"You cannot travel on the path until you become the path itself"
.......Buddha
This article deals with certain key aspects of the self, mainly of the forces acting upon the
control and processes within a being that direct the actions of a being. The awareness of
these forces is vital for providing the necessary handle for the Self in order to attain mastery
over internal control and processes, to get to the totality of the Self - which means the
development and completeness of the given potential of a being.
Several major concepts are dealt with in substantial detail, all of which are vital and
indispensable, but of course, inter-related and inter-connected, and it is this inter
-relationship that is the crux of this article. But the central force of a Being - the Will is the
key that connects everything and so the concept of the Will is crucial for understanding
the inter-relationship between the forces, controls and processes of the Self. The integrity
( the extent of integration ! ) of the Self depends upon the inter-relation and coordination
of these three aspects. The Spirit is indispensable for the moral integrity of a Being, and
so that is also covered in detail in this article. In a well integrated Self, the distinguishing
lines between these tend to disappear or dissolve, however their usefulness for the
intellect continues ( as tools for expression ) even after that.
2.7.1 GOALS
"Any man who has known
real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real Will
knows quite well that he has no need of any guarantee to be sure
of his
goals; their certitude comes from his own drive." .......Simone de Beauvoir
"Goal setting is
obviously a powerful process...the manifestation of creative
imagination and independent will. It's the practicality of...translating vision
into achievable, actionable doing." ......
Stephen R. Covey
DEFINITION
Identified as programs or conditions or states of the mind which influence or
control or initiate or generate other programs or states in order to achieve a
state of fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness or pleasure.
( or avoid a state of pain, etc)
Basically it refers to a desired state of mind which, when fulfilled, can said
to have achieved that goal sought after.
"Goals too clearly defined can become blinkers".........Mary Catherine Bateson
It can also be defined as a desire for or a striving for something- a state of
mind or a state of being or for the accomplishment of a physical, mental
or material task. Goals are control programs that are generated when
we desire or strive for a state of being that will fulfil (a state of
fulfillment ) those desires.
They also arise when we are not satisfied with an existing state of being
and we set ourselves towards a projected state of being ( a projection
that may be changed or modified as one progresses.)
In a new born being , the most basic and primary goal is that of survival
which is inbuilt and which more or less remains the most potent goal in
the life of the being . Most other goals can said to be secondary
offshoots of this most powerful driving force of the self.
Apart from this primary inbuilt control program for physical survival, there
are other "general purpose control programs", distinct from the primal
survival programs whose functions are less well defined but the
general nature of these is to seek a secondary "goal
seeking metaprogram."
"A sense of curiosity is nature's original school of education."
.......Smiley Blanton
In the simplest of language this can be termed as "curiosity metaprograms",
whose function is a property of the " intelligence hardware " - the cortex
and neocortex.
These become active when the primary goals are in neutral state or a
satisfied state, that is, the primary survival control programs are
inactive.
The main function of these "Goal seeking programs" is to seek stimulus -
primarily sensory input stimuli to satisfy its control requirements. In
other words, we can say that the higher intelligence functions generate
curiosity metaprograms that seek stimuli of a higher order of satisfaction
or fulfillment than those provided by the fixed survival programs, ( once
these primal control programs are in a state of fulfillment).
"Curiosity is free-wheeling intelligence'.....Alistair Cooke
It is important to note that the secondary control metaprograms do not override
the primary control programs, rather are subservient to them. It is only at an
advanced state of structural development does the being's self -developed
control metaprograms are "able" to accomplish control over the primal ones.
"The first principle of ethical power is Purpose.
By purpose, I don't mean your
objective or intention - something toward which you are always striving.
Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the
kind of person you want to be"...........Kenneth Blanchard
DEFINITION : A Purpose is a consciously realised or developed "Goal seeking
Program" or in other words, a self-developed control program that seeks
to accomplish something or attain a state of mind or state of being.
"Not to engage in the
pursuit of ideas is to live like ants
instead of men"....Mortimer Adler
A Purpose/s is sort of necessary in order to realise one's potential, and yet, just
the accomplishment of these Purposes is by itself may not be as rewarding as
the process of reaching towards these purposes( in terms of experience gained).
"When you reach
for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won't
come up with a handful of mud either"....Leo Burnette
Without consciously realised or developed Goals ( Purposes ), the Goals
generated by the default operations of the subconscious then become the
eventual control programs that determine almost all of the behavior.
