Will Is a Ray of Deity in Man; Desire, a Disturbing Power

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Franz Hartmann · Confusing Words Series · 8 pages

The distinction is stated in two lines at the head and then argued for: will creates intelligently, desire blindly and unconsciously; will is steady and constant, desire unstable and fickle. Will is the offspring of the divine, the God in man; desire is the motive power of the animal life. The metaphysical setting is that every objective manifestation requires two conditions — will and force, plus matter — and that these three are readily convertible into each other, behind the immutable cosmic laws standing an intelligent cause which, having set those laws in motion, infused into them the essence of its own consciousness.

Will is placed precisely: an emanation from the seventh and sixth principles of man, whose real function is to produce harmony between the law and man. Desire is a kamic principle and a disturbing power — from which the file draws a striking account of punishment, that the real suffering of Karma arises from the presence of desires which have to be repressed. The second half locates will in the body rather than the head: it is what a man desires with his heart, not what he merely imagines with his brain, that has real power, since will endows the creations of imagination with life, will and life being fundamentally identical. The life-giving will-power is said to come from the heart and to act like the rays of the sun, which call life into action in minerals, plants and animals alike. Material from Franz Hartmann runs alongside Blavatsky's.

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