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on the Will (Misuse of the Strong Will) By
Jay Ray I have sat here, dealing with writers
block, never having attempted to write anything for a professional vehicle
before, and I have tossed over many thoughts on the subject of The
Will. In the end, I have decided to give you a little taste of my
mental ramblings. Maybe, if I try this some more, I will be able to lift the
tone of my authorship from the everyday speak of my usual genre, advertising, to
something closer to a serious discussion. So I hope you enjoy this little slice
of my mind. Coming from a space of
having had to fight for my life several times from ill health during my
childhood, the Will was something that I came to see as a very dear friend and
benefactor. It got me what I wanted, at that time…. to live. I found as life
moved on, that it’s application was able to help me in many areas of life. I
have to say, I became what would be described in the Victorian era, as a
‘willful person’. In fact, in
hindsight, which is always 20/20 vision, I developed a ‘Controller’
subpersonality, whose job it was to make sure my every need was met. It did not
take into consideration whether the object or person it was directed towards was
good for me. Indeed, the Controller was not particularly concerned with my
wellbeing long-term at all. It had successfully kept me alive and it was
continuing to do that. Quality of life was not the issue. As the Controller grew, the quality of Trust in me began to shrink. Maybe it had never had a chance to develop in the first place. I grew to trust only ‘it’. I became a one-woman-band, a loner! I could not trust others to meet my needs, nor did I believe on one level, that I needed to. I was so identified with my controller that I could focus on something until it was achieved, to the expense of food, sleep, friendship, relationship and health. By the time I discovered Psychosynthesis in 1984, the Will had become synonymous with control for me. Learning the functions of it in an integrated personality, opened doors for me that were previously tight shut. It took many years of work to come back into the Self, balance my Life, begin the process of healing and gain co-operation between the various parts of me that had been so neglected along the way. It took many more years to begin to trust my HS sufficiently to guide me to those people with whom I could have a mutually beneficial experience. The co-operation between the Higher Self and the Sub(Personalities)s became an essential and central part of that Self-healing. I began to realize that, just as we need boundaries to function well in all external relationships, the internal relationships likewise have their areas of responsibility. Like their external counterparts, they do not take kindly to being told what to do, to being treated without respect. It is important to ‘render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s’. In fact, it occurs to me now, that a core subpersonality in control of a persons life, is a monoculture. And like all land that is subjected to the monoculture system, the soil becomes depleted. We need diversity inside to feed us as much as we need it outside on the land. So often in Subpersonality work, I find the Subs attempting to do the work of the HS, and each other. All of them attempting to subvert the Will through them, so that the energy of the Self is used only the way they see fit. They are constantly trying to project into the Future, see round corners, and take over areas that have nothing to do with them. Beginning to realize that they all have a place, and that their work in the personality is unique and requires co-operation between them, is a very liberating concept. It can be the beginning of the discovery of the Self within, that has a Will with which to direct the work of self-change. I see the Will,
therefore, as a function that ‘distributes’ tasks, on behalf of the Self, to
the parts of the personality that are best suited to carrying out that task. The
Self can draw from the wisdom of the Higher Self in the decision making process,
and achieve harmony in day to day life, whilst moving steadily towards the souls
potential (Higher Self). The
‘Will-as-Controller’ concept is easily misunderstood. In my practice over
the years I have seen passive/aggressive behavior that comes as a result of the
Will being aligned to covert Subs, attempting to get needs met against all odds.
When it is realized that the Will is a central part of the functions of the
Self, not a tool for power-over, it begins to make sense that, many of the most
outwardly aggressive people are indeed ‘weak-willed’. The Will is about us
being able to take responsibility for meeting our needs in the most appropriate
way. This includes the wellbeing of others and the planet, as well as the needs
of our own personal world. It gives us a skill that enables us to make choices
and decisions based on all the information coming from within us, as well as
from our surroundings. It enables us to funnel the energy of the Self through
the function of the Will, to bring about an outcome that is in the best
interests of all. Assagioli’s work with the Will gives us a model with which to strengthen and develop the will function, through understanding it’s existence and purpose as well as the way it works. It is with gratitude to this great man that I respectfully submit my musings on a subject that nobody but he really had the guts to look at. |