"All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity
is easy. Stay away from easy......Scott Alexander
Although having purpose is necessary for self-realisation and the complete
development of one's own potential, a purpose by itself is not sufficient,
at least for the Right development of one's potential.
The other vital element for this is :
"Power"or "Spirit" and thereby its manifest medium - Will.
"You can do anything you want to do, if you know what to do"..Betty Carter
2.7.2 SPIRIT OR MORAL POWER:
"The nature of Spirit
may be understood by a glance at its direct opposite
Matter. As the essence of Matter is Gravity, so...we may affirm that the
substance, the essence of Spirit is Freedom."............ Hegel
Is that hidden essence of nature that creates, sustains and
animates all life forms and even resources in the world.
The animating and dynamic manifestation or emanation of
the essence of reality. The moral guiding force.
Although this sounds sort of religious, but is not meant to be so. It
is possible to know, realise and express oneself without the use of the
concept of spirit, soul etc. But in this work of personal validity,
metaphysical concepts like soul, spirit , essence etc are considered
as valuable conceptual tools ; with the understanding that these are
not definitive concepts that can be defined or measured by physical
concepts, but only to be used sparingly and artistically as and
when an expression demands their usage as necessary for
complete expression.
Frivolous and redundant use must be avoided.
An attempt has therefore been made to visualise these metaphysical
concepts in as open a manner as possible, so that the usage of these
in any expression will necessitate a creative or imaginative effort
upon the part of the user.
This is vital in order to avoid the traps into which all religions fall into,
that is, the trap of trying to institutionalise or systematise that which can
never ever be confined within definitive or limited institutional or
systemic parameters. Any conceptualisation of the Spirit is therefore
essentially and necessarily only a personal one, not subject to
agreement of any sort, and definitely cannot be objectified.
Furthermore, another warning is in order here : Without any
personal experience to support any concept, specially
metaphysical concepts like Spirit, makes their use in
any expression meaningless and misleading.
THE CONCEPTUALISATION OF THE SPIRIT
"In keeping with its
original wind-nature, spirit is always an active, winged,
swift-moving being as well as that which vilifies, stimulates, incites, fires,
and inspires. To put it in modern language, spirit is the dynamic principle,
forming for that very reason the classic
antithesis of matter - the
antithesis that is, of its stasis and inertia. Basically it is the contrast
between life and death........C. G. Jung.
( WARNING ! Any understanding, any conception of
the Spirit must be based upon direct personal experience
and not induced, inferred from other sources )
1. The foremost conceptualisation of the Spirit is that it is the
dynamic or instantaneous manifestation of the essence of all life.
The essence of all life is conceived here as the soul.
Thus the soul is the vital timeless essence, the real substance, the
real value underlying all life, and the spirit is the metaforce that
animates the body and soul in a living being.
The Spirit is the animating life force of a living being, the force of
its real value and worth.
2. The Spirit is that force or Power that CAUSES OR FORCES
RIGHTFUL ACTION. By that is meant that the the Spirit is
that MORAL FORCE that gives the RIGHT DIRECTION to the
WILLFUL actions and expressions of a being.
3. It is that which rarely bids an action, but that which FORBIDS
wrongful action by a being, by causing EMPATHY and COMPASSION
within a being towards other beings.
4. The force that makes the soul or essence of a being alive and
accessible to the being, as that which then makes a being aware of
one's inner predilections, goals and purposes. The potentiating
force of the essence of a being.
5. Another conception that also has significance is that of Spirit as
Energy or Power, i.e., that which energises or empowers. Here in
this work, Spirit is that energy that is recognised as the resource
behind Power, especially personal Power, which is a derived
combination of Spirit and one's developed physical faculty of
intelligence and its manifest direction or director - Will.
6. As Potency : Two kinds of potencies are indicated here : The
Spirit as the source and resource for Moral potency and
Intelligence as a potency that potentates the Will.
7. As a guiding force of one's creativity as well as destiny, as that
essence that transcends death as a consequence of one's creative
actions or expressions.
8 . Sustaining Resource : As a world resource of sustenance, that
when used, regenerates, but its disuse depletes this resource.
The critical depletion means that the world cannot sustain,
and that life
will self - destruct as a consequence.
