True Will
According to Crowley, is the discovery and manifestation of one’s unique True Will is the central task of every Thelemite. True Will is an idea that could be described in its dynamic aspect as the singular path of possible action that encounters no resistance in going because it is supported by the inertia of the whole Universe; theoretically, no two True Wills can contradict each other because each one has its own absolutely unique career in its passage through Infinite Space. Hence, to follow one’s True Will means to respect all True Wills, described as "Love is the law, love under will". The apparent pacifism of this doctrine is complicated, however, by the possibility that the majority of beings do not know their True Will.
A study of the ego seems to be the next logical step In knowing what our True Will is...So that we can do it....
Crowley... "The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one’s own True Will, or of the means by which to fulfill that Will." (from Magick, Book 4, p. 127)
How can we percieve to know our Will If we don't know ourself?
Eckhart Tolle...I believe speaks directly to this topic in his book "A New Earth"
He tells us, we all have a voice in our head, (a mental dialog). Some of these dialogs come from centuries of experiences, while others come from our families, culture, and other influences. These experiences come with a full-aray of emotions. When we are not conscious, these diologs along with the emotion attached to them take over while you are on auto pilot.
So, If we are to "Do what thou wilt" we must not be on auto piot. We must be awake! Present in the moment.
Tolle, describes how the attachment to these dialogs, and the emotions connected to them, feed the ego. The attachement of past events and feelings have a need to fill and is never saticfied. Every action or reaction to this kind of dialog is a means to an end....To feed the ego..."Most people are so completely identified with the voice in there head and the emotions that accompany them."
Tolle: "As long as you are unaware of this, you take the thinker to be who you are. This is the egoic mind" ( not the true you) He also says that ,every thought, memory, interpretation, reaction ,and emotion is part of this egoic mind. And is "unconsciousness" spiritually speaking.
"The minds endless preoccuption of the past and future and it's unwillingness to be one with life by living in alignment with the inevitable isness of the present moment." " Whenever you allow this moment to be as it is, you disolve time as well as ego." "For the ego to survive, It must make time- past and future, more important than the present moment."
It seems this ego veils us from who we truley are and our Will. We are not those event's...Those are past and gone...only the shadow remains. Today is a new day! Wake up! Live present! Stay in the moment!
"One canot do one’s True Will intelligently unless one knows what it is." (from Magick, Book 4, p.174)
"A man who is doing his True Will has the inertia of the Universe to assist him." (from Magick, Book 4, p.128)
"Know firmly, O my Son, that the True Will connot err; for it is thine appointed Course in Heaven, in whose Order is Perfection." (from Liber Aleph, p. 13)
"True Will should spring, a fountain of Light, from within, and flow unchecked, seething with Love, into the Ocean of Life." (from Little Essays Towards Truth, p.76)
The sole test of one's Lordship is to know what our True Will is, and to do it.
Beauty and strength, come from doing one's will.
We must become aware of our true selves.
Crowley's "The Law Is For All"
So how do we do our Will if we don’t know what it is?
And how can we do our Will if we are unconscious about who we truley are?
Crowley, also says: on pg. 282 "Magic in Theory and Practice"
"All experiences contribute to make us complete in ourselves. We feel ourselves subject to them so long as we fail to recognize this; when we do, we perceive that they are subject to us. And whenever we strive to evade an experience, whatever it may be, we thereby do wrong to ourselves. We thwart our own tendencies. To live is to change; and to oppose change is to revolt against the law which we
have enacted to govern our lives". "And every failure to incorporate any impression starves the particular faculty which stood in need of it."
Tolle says: What ever you fight you strengthen, and whatever you resist persists"
"Recognize the ego for what it is, a collective dysfunction, the insanity of the mind.
when the ego is at war, know that it is an illusion fighting to survive. The illusion thinks it is you." "Awareness and ego are incompatible. Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment." "The ultimate purpose of human existence is to bring this power into the world."
"Only being present in the moment can transform your consciousness."
When you are conscious and aware in the moment you can learn to recognize the difference from the ego and your true self...and what is truly important to you... We all know that action speaks louder than words.
I think that when all the books say that we must take action ...it is only partly true.. Some time the best action is non-reaction.
Crowley: "For pure will unassuaged of purpose delivered from the lust of result is in every way perfect"
Tolle: "When you are present, when your attention is fully in the NOW, that presents will flow into and transform what you do. There will be quality and power in it. you are present when what you are
doing is not primarily a means to an end."
This makes sense to me that we might not know our our True self and our True Will or Pure Will if we have a big fat ego in our way... Tolle gives some very good examples in his book about how to recognize this ego.. So that we can know our self...and keep the ego in check. Once we do that, I think we may know what our will is and do it.