualities of Mind.

So I don't have to reinvent the wheel, here are the key elements of what we're all dealing with:

We have a Higher Mind and a lower mind. Each of these has a strong pole and a weak pole. Knowing these four qualities can help us master any situation we confront.

By knowing the qualities of the mind, we can determine what is at work in any given situation. That can bring a "whole view" of the dynamics and respond when confronted with desires and rationalizations arising in our lower self, or the lower self of another.

Reason is the lower mind's weak pole, desire its strong pole. That's why it's so easy to rationalize our desires. When the lower self has found a good reason to pursue a desire it often leads to problems if the desire is inappropriate.

There are many kinds of unhealthy desires. It could be the desire to hurt another (or self) through destructive behavior, or the desire to refuse to grow despite knowing it's time to give up abusive behaviors and attitudes. When our lower mind has reasoned some desire is good, it will pursue that desire regardless of consequences.

Intellect is the weak pole of the Higher Mind. That's why intellect alone is not strong enough to transmute a desire that's been rationalized as being "good."

To illustrate the point, an example of a very strong desire that cannot be resolved by intellect alone is the desire to stay willfully ignorant. That's different than simple ignorance. When it's time to choose a different way of living, and yet a person desires to perpetuate the same patterns, that's willful ignorance.

Willful ignorance is always consciously or unconsciously chosen by ego-mind. No wonder it finds all kinds of good and valid reasons to stay ignorant. The mind believes itself to be lord in the land of not-knowing! A reasoned ignorance will always stand against intellect.

The strong pole of the Higher Mind is the only solution to override the lower mind's malfunctioning. The strong pole is Will, in the sense of Spiritual Will. When we apply our Spiritual Will in any moment, old ways are transcended immediately, and the desire mind and its rationalizations have no hold on our awareness and the choices we must make.

It is inevitable that rationalizations will arise in the lower mind to justify its desire. Yet as we consistently apply our Spiritual Will to stay focused on the aims of our Higher Self, eventually the lower mind's hold on our view gives way and the desire loses its grip.

The consistent use of Spiritual Will leads us to an ability to apply our intelligence backed by the power of our Higher Self to choose "right action." Then over time we find opportunities to use that Will in applying our Love, Wisdom, and/or Intelligence in Action in ways that benefit us and all we are connected to.

To remind you, this is where we hit the rub of evolution itself. Energy being energy, it can be used for good or ill by those who think they are working from their "higher self" as they see it.

An evil magician and good magician use the exact same tools and energies, but the former uses it for ego gratification while the latter uses it for the service of humankind. That's why we must examine what desires of self and others have been rationalized to understand which desires are selfish and separative and which desires serve the greatest good.

Spiritual Will and intellect are great tools to reference when we confront coercive people and situations, since they transcend the reasoning and rationalizations present in coercion. Once these are countered it is easy to get to the raw desire lurking underneath the rationalizations. Then, by applying our Spiritual Will on behalf of our highest good and the highest good attainable in the situation, we further the greater good, even when it means withdrawing from that situation.

As I've noted many times, all dualism arises in the mind. The Higher Mind and the lower mind are where the Higher Triad of Atma-Buddhi-Manas meets the lower triad of body, feelings, and rational mind.

In knowing the battleground of the mind, with its eternal compare and contrast function, we can know when Higher or lower elements are at work. That eventually makes us masters of any situation we confront, since then we can act or not act with infinite detachment, dispassion, discrimination, and generate the positive intention appropriate to our understanding.

While some of this requires consistent self-discipline by the Higher Self, the rewards are endless. By striving to practice our Spiritual Will pointed through the lens of intellect, we can move through life's dualities without becoming confused or disoriented by any internal or external dilemma, desire, or rationalization.

As we come out of the rationalized desires of the lower self into enlightened (Higher) Self-interest, we can shine the light of awareness in any situation we confront. Over time that creates patterns of referencing the Love, Wisdom, and Intelligence of our Higher Self, and eventually that puts us at a level of consciousness that is beyond the pushes and pulls of the denser planes of existence. The more we live that, the less suffering we'll experience, and the more shadows we'll dispel as we walk our Eternal Walk.

Copyright © 2010 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Shehzaad Maroof]

Beautiful article dear Robert
thanks :)

[Lisa]

Great article Robert. My question is not on the subject: what sign is Boca Raton, Florida? I am buying a house there and will move in Jan. Thank you

[Cherry]

that's the most concise and in a nutshell thing i've heard in a long time. thank you. but how do you keep focused on the higher will? it seems illusive. i know my reaction urges/desires and my conditioned right and wrong responses. ego fools us too pretending to be higher mind; course sometimes it's to learn something so then we really get confused about faith in self in a sort of temporary why the heck did i do that mode. lol

[Demetra]

Very inspiring Robert, thank you! I know what it is like to struggle between the two ends! The "gods" of ancient Greece though, required equal respect and Dionysus would get terribly angry if someone sacrificed only to Apollo, if you know what I mean. So, we have to find a way to appease the offended "gods", otherwise we invite our personal Nemesis!

[Robert]

Hi Shehzaad - Glad you like it! Definitely good reference points to look at human behavior.

Hi Lisa - I don't know. I researched it using the usual means via search engine and I could only find it was settled in 1838, "founded" in 1895, and incorporated May 1925. One astro source charges a lot of money for this service. I would suggest you call the reference library there and find someone who can find a reliable source for the info. Then please email me with the results!

Hi Cherry - Glad I could communicate such a vast and important subject with brevity. We stay focused on the Spiritual Will be exercising it from time to time in small and large ways. With practice it becomes a habit. As for our ego pretending, it's not that hard to apply our "Higher Knowing" of the heart to whatever confronts us. It requires a degree of detachment, dispassion, and discrimination to know the lower self from the Higher Self, but it's not really that hard to see clearly once we have programmed our being to reference these divine virtues. It's really not about faith, but about knowledge that transcends the lower mind's rationalizations. Knowing the greatest good may be obscure at times, but it can be known when we get out of our own way.

Hi Demetra - While I agree we don't need to punish or repress our human side regarding things that are harmless or "not really the highest we could be," we still indulge counterproductive tendencies at our peril, since a tendency repeated becomes a habit.

I agree that Sun, Venus, Jupiter, and other planetary energies should be acknowledged and exercised in our lives, but since the "Sacred 7" planets each have a duality of function, we must learn how to exhibit the highest qualities rather than the lower ones.

For example, vanity and narcissism are Venusian problems, while appreciation and valuing are virtues. Waste and hypocrisy are Jupiterian problems, while blessings, forgiving, and teaching/learning are virtues. Arrogance and barrenness are Solar problems, benevolence and fruitfulness Solar virtues.

In your example, Dionysus should be associated with Jupiter, Apollo with the Sun. Each should be given their due, while not indulging the folly, extravagance, impoverishment, and sterility also associated with those energies.

On a related note, the "Nemesis" could also be viewed as the "Dweller on the Threshold," the One within and without who is also the "Angel of the Presence." A person's nemesis could very well be the one through whom they come to power, knowledge, and enlightenment! Fire by friction (Sagittarius) is the Cosmic Fire by which we are spurred to ever greater realizations!!