A Dialog on Real Will
The following is a dialog between several members of the Spiritual Sun School.
A: It’s interesting that in the last chapter of Beelzebub’s Tales, ‘The Author’ points out that the ideas of contemporary science coincide with the idea that man cannot Do.
Contemporary “exact-positive-science” says that a man is a very complex organism developed by evolution from the simplest organisms, and who has now become capable of reacting in a very complex manner to external impressions… [and] This capability of reacting in man is so complex…. that the actions of man, or at least a part of them, seem to naïve observation quite spontaneous. (1203)
The problem with contemporary science is that it stops there and leaves no room for transcendence, for the possible development of real Will and what it would mean ‘to Do’.
D: Yes. After agreeing with the scientific view that man is an organic machine, the Author states that ‘will’ is impossible in the average man…then segues ever so briefly into what will is and where it is possible.
Will is a certain combination obtained from the results of certain properties specially elaborated in themselves by people who can do.
In the presences of average people what they call will is exclusively only the resultant of desires.
Real will is a sign of a very high degree of Being in comparison with the Being of the ordinary man. But only those people who possess such Being can do. (1203-04)
A: Right. And a little before that he defines what it means ‘to do’: “….‘to do’ means to act consciously and by one’s own initiative.” (1202) So, we can substitute this definition into the sentence above and rewrite it.
Will is a certain combination obtained from the results of certain properties specially elaborated in themselves by people who can do.
Becomes:
Will is a certain combination obtained from the results of certain properties specially elaborated in themselves by people who can act consciously and by their own initiative.
D: This is cool.
A: Some questions that come up for me:
- What does it mean to act consciously?
- What does it mean to act on one’s own initiative?
- What are the properties that are elaborated in themselves by people who can do?
- What does he mean by a certain combination? How does one get through what seems to be a catch-22? Real will is a sign of a high degree of Being. One has to be able ‘to do’ to have this Being and will, but man cannot do.
D: All very good questions. It’s amazing to me how persistent the illusion is that we act consciously and by our own initiative. When we start to observe ourselves more and more sincerely we see that almost every action is initiated by some desire, impulse, or external force.
What’s the particular arrangement that allows us to make that type of observation with any consistency?
A: The potency to be sincere with oneself is required along with a strong wish to be something more.
In the chapter about Hamolinadir, Beelzebub sheds some light on what it means to act on one’s own initiative:
At the age he was when I first met him he already had his ‘I’-in respect of rationally directing what is called the ‘automatic-psychic-functioning’ of his common presence….in consequence of which during what is called his ‘waking-passive-state’ he had very definitely expressed being- manifestations, as, for instance, those called ‘self-consciousness,’ ‘impartiality,’ ‘sincerity,’ ‘sensibility of perception,’ ‘alertness,’ and so forth. (332-3)
In other words, the head can give direction or orders to the other centers and those orders can be carried out. The prerequisite to that is that the centers need to be connected through attention and communicating.
D: Yes, the head, informed by the proper role of the feeling center, which is to determine valuation i.e. Objective Conscience or something like it. We should remember though that Hamolinadir was at a much, much higher level than any of us.
D: So, as to your next question, what would “one’s own initiative” be, as contrasted with mere desires, impulses, pressure from the outside world, etc.?
E: Right now, this, for me, is the central question in a “nutshell.”
D: What motivates your work, E? Is it one of the above? Or something else?
E: What motivates my work? Hmmm, so many ways to approach it. It brings to mind the old language of the steward and deputy steward from In Search of The Miraculous. “The only chance of salvation is for a group of the more sensible servants to meet together and elect a temporary steward, that is a deputy steward…” (60) Those desires, impulses, pressures from the outside world need to be put in their place.
D: Perhaps it starts with Remorse of Conscience – the feeling that one isn’t what one ought to be, and the desire to return to that. Emotional motivation for Work.
C: So, in what sense are all of these in relation to Conscious Labor and Intentional Suffering?
A: The whole process of waking up requires conscious labor and intentional suffering, but the specifics at various stages along the process differ.
Using attention to align our three brains is a kind of conscious labor, and in the beginning of our work keeping them aligned and balanced can involve a fair amount of intentional suffering. It can feel awkward and unnatural.
D: Exactly. So back to this question, what would “one’s own initiative” be, as contrasted with mere desires, impulses, pressure from the outside world, etc.?
A: An internal force or motivation informed by conscience. Perhaps towards or in relation to a higher striving.
D: That sounds right to me. Maybe something like what we call an Aim.
So now, if we substitute this again into the sentence from above…
Will is a certain combination obtained from the results of certain properties specially elaborated in themselves by people who can act consciously and by their own initiative.
…we might have something like this:
Will is a certain combination obtained from the results of certain properties specially elaborated in themselves by people who can act with all three brains balanced toward an Aim also chosen in such a balanced state.
That’s a definition I think most intermediate students can relate to from their own work experiences. There’s always the chance that this is wiseacreing but I think it follows logically, and at least for me matches up with my personal verifications.
We could also be more specific. Consciousness has to do with a balance between all three brains, but also a balance between perception both outside oneself and on/inside oneself. In tutorials we learn to work with this state, and use it to begin working from our own initiative e.g. working against our features and appetites.
I think that is the very tiniest sliver edge of being able ‘to do’. Weak and fleeting at first, we build it up over a long time by practice. There’s your conscious labor and intentional suffering.
So maybe Will is the ability ‘to do’ plus the data for and access to Objective Conscience. To act consciously and under one’s own initiative in accordance with the valuation of the Divine.
A: That seems reasonable because the development of Will would be in accordance with the being-Obligolnian strivings and would be a result of working on the strivings.
B: I cannot thank you all enough.