Tag Archives: Transpersonal will

The Four Quadrants of Volition

Posted on by

By George A. Boyd ©2013

There are four quadrants of human activity:

  1. The zone of voluntary personal action – This zone encompasses the operation of the first three octaves of volition: personal will, habit, and the desire driven will of the ego. This quadrant aims to fulfill goals and desires. The individual senses that this zone is fully within his or her control, and can determine the outcomes. This is sometimes called the zone of free will. Coaching and counseling address this level.
  2. The zone of involuntary action – This zone comprises the operation of the unconscious mind, which is out of awareness and functions autonomously to the control of the will. Compulsive or impulsive behavior, as well as self-sabotaging behavior, arises from this zone. Hypnosis and psychotherapy tap this zone.
  3. The zone of transpersonal volition – This zone comprises the activity of the higher octaves of volition in the Superconscious mind, up to the level of transpersonal will, which is anchored in the Soul. It also includes the activity of intention of the attentional principle, and the wish of the spirit. This operates outside and beyond the control of the personal will; it is the higher order of will that permits the Soul to express its gifts, its wisdom, and its love and compassion. Meditation enables access to this zone.
  4. The zone of Divine aegis – Those Initiates and accepted disciples, who have entered the presence of the Divine, know this zone—and they have been empowered to teach, to guide, and to minister to others. This brings them the knowledge of the Divine Will directly—these Initiates communicate this Divine Wish to their disciples, aligning them with their purpose and the Great Plan for their spiritual development, and leading them progressively to Mastery and Liberation. Masters reveal this Supreme Direction to their disciples.

It is important to recognize what can be done voluntarily, and what operates outside of that zone. Personal volition can shape human life and situational behavior; it can express those talents that have been learned through education and training; and it can learn new knowledge and skills. If skillfully used, it can lead individuals to personal fulfillment.

It does not control the octaves of the transpersonal and Divine Will; however, these octaves of the will can come to overshadow the personality to express the Soul’s gifts and genius, and to reveal the Soul’s purpose. It may only partially control those elements of the unconscious mind, which operate autonomously.

At certain levels of the Great Continuum of Consciousness, it appears that all consciousness is a product of the brain, and that volition and the sense of self are nothing more than products of the firing of neurons, and the construction of language. Those who meditate, however, find they readily transcend this “brain consciousness,” and encounter the will as a dynamic force that expresses through the brain and activates the vehicles of consciousness beyond it; and discover the Self, attentional principle, spirit, and Soul far beyond the confines of the skull. They directly gain union with these essences beyond the webs of language: they experience these essences wordlessly and immediately.

Aspirants and disciples should meditate on these four quadrants, with an aim to discern what aspects of their lives fall within each zone, and whether or not the Will Divine has been intimated to them. They should aim to expand the zone of voluntary personal volition, learn ways to cope with and resolve those issues that arise from the unconscious, and cooperate with the transpersonal will so that the Soul’s gifts can be shared with others.

Can the Soul influence the physical world?

Posted on by

On the Potential of the Higher Self
to Influence the Physical World

By George A. Boyd © 2019

Q: Some people say that the Soul cannot influence the physical world, because it is an immaterial essence. Others contend that the Soul does indeed operate on the physical world, and point to various miracles attested to in different spiritual traditions as evidence for their claims. What is correct?

A: We see there is a spectrum of postures through which the Soul relates to the personality and the world, which encompasses both of these viewpoints. Here is the range:

  1. No relationship between the Soul and the physical world and personality – during different segments of the Soul’s journey across the Continuum of Consciousness, it has an experience that it does not wish to transmit through the personality, so we see no evidence of the Soul’s activity.
  2. Correspondence – In this posture, we see the one-to-one correspondence of karma layered on the tracks behind the Soul (Adi Karma), behind the Soul’s vehicles (stored Kriyaman Karma), or in the unopened channels of the Nada (Sinchit Karma) and behavior or physical symptoms. When this karma underlying the condition is effaced, the symptoms ameliorate and disappear. Long-standing bad habits, mysterious aches and pains, and chronic illnesses can be seen to drop away as these karmic precursors are dissolved.
  3. Spiritual gift – In this scenario, the Soul anchors one or more of its abilities via an energetic connection to the physical brain, which you can access voluntarily in your waking state of consciousness, upon request. Artistic and psychic gifts commonly express through this pathway.
  4. Direction – In this type, the Higher Self directs the behavior of the personality through an inner commandment. It may overrule your choices that arise from the level of the ego and the Self, and guide your personality to carry out your Soul Purpose. This overshadowing of the personality typically occurs when your Soul undergoes the Third Planetary Initiation.
  5. Detectible change in matter and energy – The academic discipline of parapsychology has, as its mission, an inquiry to determine whether a spiritual being can create a change in matter or energy. They have studied phenomena such as moving objects with the mind (telekinesis); deformation of physical objects, like Uri Geller’s spoon bending; influence of healing energy on the growth of plants or the rate of healing of wounds; and the purported levitation of objects or the physical body, among others. When psychic powers awaken in the Soul, some people experience these phenomena spontaneously arise. A few individuals train themselves to produce them at will.
  6. Miraculous change in energy and matter – Miracles recounted in the world’s scriptures—walking on water, teleportation, manifesting food for the multitudes, and resurrecting a dead body, among many others—appear to operate from the interface with the higher volitional nexus, which we call the siddhi yantra, and the subatomic matrix substanding matter. There are many anecdotal stories of living savants and seers, who demonstrate these miraculous powers (siddhis), after having opened these strata of the mind where these potential abilities dwell. We show our students in the Mudrashram® Advanced Course in Meditation where to locate these siddhi yantras, and to assess the powers which are now available to their Soul.
  7. Transmutation of matter – in the alchemical lore of the Western mysteries and the legends of the Shaivite Siddhars, through secret methods, initiates learn to transmute lead into gold, charcoal into diamonds, and sand into precious gems. The legend of the Philosopher’s stone hints at this ability; the methods to make this stone, alas, are veiled in cryptic language and symbol—opaque to all but those who have been trained to penetrate the arcane language to identify the intimate secrets of the craft.