Every human being has,
like Socrates, an attendant spirit; and wise
are they who obey its signals. If it does not always tell us what to do,
it always cautions us what not to do.....Lydia Maria Child
MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SPIRIT :
The following are some generalisations about how the Spirit manifests,
and it is important to note ( WARNING ! ) at the outset that these
generalisations are only indicative and not definitive :
The Spirit in order to manifest or regenerate in a being, requires as a
rule ( but there can be exception to this ) the being to bid for it by
forceful and Willful actions in which the being seeks the right
course of action in accordance or in harmony with
one's predilections or one's own realised
( or in the process of realisation )
core nature ( soul).
Thus we can say that Willfully and forcefully seeking the Right
course in all of one's actions and expressions constitutes a bid
for the Spirit.
The Spirit demands a passionate bidding on the part of a being - a bidding
in which the price can be, and as a rule is, as high as death. A being
therefore can only approach the Spirit when the Will of the being has
conquered or overpowered one's own survival force. When mere survival
and social conformity have be cast aside, though not carelessly.
When a being has accepted completely, death as a constant companion ;
to take the being where ever and when ever it comes. The constant
awareness of death as the only force that can overcome the survival
force, so that the manifestation of the Spirit is possible.
The Spirit, as a rule, cannot manifest in a being who is passive, or who
seeks only to escape from the cycle of life and death, or who seeks an
easy way out, or who does not take full responsibility for the condition
of life ( personal, social and environmental ) in which the being exists.
The Spirit will accept the genuine bid, but will put the bidder to the
test of this genuineness in a situation where the bidder's life itself is
likely to be at stake, or at the very least one's physical security, ( or
financial security ! ) social acceptance, comfort or well being may
well need to be sacrificed.
How and when this happens can never be known beforehand, but the
seeker must be always prepared, or perpetually on one's toes, or at
the very least open to the possibility of this occurring even in the most
bizarre or unlikely of conditions. The most probable indication of
this occurrence is when a personal crisis faces the seeker.
The serious bidder who fails the test, if lucky, dies, or worse, turns into a
destructive creature. But the bidder who is successful, will then have to
further first attune or harmonise one's Will to the Spirit and only then,
interpret ( with developed or learned knowledge and intelligence )
and act upon the command of the Spirit for the rest of one's life, as
and when required, or as and when the Spirit makes its own bidding.
Only that part of the "Spirit of the World" or "Great Spirit "is accessible for
use to a being that is in accordance and predilection to one's given
nature. ( Limited access ). However this access can be enhanced and
expanded by one's creative actions.
How far and wide one can go will depend upon one's own developed
and realized Will. The quality of interpretation and its expression mostly
depend upon one's own developed knowledge, intelligence and Will.
Its social and environmental applicability will reflect its essence, though it
can never be measured by any fixed standards, only by its potential for
transforming other beings into unique and creative individuals.
Spirit or Moral Power is only as good as, and effective, as long
as it is put to use in actions that have life enhancing results.
Although everyone at birth has a minimal quantum of moral
power, in this age and times, this is easily lost or dissipated
in most people in the process of making a living. The only
way it can be retained and even enhanced is by right
actions and decisions at crucial junctures early in one's
life, especially those actions that are creative : that is,
not related to anything in the past.
Right action comes before everything else.
What one expresses in a creative manner is therefore even
more important than what one only experiences.
And this is the only general command of the Spirit :
Its reflection in creative action and expression.
REGRESSION and REGENERATION OF THE SPIRIT
The Spirit weakens, depletes and recedes by wrongful, destructive,
deceitful and abusive actions, but regenerates by righteous, creative,
constructive and inspiring actions and expressions. The bottom line
is : what are one's actions and expressions inducing others to do or
emulate as an example.
Do one's actions inspire others to be creative or to be destructive ?
Or do they induce others into dull conformity and escape from responsibility ?
Does one's expressions point out the dividing line between Right and Wrong ?
Do they help in differentiating truth from falsehood, and do they throw any
light on that thin
dividing line between creativity and destructivity ?
Supplimentary article : Spirit
2.7.3 THE WILL
"For what is liberty but the unhampered translation
of Will into
act?".....Georges
Jacques Danton
" Our will is always for our own good, but we do not
always see what that
is"... Jean Jacques Rousseau
DEFINITION : Will is that property or attribute of a being whose
manifestation, realisation and expression are the hallmarks of the true
individual. So it can be said that a being's potential is realised through
the strength and power of the being's Will in harmony and support of
the faculties of reason, intuition, emotions as well as the
instinctive faculty.
