Everything has a Will of its own, a Secret Life of its own.
Look around you and you can observe the 'combined wills' of all that is moving past you, moving around you and potentially coming in contact with you.
This Will is like the momentum behind a powerful wave. It has a life-span of its own. It is builds up, comes to a peak and then dissipates once its purpose is fulfilled.
Even the will of a mosquito is as powerful as a wave. Its mission is to feed on your blood. Even if you try to swat it away or try to kill it, it will again and again return until it dies trying or finally succeeds. Although the mosquito is small, its will is bigger than itself. This will carries behind it the momentum of all those mosquitoes before it. The task of feeding on blood is not only a corporeal one, it is also a Spiritual one.
But let’s not mistake will with choice. Will needs power, and this power is used to propel will forward in the form of action. If there is such a thing as choice, one could say that as a Human Being, we have more potential for Choice than our animal co-inhabitants. Spiritual awakening happens when you can see that there is this power inside you fueling and powering your actions. At this point, we can consider that we have more choices, the choice to even consider a different course of action than normal is significant.
The power that propels Will can be guided. Choice can choose where you feed your Personal Power such that Will is not purely a reflex (although a powerful one). But when making a choice, mental power alone is not enough!
This is why in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the body and mind are seen as an integrated whole. If you apply all of your mental power to a task to the point of forcing a result at all costs by denying or going against the wills within and around you this can be called ‘Mind over Matter’. If you are prepared to undertake such a task, remember that mental power alone is not enough. What happens when one is weak and deficient? They have trouble making decisions and getting tasks done.
In Chinese Medicine, the kidneys are associated with the ‘Will’ because they are the ‘Root of Life’ and give the raw power needed for all of the other organs to function and thrive. We all know how our mind and body feel when we have an intense day of constant problem solving and mental acrobatics. We are worn out. It’s hard to concentrate, our body may feel heavy. It could be hard to get up from a chair, let alone apply our mind to move mountains. Normal thinking requires energy. Mind over matter requires even more power and this power is fed from your own personal resources available to you: The inner functioning of your body and energy and their quality and quantity.
This is why in Qigong practice we learn how to integrate Body and Mind. We start developing the human being from the ground up. The body needs repairing, the joints need smoothing, the organs need replenishing, the mind needs clearing and sharpening. This way, every action is supported. Every action is fueled by a powerful inner state of balance. Will is powerful as a wave and if you learn how to sense your internal state, you can tap into your inner power. Not only can you command your own will but you can also more clearly see the will of the things around you.
Instead of being crushed by the wave you can learn to surf it and see the beauty of its Secret Life and how it relates to you. Then, your own actions and choices are transformed.
