Thy Will be Done: What indeed is the Will of God and becoming a willing servant

The following is from the discourse of Spiritual Teacher and Guide in the Sufi Way, Reshad Feild, may God preserve him - quoted from the Book: Steps To Freedom.


So often we talk about the Will of God. Sometimes we are humble enough to ask the question, What indeed is the Will of God? Without will of our own, it is not possible to understand what the Will of God is.

When we learn love, we shall have will. Will is the beginning of the first step on a long journey from beliefs to knowledge. Master of our own will is the door that leads to service. When we can choose to allow God's Will to be done in us, we are in service.

If we have will, then we can use our will to let go and be a vehicle for God's use. We can be driven from the inside, instead of being pushed and towed around by outward appearances.

Will is the ability to fulfill responsibility and obligation; that is, to know responsibility and act accordingly. It is the ability not to waster time wondering and thinking about what responsibility is or should be, but to know on all inner levels.

Will is beginning of the becoming of Being. Will is a gift, as are all the other attributes that lie in waiting within man. Because we think we already have "will," we do not call upon what is really a potential for the having of will.

If we do not know who we are, then we cannot say that we have will. People are afraid of being too self-willed ... thinking that they have no responsibility in the process. But if we remember that there is one absolute Being, we will realize that all creation is an expression of an Infinite Will.

If each man develops his will, he is fulfilling the intention of bringing forth the Will of God on Earth. It is in humanity that the Will of God is most free. God has free-will in man, whenever man says, "I will."

To develop will requires a lot of work. First, there has to be the intention to develop will, and much work must be done to clear the character defects in ourselves, which serves to confuse the intention that has already been given to each one of us. Once we come to understand the unity of all life, our intentions take on a different quality. In ordinary life every intention is based upon what we have known in the past and what we expect in future. (Thus they are) conditioned by the illusion of false time.

A real intention is made outside of time. Herein lies a great riddle. If we are a part of this world, we are made of the stuff of time; how can we make an intention outside of time? The answer is so simple that the mind cannot possibly understand it! The mind wants to analyze it, compute it, complicate it, plan it and explain it, but the real intention needs no explanation, nor can it be explained.

The Sufis say that the true dervish is not necessarily responsible for his actions. This may seem to deny the ordinary understanding of the purpose of the spiritual path, but if we consider the state of an intention made outside of time, we can recognize that we are not the judge of how the intention is going to be manifested. God knows best. He is the judge, not we. A true dervish, then, cannot be responsible for his actions, but he is responsible for his intentions.

Action in life, within time, and subject to the laws of the world. The dervish sets his intention outside of time and then surrenders his will so that the intention can be actualized through him. In the knowledge of the unity of the one Will, the dervish expresses the willingness to participate consciously in the harmonious unfolding of the three worlds. This unfolding can only come about through the agreement of man. God's Will, man's will. When man makes the intention to serve God unconditionally, this intention is beyond the limits of time.

This is the perfect man; this is the man who has come to know and love God so perfectly that this every action is an expression of the Will of God.

The exercise of the intention acts as a bridge between the eternal and the temporal. This bridge is the true nature of man. The bridge is so frail that we need to be in a perfect state of awareness before a crossing can be made. Beneath the bridge a roaring torrent which would sweep us away into unconsciousness. At this stage we have to be absolutely clear about our decision to incarnate God's Will and involve ourselves in life. This is the point of giving up our own will into the Will of God. This is the stage where a vow is taken, the vow that we will continue to work in the world to help others to be free.

Developing will

If we have no will, how can we develop will? Once it is seen that we have no will, we tend to feel totally miserable because we cannot do anything. Let us see what "doing" means.

Most of the time we do things out of habit, not through conscious will power. For example: we say we eat meal when we feel hungry and when we wash the dishes. But rarely do we make a conscious decision to sit down at a table, get up and then do the dishes. We just do it as a normal habit pattern. We think we are actually doing something. Our jaws move up and down; food goes in; there is some kind of digestive process; and we keep going.

Doing implies bringing order out of chaos. The answer very simply is - BE AWAKE TO ORDER.

Will has to do with fulfilling something. I have always wondered why people do not want to develop will. I can say that we can reach a point whereby if we fail our responsibility as human beings, the will that is needed on Earth may no longer be possible. Eventually, we can lose so much of a certain type of subtle energy that the possibility of regaining the true possibility of our lives on Earth no longer exists.The younger we are started upon understanding the importance of will, the better.

How do we will to have will? The way to have will is to want it. Why do we want it? Without will we could repeat habit patterns of the past again and again. Will to be awake to order. Will to be of service. If we are asleep, it is not possible to be of service.

If we honestly stop for a moment to look at the way we have lived our lives, we will discover that its mostly filled with repeated pattern, conditioned behavior and more of the same habits. Without will we are nothing and nothing (real) is done. If we look very honestly at our own lives, we may discover how little will we have. Unfortunately, very few teachers stress the need of will and discipline. Will and inner discipline are like two hands on one body.

So often we talk about the Will of God. Sometimes we are humble enough to ask the question, What indeed is the Will of God? Without will of our own, it is not possible to understand what the Will of God is. When we have gained will, then we may give that will to the greater Will of God, and then there is only Will. Thus there is the fulfillment of the first law of alchemy: "As above, so below." Did not Jesus say, "Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven?"

It is through man (the complete man who has come to know and love God perfectly) that Love, which is the motivating force behind all creation, can flow into this world. The invocation of conscious man, "Let Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," brings into play a law, in essence perfect, seeking only to manifest itself. We can see the unfolding first appearing as a thought... The thought wishes to manifest itself. It attaches itself to the world of feelings so that man will wish for it to be. Thus, it is charged with life and eventually proceeds into manifestation, having pass through all three worlds.

A good servant has to have will to fulfill the function he or she has been given. Fulfillment indeed comes from the joy of knowing what it means to be a good servant.

We want to give God back something since He gives us everything. It is said that there are only two things we are asked to give Him in gratitude for all that He gives us: service and dependence.

Now, what do these two words actually mean? Dependence means willingly accepting our complete dependence upon Him who is the only provider, Him who is the only guide, Him who is the All-Knowing. It is very hard to be totally wiling to accept this, is it not? So often " we" feel that we somehow or other can do this or that on our own. If we forget that we are totally dependent on His eternal bounty, then what we think we "do" will be nothing more than a repetition of an illusion and a feeding of our own lower nature or egoism.

The more we feed the lower nature, the more in separation we are. The more we are in separation, the more inner pain there is. Of course, since He also provides the law and rules therein, by not fulfilling His commands, our responsibilities, the pain of separation may get worse. If we are reminded of these matters, our yearning gets greater! However, that is no excuse not to fulfill our obligations! To be willing to realize our dependence brings us, once again, to the importance of being awake and respectful, and indeed, conscious of law.

Our way is a a way of love, compassion and service. It is true that without being willing servants of God, we are not fulfilling our obligations in this world, and indeed in our daily lives. A gnostic is not allowed not to take action.


- Steps To Freedom (Threshold Books) by Reshad Feild

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Technology of the Heart: Thy Will be Done: What indeed is the Will of God and becoming a willing servant
Thy Will be Done: What indeed is the Will of God and becoming a willing servant
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