Most aspirants, during their spiritual journey, will experience elements of types two to five. Types six and seven are much rarer—special training is required to wrest these powers from their hidden lair, and to uncover the secrets of miracles and transmutation. We suggest that exploration of the volitional channel along its higher octaves will disclose where your potential siddhis dwell, and will allow you to determine whether your Soul has chosen to express them. We further point out that the Soul may not choose to manifest powers that have no relevance to its mission and purpose, so many miracle-manifesting abilities are left dormant as the Soul progressively journeys to the shores of Mastery and Liberation.

We train those who complete one of our intermediate classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation or the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program and take the Mudrashram® Advanced Course in Meditation in accessing this volitional channel as part of our advanced Raja Yoga training.

Those who are interested in learning to develop their psychic powers may enjoy taking The Psychic Powers Workshop available on the Public section of our Public Webinar Access page.

The Seven Karmic Cycles

Posted on by

By George A. Boyd © 2017

Most people are aware of the law of cause and effect—that your thoughts, words, and deeds have short and long-term consequences. They are not typically aware, however, of the changes that occur as they evolve spiritually and bring successive orders of conative faculties to bear on their karmic substrate.

These seven orders of your interface with karma are shown below. These are seven progressive karmic cycles that appear as you evolve spiritually.

Karmic cycle one – Dynamic Kriyaman Karma—the law of consequences for desire-driven and reactive behavior—predominates. Your actions reap rewards or negative consequences based on your choices. Some aspects of this karma become deposited in your unconscious mind, adding to the karmic issues you must resolve. In this cycle, your choice aims to fulfill your desire, and your reactive emotions fuel negative behavior. You have little internal ability to check this behavior; is it controlled largely through social pressure, or your fear of being punished or imprisoned.

Karmic cycle two – Your human volition begins to curb desire-driven behavior through the moral and ethical standards of the conscience. You begin to shape your personal destiny and begin to say no to certain desires.

Karmic cycle three – You further check behavior and egoic reactions through applying suggestion via intention or your spirit’s wish. At his stage, restraint becomes engrained in your character, and you are able to gain insight into the motivation and defensiveness of the ego, and detect the mind’s subtle attempts to manipulate you into giving into its desires.

Karmic cycle four – A higher octave of will begins to operate through a nucleus of identity to restrain desires and to curb reactive behavior. At this stage, a higher octave of altruistic or compassionate behavior begins to operate through the personality. You begin to express virtues like kindness, goodness, consideration of others’ feelings, prudence, caring for others’ health and welfare, charity to assist others in need, and loving support to others. You become capable of selfless actions; you respond to the needs and suffering of others.

Karmic cycle five – The transpersonal will begins to express the Soul’s purpose through your personality. At this stage, the influence of your desire-driven ego and its unconscious shadow has a decreased effect on your behavior; the Soul’s guidance and discipline directs you in what you must do.

Karmic cycle six – The Divine Will overshadows the transpersonal will, which is turn guides the personality. You become subject to the command of the Divine Will, which expresses as the Holy Yeah, where you are directed to carry out specific tasks; the Holy Nay, where you are forbidden to carry out particular behavior; and the Holy Wait, which postpones something you decide to do to a later, more auspicious time. The higher will overrules your desire-driven and reactive behavior, and Divine Direction governs your life.

Karmic cycle seven – When you reach the stage of Liberation (Jivan Mukta), only the elements of your destiny karma continue to operate—the Lords of Karma execute this type of karma until your predestined time of death. The Divine Will governs the activity of your personality and you become an instrument of Divine Grace. Those who do Bodhisattva projects on the highest Planes of the Bridge Path transmute this form of karma and use it in advanced spiritual work that develops the rays of Mastery for Adi Sat Gurus.

Aspirants and disciples need to identify in which karmic cycles they are currently operating. They will benefit from studying the effects that these higher aspects of conation have on the desire-driven and reactive behavior of the ego.

Failure to check these tendencies of the primary karmic substrate leads to enslavement to desires and the continued necessity to reincarnate to reap the rewards or expiate the sins that desire-driven actions generate.

If disciples make genuine progress on the spiritual Path, they will activate the higher octaves of conation and begin to check these tendencies that bind them to the wheel of karma. Ultimately, they will reach the stages where the Divine Will guides them and they will stop creating new karma—and at the end of their life, they will step off the wheel.