The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga / Including the Practices and Exercises of Concentration, both Objective and Subjective, and Active and Passive Mentation, an Elucidation of Maya, Guru Worship, and the Worship of the Terrible, also the Mystery of Will-Force

by swámi A. P. Mukerji

THE MYSTERY OF THE WILL-FORCE.

Will-Force is the power of Re-action. It can render all the other mental functions active or passive. It is the DETERMINATIVE faculty and is affected most of all by the JUDGMENT. On the lower plane of mind, Will-Power manifests as Desire and is reciprocally influenced by outside attractions as well as repulsions. On this plane the Will is not free. But when it draws the volition for externalizing itself from Within in the light of the Higher Reason, then indeed is it Will-Power. On the material the human will is a slave; on the spiritual plane it is the sovereign. It may then be called the "awakened" will. It is my conviction that the eternal crossing of swords between the Determinists and the Libertarians can be set at rest only by a right understanding of the spiritual makeup of man, otherwise the arguments of both sets of thinkers are equally strong. Each side has got hold of half the truth, but requires the reconciling light of transcendental Psychology in order to enable us to see the whole truth as it is. However, the point I am driving at is that your will is free only when it is self-determined i.e., when it has risen above the impulses of the Lower Personal Self and acts under the direction of the Higher Impersonal Self_. In order to fix this most important truth in your mind, let us give you a brief idea of the "I AM" consciousness. Do not pass this by as so much dry rot. No one will ever or can ever manifest genuine Will-Force of a distinctly spiritual type who does not understand the "I AM" consciousness. So please listen attentively and think over the following.