Champions aren't made
in gyms. Champions are made from something
they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to
have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
..........Muhammad Ali
And so it can be said that the Will
has power to accomplish.
"A man can do all things if he but wills them"...Leon Battista Alberti
Will is the subtle driving force that arises from within but is
distinct from the survival force or the moral force (spirit), it
however can and does align with either. The Will in order to
be morally potent must be consciously realised, developed
and sustained in support to and from the spirit.
The Will can also be considered as a resultant of one's talents &
predilections ( these may be physical, that is, hardwired or these
may be non-physical or a combination of both) whether these are
inbuilt or developed.
Will is thus indicative of direction and purpose.
For a start, there must be some cognition of the Will, and
only through experience, experiment and expression can
the Will be developed further, in order for it to become a
powerful and potent force. A complete realisation of the
Will leads to the totality of a being, once the being has been
able to achieve a minimal integration of the resources and
faculties ( integration of the sub and supra conscious ) of
the being.
This integrated totality of a being opens up endless
possibilities to further develop the Will, that once
emerged from the past, into the future as Intent.
To what extent the Will can be expanded depends
upon the remaining resources available for the
being, in terms of Time and 'Energy', once the
being has a certain grasp of its totality.
The expression of one's realised and developed Will is what
constitutes the uniqueness of the individual, the lack of which
means that one is then subject solely to the Will of others and
entirely dependent upon social and cultural norms that
then determines choices and behavior.
Will is a tricky affair when one realises that one's Will indicates
abstract or undefinable goals. In this case one has to be sensitive
to the manifestation of the onset of one's Will, the conditions and
the interpreted indications by fine tuning one's intuitive and
instinctive faculties.
Certain eastern culture's religious practices aim at diminishing
the will down to non-existence, since the Will, especially strong
Will is associated with ego and is perceived to be destructive.
Although it is true that a strong will is likely to be destructive,
however without strong will there can be no creativity either,
and a society that does not value this, degenerates rapidly,
since no social change or transformation (required with time)
can take place without providing a space for strong willed
individuals.
"Human beings cannot be willed and molded into
nonexistence.".......Angela Davies
A society that does not take risks, only churns out dummies of
idealised people, who can do nothing else except supervise
temples or churches or indulge in meaningless rituals. They
can only teach fatalism of the worst kind in which every
thing, including destruction is to be accepted as inevitable.
It is only exceptional and strong willed individuals that can
correct the course of society and save it from degeneration.
"It is not by spectacular achievements that man can be
transformed, but by Will."......Henrik Ibsen
In this work then, Will is understood as a personal attribute
of the self, that has a potency and potential that is vital for
not only creativity but also for the realisation and complete
development of a unique self, and finally to develop the Will
as a force projecting into the future as Intent.
"You must take the Will for the deed"............Jonathan Swift
2.7.4 MORAL POWER ( Spirit ) Vs WILL POWER
and INTENT
It is critically important to distinguish between Moral power and Will
power, for to not make this distinction can completely alter the course
of a being's life at crucial junctures.
To examine this relationship further, one can say that without Will,
power is useless socially, ( i.e., for a positive social cause), at best only
for personal enlightenment or escape into isolation. Power in that
case only works to diminish one's desires to nothing, to attain a
state of tranquility or nirvana or nothingness.
The only problem perceived in this work of Personal Validity with
having no Will, or diminishing one's Will to extinction is that there
is no expressive, creative or contributory value to society in this,
whereas the individual always has a price to pay to society and
the world for the resources so consumed. The assumption in this
work is that there is no escape from this responsibility.
The Will therefore is considered in this work as a vital element
of the Self : a central force : to be realised, developed and
expressed and in doing so acquires power and potency.
That this Will power can be constructive or destructive depends
upon moral power. The two kinds of power are not as separate
as the analysis seems to indicate, rather they are intertwined,
they compete, oppose as well as compliment each other, and
together constitute what can be called personal power whose
manifest results in actions generates INTENT.
Therefore Intent is the resultant of Spirit and Will.
Intent is generated as a result of forceful actions.
All Willful actions generate Intent.
"Every action of
our lives touches on some chord that will
vibrate in eternity.".......E. H. Chapin
Even the simple defiance of a tyrannical authority or
order generates positive ( regenerative ) intent, as
does suffering under oppressive people, although
at times a mere passive
resistance is not enough.
