What is the will?  The will is the directive and regulatory function in your life; it balances and constructively utilizes all your energies.  On a deeper level, will is related to the life principle – it brings life to an individual or an organization. On a deeper metaphysical level, it is synonymous with the breath. Will is also a clarifying, purifying energy, needed to destroy old forms before new forms can be built.

The will is anchored in two places in your body.  The lower will is anchored in what’s called your root chakra, at the base of the spine, where it expresses as your will to live or survive.  The higher will is anchored in your crown chakra, at the top of your head, where it expresses as the spiritual will.  “The right use of the will is the steady effort to stand in spiritual being,” according to the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali.

The aspects of will are dynamic energy, persistence, determination, and one-pointedness.  To be effective, the will also has to be skillful, not just powerful.  When rightly used, will is expressed with love and understanding and is dedicated to the purposes of Light.  It is used to destroy all that hinders the free flow of human life. The use of pure will is only possible for a coordinated thinker.

People with strong personal wills are often only concerned with their own personal gain; they may lack love or the will-to-good.  Other people may have love, but lack a strong will and or have little intelligence.  There are many who love humanity, but have little will and are too weak, fearful or lazy, and therefore ineffective.  Many good spiritual people say they want to surrender their will to God, but they have no will to surrender.  We have to develop a strong will, and then a skillful will (to be effective), and finally a good will.

Stages of Developing the Will

Personal Will:  The first step in developing the spiritual will is strengthening your personal will power through discipline and focus.  You must know first where you want to go and what’s important to you.  You need to create higher goals and make commitments to them.  Focus your energy and stay one-pointed, rather than being distracted by too many things. 

You can strengthen your will by the practice of creating physical challenges to test yourself and overcoming them, such as walking several miles a day.  You can practice overcoming emotional challenges, such as doing something you are frightened of.  You can practice overcoming mental challenges, such as reading a difficult book. You can learn to take risks and enjoy challenges to see what you are truly capable of.

Also helpful is practicing perseverance in small things, finishing what you start and bringing it to fruition--or not starting it in the first place.  When you promise something--do it--regardless of the personal cost. Another great practice for strengthening your will power is taking a stand on your values, standing up for what you believe, speaking up and being heard, and challenging those who disagree with you.  Taking initiative, courage and daring, are key for strengthening your will.

Another helpful practice is to make a list of all painful things and loss of opportunities that can result from the lack of a strong will; then list all the benefits to you of a strong will.  Then visualize yourself with a strong and skillful will; see yourself acting with courage, determination, and discipline in specific activities.

You can practice using the will to transform yourself by identifying a personality pattern you seek to change, identifying its opposite virtue, and then releasing the old pattern and affirming the new one.

The practice of meditation also organizes the mental body, which will then allow you to use willpower.

Goodwill:  The next step is developing unselfish purpose, a benevolent disposition  towards others and the good of all life. Goodwill expresses compassion, generosity and forgiveness, and it nourishes the spirit of understanding which fosters cooperation. Goodwill is identifying yourself with another person or with something greater than yourself, a larger purpose. It is the obedience of your personal will to higher feelings such as altruistic love.  Goodwill can function as a harmonizing energy and a saving force. 

Goodwill is our first attempt to express the love of God.  It can be an atmospheric conditioner, setting a positive vibrational field for accomplishing constructive goals.  It can create a pathway between higher spiritual realities and human life, building an inlet for the inflow of transformative, spiritual energies. 

Goodwill builds right human relations, for when goodwill controls your mental, emotional and physical bodies, you come into right relationship with others. It is a code of action which provides a guide for conduct in a wide variety of situations leading you towards selflessness and being.

The Will-to-Good:  The next step is an awakening of the spiritual will, or will of the soul, which takes possession of your personal will and gradually transforms it.  It is an alignment process, where you recognize the Divine Plan, the higher plan for humanity, and learn to embody it.  You constantly work to expand your capacity to identify with a larger purpose.  This is only possible if the focus of your life is in the mental, rather than the emotional, nature.

The will-to-good leads to a dynamic, powerful and effective focus of service in your life.  It works with the process of evolution and initiation, and with the ultimate Purpose of life. When you transmit the will-to-good to others, it can stimulate goodwill in them.

A good seed thought to meditate on is:  “The will-to-good of the world knowers is the magnetic seed of the future.”

Embodying God’s Will:  This is the final step when you renounce your personal will and become a stream of Universal will or Divine will. This will is a synthesis of the spiritual will, the will of the human soul and personal or self-will. Your individual will is then endowed with a new power, rather than being annihilated or diminished, and is transfigured by submitting to Divine will and merging with it.

This results in clear intention--a state of mind with a great tension ready to be released to accomplish an important labor.  It also results in determination--an attitude that never gives up until the Divine Plan is fulfilled. Obstacles only increase the inner tension.  Persistence is another result, based on continuous advancement and labor to achieve the goal and the Plan.

To strengthen your alignment with Universal will, you can use the following affirmation:  “In the center of the Will of God I stand.  Naught shall deflect my will from His.  I implement that Will by love, and turn to the field of service.”