February 21 – April 20
The Will is a powerful energy, possibly the most powerful energy in the Universe.
It is the First Aspect of Divinity, the one that most directly reveals and expresses its essential nature. It has been said that humanity must arrive at three realizations of Divinity: God as Mind, God as Love and God as Will; it is said that this realization is only at the embryonic stage in humanity today.
A further achievement shall be to understand that God is an intelligent, loving Will, a synthetic concept, since it includes the three aspects of Divinity known by mankind to date.
Unfortunately up to now synthesis and harmony between the three aspects is very rare. Intelligence, and mental activity, are widely used, but often used without love and for selfish purposes. There is also an abundance of love in an emotional sense, but this is applied without intelligence to illuminate and guide it.
But on a more dangerous note, mankind uses the power of the will in a way which is generally not loving at all; it is a will which is selfishly applied for personal gain.
One might even suggest that, in reality, the present situation of humanity in today’s world chiefly arises from the fact that those who have will have no will to good, and that those who have love are partly or wholly lacking in will: they are weak, timid, lazy.
Directing the Will
Therefore, having evoked the will, one must determine the way in which it should be applied. Of course it should be used for the purpose of Good; in other words, the Goodwill promotes harmony and unity which is expressed by Humanity as Right Human Relations. Goodwill can be considered as the third stage or the third aspect of the Will: Will, Will to Good, Goodwill
Expressed symbolically, Goodwill tears down walls and obstacles and builds bridges: it is accompanied by right action.
The benefits that all people will enjoy from the use of goodwill, that is a will which benefits the common good, should be obvious. It is important to recognise that we can remain ourselves, even if we make small concessions to others, and that the path of altruism and integration is one that is of value to everyone.
The values of honesty, sincerity and cooperation are therapeutic for Humanity as a whole, just as exploitation, dishonesty and intransigence are disruptive and destructive elements to us all. Therefore, not only should we develop tolerance of one other, but we must also develop a true interest in the well-being of others. We can achieve this by developing an active and effective will at all times, which strives to produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Training for Good Will
In order to train our will in this way, it will be necessary to eliminate two negative personality traits, namely self-pity and self-criticism and to encourage two positive traits, namely humor and joy.
Self-pity is tied to egocentric thinking, it creates negative feelings within us, such as disillusionment, mistrust, and envy, and it can lead us to inaction and pessimism.
Criticism is a form of aggression which attacks and hurts those who cannot defend themselves, creating wounds and suffering.
Humour, which is the ability to smile about the world and ourselves, makes it possible to defuse the little irritations in our daily life, and reduce them to “right proportions,”as Roberto Assagioli would say.
The unique kind of wisdom which is joy, bestows upon the world a subtle divine perfume which is capable of transforming pain into bliss, as Dante Alighieri reminds us.
It is useful to take a relaxed stance at the outset with training the will. We shall gradually overcome the inevitable “limits of goodness,” until we finally adapt the “Principle of Goodwill” into our own individual lifestyle.
This article contains excerpts and a synthesis from the book “Laws and Principles of the New Age”, published by Editrice Nuova Era