Will vs. Desire

WILL VERSUS DESIRE. Set side by side, will and desire look different — as different as the two words sound — as different as the concepts in reality inherently are.

Far from identical are they; nay, they are strictly opposites. And yet, quite often the one is confounded with the other.

When a person works ambitiously for self-satisfaction — to gain wealth or fame, — authority or other worldly success — such a one is wrongly called strong-willed. It's not a case of will, only of strong desire.

In contrast, often wrongly dubbed desire is the aspiration for realization of an ideal and for evolutionary progress.

Will is endowment of the soul, coming down from on high; while desire is a propelling force in the personality, welling up from below. In other words; will expresses the power of spirit; desire derives its being from qualities of matter.

Will manifests where wisdom dwells; desires thrives where ignorant reigns.

Will grows stronger by renunciation; desire is intensified by gratification.

Will establishes stability; desire produces restlessness.

Will liberates and uplifts; desire enslaves and debases.

With progressive evolution will will expand into absolute will divine, while desire dissolves into desireless-ness.

Will is destined to triumph over desire.

Between the two — between will and desire — stands mind. Directed downward into matter, mind feeds desire; directed upward toward spirit, it supports the will.

If mind sides with desire — as it so often does — the will can hardly find effective expression. Mind must combine with will to nullify the unworthy instigations of persistent desire.

Not until the mind stops stimulating desire, can the will become sufficiently strong and free to extricate the soul from the perilous snares of provocative senses.

{excerpt from "Conquest of the Serpent"}