Lou Weir, Diamond Approach Teacher
In the Diamond Approach, will is considered one of the basic qualities of essence which help us to rest in our being just as we are. And it is also practical and gives us the qualities of steadfastness, confidence, and, ultimately, a kind of effortlessness. The Will quality can be either solid and powerful or light and delicate, depending on the situation. It is a quality of our true nature and our birthright.
Our nature is not only the sense of this invincible, unshakable presence, but it is also, at once, 100% light and open, completely open with no obstruction, and this is the feeling of freedom, complete, open freedom, freedom and invincibility, openness, and presence.
This freshness and openness are only available in the present moment; that is why we practice presence both in an implied way and very directly, both in our meditation and our sensing practice. Essence is always present. The ego only knows how to determine its actions by its history.
So instead of this openness and complete freedom of essence. The ego is positioning itself, trying to manipulate things. As a result, feeling determined for the ego ends up being a choice between being passive or being willful when it comes to our Essential Will. When we are separated from our nature, we are immediately in a world of conflict. So, to feel our willfulness, stubbornness, and hardness, we are coming up with a false sense of groundedness and invincibility, a sense of firmness, but the firmness is a rigidity. Or we give in.
So the false will has two faces; acquiescence, submissiveness, and giving up our Will or the need to dominate, control, assert one’s Will, and have one’s way. And we tend to go on one side or the other, and we can go back and forth from one side to the other in different situations.
When we are removed from our True Will, we are not able to experience the openness and the steadfastness at the same time as one thing, where there is openness and firmness, where there is a determination that allows all the possibilities, where there is a feeling of presence that has a firmness to it and resiliency. Still, it has a sense of complete lightness and openness simultaneously.
So, most of the time, when in our “ordinary” life, the ego is positioning itself. This activity removes you from this fluid foundation of support for just being here. The false will tries to make up the difference by being hard and forceful, pushing through. While this can accomplish some things, it removes you from your ground of being.
In the Diamond Approach, the way back is to look at the issues and barriers to this quality with interest and curiosity to see what is true. A self-exploration, using Diamond Inquiry, looking at these issues allows them to be understood, and the truth can then come through. We can be more in touch with these spiritual qualities of essence, including Will. This can support us to rest in being just as we are without trying to be anything except our authentic selves.
Next month, further discussion of Will in the Diamond Approach, including examples of how the process works.
