Poll on Willpower: is it ego, free will or spiritual power? May 1, 2012

Willpower  comes from “Will” which does not refer to one particular or most preferred desire but rather to the general capacity to have such desiderata and act decisively to achieve them, according to whatever criteria the willing agent applies.

One of the repeating questions discussed in the Western philosophical tradition since Christianization is the question of “free will“, and the related but more general notion of fate, which asks how will can be truly free if the actions of people have natural or divine causes which determine them, but which are not really under the control of people. The question is directly connected to discussions of what Freedom is, and also the “problem of evil“, because it brings into question whether people really cause their own acts.

In idealist models of reality, the material world is either non-existent or is a secondary artifact of the “true” world of ideas. In such worlds, it can be said that everything is an act of will. Even if you are arrested by the police, this is actually an act of your will, too; if you didn’t want it to happen, you could have decided otherwise.

And what is your option about it? Does the free will exist? If yes, how strong can it be?  Do you think many people possess it? If not why? – please share your ideas as a comment.

The Poll is for those who do not like to post a comment but happy to press a button 🙂

thanks!

axinia

The ego is like a rose May 28, 2009

 (image by me)

The ego is like the rose and also like the thorns which surround the rose. It takes the place of the thorns when it is not
cultivated, and it becomes a rose when it is refined.

When the ego remains in the condition of a thorn, more thorns come; and more and more, till it increases its thorns to such an
extent that everyone who touches that person is dissatisfied. We all have friends to whom we should be most grateful if they
would keep away from us. We love them, we like them, but we would be very glad if they would keep away. What is it? It is
the thorns that hurt.

In what way do these thorns manifest? They manifest in the form of words, of actions, of desires, in the form of manner. Why
does one feel annoyed with certain people in life, even before they have uttered one word? Because the thorn is pricking.
Perhaps that person will say, ‘But I have not said anything, I have not done anything,’ but he does not know that he has thorns;
there are perhaps so many that even before he utters one word, before he moves, his presence pricks us. It is a natural
outcome of the ego. Either the ego develops thorns, or it develops into a rose; and when it develops into a rose, then everyone
is attracted to it because of its beautiful petals, its delicacy, its fragrance, its color, its softness, its structure. Everything about it
is attractive, appealing, and healing.

For every soul there are four stages to pass through in order to come to the culmination of the ego, which means to reach the
stage of the rose.

The first stage is that a person is rough, thoughtless and inconsiderate. He is interested in what he wants and
in what he likes; as such he is naturally blind to the needs and wants of others.

Your Heart: is it weak or strong? April 21, 2008

 photo by axinia

It is not merely romantic nonsense to say that the heart is the seat of your love and compassion. It is a fact. We open our heart to those that are closest to us both in a physical way (by demonstration of affection and generous action) and in a subtle way though the feeling of tenderness and overwhelming concern we have for them.

We say someone is closed hearted when they seem uncaring and selfish, and we call them open hearted when they give to all without a question. These are real examples of power of the heart to help or hinder our enjoyment of life.

A weak heart chakra can show up in may different ways, for example through mean spirited actions, or though deep insecurities which drive us to be selfish through fear. We can find evidence of a weak heart centre in those who are overly neurotic or frail, or in those who question everyone`s motives. Even overly ascetic people can be victims of this problem.