The conceptual line between Spirit, Will and Intent is blurred
and so requires careful handling of the usage of these terms.
Specifically, the Spirit does not indicate purpose, Will does.
The Spirit is necessary as well as the catalyst for internal
transformation or change of attitudes for ascending moral
integrity, whereas the Will is the agent for external or
social transformation.
The Will cannot command or force the Spirit, whereas the
Spirit can direct or initiate the Will.
The Spirit cannot force action or actionable doing, the Will does.
Both are essential for the realisation as well as expressions of
the totality or essence of one's being.
Broadly speaking, Spirit is the primary and moral power, that is both
individual and collective to the beings in a world, Will is that individual
predilection that constitutes the motivating and potent driving force of
a being that combined with the faculties of intellect, intelligence and
instinct, generates goals, directions and purposes, and Intent is the
resultant of the actions of a being, that becomes Will for the
being/s of the future.
The only way a being can project something into the future is through
an act, not by inaction. And for reality to maintain a moral sequence, all
our present actions will find a reflection or an account in the future.
Intent is the medium of all the results of our actions.
"When I
investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens
and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living
among the gods"...........Leon
Battista Alberti
2.7.5 POTENTIAL
DEFINITION :
A capability or inherent capacity to attain, reach for, interact,
develop, perceive or experience. The given hardware (brain) has
a certain potential for intelligence, understanding or intuiting.
The overall biological being has a potential for instinct. And
beyond this there is an unknown potential of the non-physical
self. Not much can be said about this hidden potential except
that this must be in harmony with the physical potentials or
else the individual can come close to an unstable state that
can be personally damaging. Alternately, the hidden may get
suppressed and ineffective, leading one to a deceptive state
of existence (very common).
It must be noticed that the inherent property of the non-
physical self is to remain latent and hidden. Although
it is very active in a new born child, with growth and
development of the physical structures ( the brain, mind
etc ) this aspect of the self recedes increasingly into the
background, i.e., not in the active conscious operations,
and may even get totally suppressed by the physical
operations and their requirements for survival.
But the physical development is also a necessary process
and the key is to regain access to that hidden potential
before the physical has completely obliterated its
counterpart.
The non-physical potential can only be realised, whereas the
physical ( brain, intelligence) potential has to be first developed
as Will and into Power and only then can the non-physical
potential be manifest and realised.
Without development of the physical potential, the
non-physical potential gets sharply limited and inhibited.
By making the willful right choices, the potential of the two types
compliment each other, but by making willful wrong choices, the
real potential ( non-physical) dies out
Finally : A given potential has limits
2.7.6 LIMITS
" Thank God men cannot
as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as
the earth.".........Henry David Thoreau
"The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to
walk on this earth."................Chinese saying.
Whereas every being has a potential to be explored and expressed, this
potential and from it the developed force of the Will, has definite limitations
in the context of time and space.
While there may be no limitation in terms of what one may experience, in the
physical realm of time and space there are limits to what one may accomplish.
But these limits are not well defined and are knowable only by personal
experiment and experience.
"He is able who thinks he is able"......Buddha
What is of greater significance is that limits are themselves indicative of one's
capabilities or even predilections. Although most limitations are self-imposed,
but this is not consciously realised, and to breakthrough a certain limit
is a challenge that offers windows of opportunity for self analysis and
self-realisation.
"Every man takes the
limits of his own field of vision for the limits of
the world."......... Schopenhauer
Again not every limit or perceived limit is worthwhile taking on and one must
always keep in mind one's overall purpose and Will, for many limitations have
an inherent property only to test one's Will as well as one's worth.
"Impossibilities
are merely things of which we have not learned,
or which we do not wish to happen."...Charles W Chesnutt
Whatever constitutes a perceived limit is after all only defined by
one's own uniqueness and purpose. Limits are best seen in light of
the tests and challenges that these offer, and whether it is valid or
appropriate for oneself
to take on or avoid and accept.
"Understand that
most problems are a good sign. Problems indicate that
progress is being made, wheels are turning, you are moving toward your
goals. Beware when you have no problems. Then you've really got a
problem . . .".......Scott Alexander
With these basic concepts as link and support, and with the assumptions
as the starting point, the next part now proceeds into the core of this work
... Personal Validity
NEXT PAGE 11: PART 3 3.1 What is Personal Validity?