The nature of True Will?
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For a long time, I've had built up in my mind that whatever one's True Will is, it would be very abstract & difficult to comprehend without plenty of meditation & ritual & far from a mundane task.
I read Crowley's Diary of a Drug Fiend, and in the end Peter Pendragon discovers that his will was to pursue engineering and things of math & science. Meanwhile, Lady Pendragon's will was to.....take care of Peter?
Are these things really the nature of one's True Will? What I mean is, could my true-will honestly be that simple? Or was this book just a very simplified encapsulation of Thelema?
For example, everything in my life points toward programming. I had begun learning it at age 12, and I keep coming back to it over and over. Looking at my tendencies, one could easily assume that is naturally my true will.
But the problem is, I hate it now :s I'm so torn!
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There are different levels at which the term applies. I'm really happy with the definition I wrote for True Will in the glossary of Visions & Voices:
TRUE WILL. n. (1) The inmost nature of a being expressed through its most fundamental course or movement through time, space, and experience: The essential vector of an infinite being. (2) Often used with an adjective distinguishing the plane of its expression, e.g., (a) INFINITE WILL, the unlimited expression of a spiritual being independent of space-time, incarnation, or other condition, or (b) MUNDANE (or, FINITE) WILL, which may include one’s mundane occupation or practical manifestation in the workaday world. (3) As most commonly used in Temple of Thelema, the resultant of all vectors (conditions and characteristics) expressed through the focus of a specific incarnation; nearly synonymous with lifepurpose or deepest impulse of self-expression.
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For example, everything in my life points toward programming. I had begun learning it at age 12, and I keep coming back to it over and over. Looking at my tendencies, one could easily assume that is naturally my true will.But the problem is, I hate it now :s I'm so torn!
"it could be that you hate it because of fear and laziness (and/or the overall inertia of Nephesh), or it could be that you hate it because it's not your path...
when you can not discern directly what the Angel is telling you, a tool to comunicate with Him such as divination can be useful -
My impression is that it's crucial to be able to distinguish the underlying force, from the form. Because the form can reach a dead-end, and if you mistake the form for the force, you'll be very frustrated.
For example, I love to write songs and play an instrument. If I lost my fingers/hands/arms or something tomorrow, I'd have to find a way of expressing the underlying will.
Further, while music is a particular manifestation of my true will, it's only one aspect of it. If I were to distill my will into a brief sentence (which I am not quite ready to do yet) it would be something that includes music as a potential manifestation, but is not limited to it.
For example, I believe Crowley expressed his will as "To teach the next step", and one particular manifestation of this was his mundane will of being a poet. But he also used prose, in person instruction, etc...
Another poet or writer might have a completely different will, based around entertaining, or serving as a symbol, or creating an emotional connection, or documenting the traditions of their milieu.
So, you could ask yourself **why **you have been drawn to programming, or **what **you use programming to accomplish, or how you program, to get indications about the real, underlying motivation.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"There are different levels at which the term applies. I'm really happy with the definition I wrote for True Will in the glossary of Visions & Voices:
TRUE WILL. n. (1) The inmost nature of a being expressed through its most fundamental course or movement through time, space, and experience: The essential vector of an infinite being. (2) Often used with an adjective distinguishing the plane of its expression, e.g., (a) INFINITE WILL, the unlimited expression of a spiritual being independent of space-time, incarnation, or other condition, or (b) MUNDANE (or, FINITE) WILL, which may include one’s mundane occupation or practical manifestation in the workaday world. (3) As most commonly used in Temple of Thelema, the resultant of all vectors (conditions and characteristics) expressed through the focus of a specific incarnation; nearly synonymous with lifepurpose or deepest impulse of self-expression."
I am really happy with your definition too:)
Do you see any correlation between a natal chart and this definition?
If I was to look upon the chart of a newborn, could I gleen information to help guide one towards thier TrueWill? -
Usually a correlation, yes. - But not so rigorous that you can express it as a formula.
The majority of people I have known (or known of) who have both attained significant initiation and given concise articulation of their TW, have stated something where the core is as an expression of their Sun-sign (Sidereal, of course), and the modifier is the Moon-sign. (I should emphasize that this is the case even when the person had no knowledge of the Sidereal zodiac.)
For example, Crowley - a Virgo (Mercury-ruled) Sun and Aquarius (Uranus-ruled) Moon - articulated his TW as "To teach the next step."
I advise that this not be overemphasized, though - until after the fact. The real power of the "discovery of the True Will" is in the discovering it from the inside out. But it's a marvelous mind-snap confirmation to then realize that it was sitting right there in the horoscope all along
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@Jim Eshelman said
""The essential vector of an infinite being." "
nice:)
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"My impression is that it's crucial to be able to distinguish the underlying force, from the form. Because the form can reach a dead-end, and if you mistake the form for the force, you'll be very frustrated.
For example, I love to write songs and play an instrument. If I lost my fingers/hands/arms or something tomorrow, I'd have to find a way of expressing the underlying will.
Further, while music is a particular manifestation of my true will, it's only one aspect of it. If I were to distill my will into a brief sentence (which I am not quite ready to do yet) it would be something that includes music as a potential manifestation, but is not limited to it."
AvshalomBinyamin---- this topic touches on something I have been thinking about recently, and which I have posted about under "Force Form and Illusion." I thought about posting this response there, but I do think the two easily overlap, since it seems that the true will consists in both force and form. At any rate if it is deemed that we cannot adequately cover both topics in one thread, so be it. No doubt, the direction I'm leaning could get into Thelemic metaphysics.... but such is the true will, right?
The problem I've been having is exactly what you mention... distinguishing between force and form. Not distinguishing the differences in the two concepts; that I can do. But I'm wondering if there is any difference in "reality," (and here we go on the language merry go round!). What I mean is that it seems to me that form may just be another force--- a force of (perhaps only lowercase) will... but a force nonetheless.
For instance, and please correct me if I'm doing an injustice to your meaning, you have within you, running through you, a creative impulse. And you give vent to this force through music. I, on the other hand, tend more to writing or drawing pictures. My uncle (www.terrygilbreth.com), on the other hand, is more prone to creating sculptures and 3 dimensional structures to express his creative impulse. What I'm thinking is that we are all moved by the same force (Hadit?), which we may characterize as (capital W) Will, and we are giving this transcendental force, or divine Will, a form of our own. If so then the form is a force of our will. We all have Hadit burning withing..... I choose to draw, you to make music, maybe some other brother or sister chooses to be an architect or what the hell ever avenue to put into action that creative impulse. Are not some misled sociopaths replying to this same creative force with destructive, even criminal, activities? And if I'm on to anything at all where does form fit into the picture?
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I'm not an expert (except anecdotally.... sigh), but I would guess that pathological individuals probably have had their drives bottled up, repressed, twisted, rejected, or in other ways cut off from the rest of them, to the point where they cannot make a choice about the manifestation of that force, and it shows up destructive ways.
On the other end, I imagine that an adept would be gradually choosing more direct, natural, pure expressions for that will, that encompass more of the adept's personality as a whole. I really don't think the general pattern is about what is manifested (on the individual level, yes, naturally, the person would want to choose the best manifestation for the time and place). I think it's more about what's deciding, and how that decision is happening that marks the difference between health and disease.
But I could be wrong.
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wow. this is deep;)
I am setting here trying to grasp the dif between force and form and I can't seem to do it:p
All I keep thinking of is the Disk.