Will: The secret ingredient
Thy Will Be Done is more than a tagline.
I’ve gone two days without a shower. Fortunately, my dog doesn’t mind.
Part of me blames J.G. Bennett and his Decision Exercise, but it goes deeper than that. This curious force, which we call Will, forms the core of the human experience. If you could unplug it, you would experience (using SpaceX jargon) a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly. That’s because Will forms the connection between our physical being and the higher worlds. Without it, we are a bag of bones.
Back in my Sufi days, at the Institute for Conscious Life, Bennett’s students initiated us in the Decision Exercise. It’s remarkably simplistic for an exercise that carries life-changing significance. You visualize a simple task before bed and complete it in the morning. The deeper levels include agreement, feeling, and acknowledgement, but what’s important is that it builds Will. It’s a quiet Will, and not a huff-and-puff effort or an exercise that requires Post-it Notes or setting alarms on your phone.
Ultimately, this Will becomes the measure of who you are.
Will can be built in other ways — training for the marathon, building a house, or writing a book. One of the issues with students turning in AI-written papers is that they miss the purpose of the exercise: to build Will.
As we mature, Will demands less emotional effort because as we drop resistance, Will remains.
My deepest insight into Will came from Bhagwan. (From my book, Uplift:)
Years later, I asked Dr. Bhagwan Awatramani, my meditation teacher of 25 years and a former doctor, to explain Karen’s miraculous recovery:
“Bhagwan, Karen had seven months to live, but survived? What is that? Was it her healing regimen?”
“No, not at all,” Bhagwan casually replied. We were at an Indian buffet.
“It’s not?” I blurted. “Karen never missed a beat!”
“It’s all about the will to live,” Bhagwan answered while tearing off a piece of naan.
The will to live became my koan and an enigma. The will to live is not about desperation or willfulness. It’s the task of keeping the flame in that lighthouse lit to guide the ships home.
I would write this much more forcefully today. The will that gave Karen nine vital years of life was more like a lightsaber in the hands of a Jedi knight than a flickering flame.
This takes me to the issue of not showering. I am determined to get this book out the door next month — even if it means not sleeping.
Why such a push? I need to clear the deck for what’s coming next. This Substack has always been part of this book. It’s also the means by which I have acted upon this question:
Is it possible to completely reinvent one’s life after suffering a significant loss in one’s seventies?
I’m not the first one to try for another swing at bat, but maybe the first to blog the process under an esoteric microscope. It has been an enormous exercise in trust — to flip the breaker of personal consideration and say yes to every cockamamie invitation that comes my way. My “radical yes” experiment put to the test:
Do we live in a beneficent universe?
Can we live a vibrant life without self-consideration?
If we are on a karmic journey, are life’s experiences tailor-made for growth, rather than self-satisfaction?
As we become freer within, does life speed up in tandem with our capacity?
Is aging a result of mental resistance, rather than parts wearing out?
I always knew this Substack would be a book. I plan to make it available at cost to my 201 subscribers (in the hope of receiving Amazon reviews), which means that if everyone buys a copy, I will have lost hundreds of dollars from production expenses.
Add the fact that this has been a 2 1/2 year project when I should have been earning a living, and most nights working past midnight.
What’s the end game?
The answer is the Decision Exercise. A project put into motion must be completed. It’s not a crazy rule; it’s how I’m wired.
My question about Bondo (the capacity to form and maintain intimate relationships) is the question for now, especially for younger people raised in a digital age.
As AI increasingly synthesizes everything we watch, read, or listen to (making all media suspect), people will seek out face-to-face encounters for authentic Bondo experiences.
Additionally, as I have learned from the previous four books (all of which were financial failures), the return on investment comes from within. Authoring a book is an integration exercise in the Jungian sense, and integration of one’s life story is essential to complete your earth mission. Writing a book isn’t the only way, but in the process you take deep ownership of everything you’ve been given.
Regarding Integration, from Rowan Davis https://substack.com/@rowandavis
I’ve been thinking about the myth of Sisyphus:
“His subsequent cheating of death earns him eternal punishment in the underworld, once he dies of old age. The gods forced him to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.” ~ Wikipedia
Each book may be another boulder, but any endeavor we attach our hopes to is Sisyphean by nature. I’ve been burned by hope enough times to realize that God is pulling a toy mouse on the end of a string.
Expectation is the red death. ~ Rumi
The book is a tragicomedy with enough pathos for tears and enough humor to remind you that I’m from Chicago. Here’s the current title. Not sure about the cover design:
There are hundreds of photos, romantic suspense, and deep inquiry into the most pressing questions of life — all with a comedic edge. Please buy a copy when it comes out. I will give plenty of notice of the big discount.
Thank you for being one of my 201 subscribers. Once I complete the book next month, I will get back to our regularly scheduled blog articles.
Now, time for a bowl of granola and a midnight shower.
Be well, Bruce
I like your proposed cover....