Pure Will and True Will
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Although Crowley writes that Will is fundamentally dynamic in many places ("The Will is the dynamic aspect of the self").
"I'm not implying that the nature of our "Being" is static and I'm not implying that it's Not. Though you're right, it could construed that way by some. Discovering that nature is part of it.
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Certainly, but does Thelema give that injunction anyways in Liber AL ch2 etc?Indeed - although there seem to be definite suggestions in Liber AL and in Crowley's writings...
"I like where you're going with that one
"But exceed! exceed!" - Liber AL ch2
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The concept of True Will and Pure Will are both more or less hampered by the dualism it takes to believe that there can be an "Un-true" or "Im-Pure" Will. This is a simple and unfortunate byproduct of linguistic conventionality which utilizes duality as a form of representation in a field of non-dual.
If Thelema means "Will", and Ill go out on a limb here - this Will is the vehicle of the HGA as pouring through ones psyche at a conscious and unconscious level of continual reception as an outpouring of the primordial spark. The misapprehension is that, when a person makes an incorrect judgment or misapprehends conditions, or actions, one has manifested or witnessed untrue or impure Will, but that cant be, IMHO because the Will does not partake of duality in an intellectual or moralist sense.
Perceptions pivot not on the singularity of total unity (of which the Will is the unbroken vehicle & messenger) but on the intellectual grounds of object-subject relation in a moral universe where somehow this Will can be manifestly imperfect. As soon as one experiences un-truth and impurity, it is an indication that one is* moving away* from ones natural axis, or Will, which generally rests in the center, not on opposing sides.
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Well, at the risk of lowering the level of conversation.
You guys remember the Matrix movie in which Neo was struggling with Predestination of future events? The answer came that he had "already made his decision" but that he still "wanted to know why" he made the decision.
I consider knowing one's True Will in a similar way. We are always doing our True Will, but sometimes it is unconsciously. When this is still true, we experience ourselves to be "searching for it" while what is really true is that we are attempting to become conscious of what direction our Will is organizing us to move in. The more conscious we allow ourselves to become of who we are and what we are being organized to accomplish by our "Will," the more we experience the powerful flow of Will through our lives.
Make any sense to anyone but me?
Peace.
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Actually, makes sense and is well said.
In L.V.X.,
chrys333 -
I would agree, but not that it applies to all people. While there are some who may be following the true will unconsciously (from not knowing) there are certainly those who are not doing their true will. And those who are even going against their true will. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much pain and suffering in the world. Crowley has written about the upheaval that can be inflicted on those who deny their true will.
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Also, I've never really met anyone who only held ONE of those perspectives ALL the time.
I kinda think that everyone flips back and forth depending on how much they think they understand the situation that they are in.
At least that's been my experience with real live people.
It's one of the great questions of the spiritual life within the adventure of Time.
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"True Will" is specific and relative to a given object. "Pure Will" is an essential principle.
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93,
Well this became more long winded than I had initially intended…
There are far more knowledgeable people on this forum that very likely have a better perspective of the difference between True and Pure Will than myself. However, sometimes a different point of view can lead to further ideas and discussion, so I'll throw myself into the mix, so to speak.
I think this is a pretty good place to start:
@Scapegoa said
""True Will" is specific and relative to a given object. "Pure Will" is an essential principle."
Particularly, if we look at the context that the term "Pure Will" is brought forth in Liber L.
"For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
To my way of thinking… if we start from the premise that “Pure” Will is the essential principle in and of itself, unlimited by words which are “Restrictions” (“The ‘Word’ of sin is ‘Restriction’”)… we begin to make some headway.
"The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!"
Therefore, “Pure Will” is “Nought”… since “Pure Will” is Perfect, and “Perfect” is “Nought”.
"Nothing is a secret key of this law. Sixty-one the Jews call it; I call it eight, eighty, four hundred & eighteen."
I’ll stick with 61 for now (although I have some intuitions about 8, 80, and 418 in relationship to 61). AIN (Nought/Nothing) = 61 and as we know, this is the “No Thing” of the Kabbalah. One meaning attached to AIN Kabbalistically is that it refers to “Concealment”. This “Nothing” that is “Concealed” is therefore not “Known” and thus can not be described per se. To describe it… would be to impose “Restriction”.
If we examine this carefully we see that “Nothing” is beyond “Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowing” (Knowledge, Wisdom, Understanding = Mochin [Mentalities] i.e. the Supernal Sephiroth in a more Kosher interpretation), it is beyond any attributes at all (attributes = middot = measures = Seven Lower Sephiroth). So, this is the “Unrestricted” Will. It is “Potential” Will as opposed to Will that is “Actualized”. Will that has been “Actualized” is “Revealed” and thus no longer “Concealed”, and thus Something (Yesh; Hebrew for “Something”) versus the concept of Nothing (AIN). Nothing has to be “Restricted” (i.e. in Hebrew “Tzimtzum”) to become “Something”.
Let me go on a slight tangent… and use humans as an example.
Our “Potential” Will is nearly “Boundless” (without limit, i.e. Ain Soph). I may “Desire” “Perfection” when this desire strikes me, I “Emanate” a “Lightning Flash” of a “Thought” to “Create” a perfect Thelemic Society on a beautiful island in the Pacific. This lightning flash and thought to create is then “Formed” into mental words that precede my “Actions” to “Make” this happen. However, the various planes that my “Potential” Will is exposed to place “Restrictions” on the “Potential” Will. I definitely would have to consider the financial end of things, the planning, weather, building materials, labor, etc. After all these “Restrictions” are considered… I end up meeting every other Tuesday with anybody with a slight interest in Thelema at my home in a small town in Michigan.
Now, all anyone can know about my Will in this matter is what can be “Revealed” through my “Actions”. So, the nearly perfect “Potential” Will is an entirely different entity than my “Revealed” or “Actualized” Will.
If we creatively draw from this analogy… “Pure” Will is in a way, “Unlimited” Desire for “Nothing” and thus “Perfect” because it has not been “Restricted” by Thought, Word, or Deed. It is beyond “Truth” and “Falsehood” and so highly “Concealed” that it can not be apprehended… and is thus “Nothing”, and therefore “Unassuaged of Purpose”, and “Delivered from the Lust of Result”.
Since it is “Nothing” it is beyond “One”. “One” implies “Two” and is therefore subject to both “Truth” and “Falsehood”.
However, “True” Will has a “Purpose” which is described in the next stanza…
“But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all disappear.”
“One” being the half of “Two”, which is the “Revelation” that “Truth” and “Falsehood” are equal necessities to the “Realization” or “Actualization” of “Pure” Will… if by art we unite the Opposites thus destroying both concepts we are led to that most “Concealed” place that has “No Limit” and “No Name” (i.e. it can not be grasped by the intellect or described in any manner at all – this is why the Prophet often appears as a “Fool”). This is the “No Where” and no Sin exists there as it is beyond the “Restriction” that causes the initial dichotomy of being in the “First” Place. The first step being the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. For this to occur we must first learn the art of “Silence”… and that progressively. This is also the reason that Initiation is so important to our evolution.
93 93/93
Dennis
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Good elaboration Dennis, very well conceived.