Willpower

No matter how desperate our situation in life, we still retain some amount of free will. Even if we are crippled, imprisoned, starved, ignored, and forgotten, we still retain the ability to choose how to react to life; that is, even if all of our other faculties are otherwise restricted, our consciousness can make choices. Any choice is an action with consequences. Free will is made possible by karma, and likewise, karma is made possible by free will. In other words, consciousness and cause and effect are intimately related. You cannot have one without the other.

Even when our consciousness is restricted and bound by the consequences of its previous actions, there always remains the possibility to change directions. One simply needs the will to do it.

Willpower is consciousness in action.

Unfortunately, since our consciousness is trapped in a multiplicity of desires, we are filled with a multiplicity of conflicting wills. This is a cause of suffering: we contradict ourselves constantly, and often are completely unaware of it.

Nonetheless, when a desire is strong enough, enormous willpower is directed to fulfill that desire. An addict demonstrates incredible willpower to feed his addiction. He can overcome incredible obstacles, and withstand enormous suffering, just to feed his desire.

To reach the heights of spiritual development requires every atom of willpower we can muster. This is the basis for the true spiritual war: it is between our free consciousness and the desires that have trapped the majority of our consciousness. Now you can understand the meaning of the story of David and Goliath.

The youth David is able to conquer the giant warrior Goliath because of two factors: his faith in God, and his use of a stone.

Even though karma is a law of nature that balances energy, it is not mechanical. The law of karma is a conscious law: it is managed and directed by conscious intelligence, what some call God, and others call Gods. The law of karma is not a blind, mechanical law.

“Intelligence governs the whole Cosmos, whether it is within the infinitely small or within the infinitely large. Intelligence exists in the Macrocosm and in the Microcosm, in a system of worlds, in a beehive or in an anthill. Cosmic Intelligence abides precisely in each particle of this great creation.” —Samael Aun Weor, Gnostic Anthropology

Everything in nature has a spiritual aspect, and all of that is managed by an intelligence that is far beyond our theories or beliefs. Every atom in existence has consciousness. So does a galaxy, a sun, a solar system... even the universe. Truly, on the stage of existence, we are incredibly insignificant. Nonetheless, since we have consciousness, we are connected to the whole, and have a purpose to fulfill.

Cause and effect is the teacher that guides us towards our purpose. By learning how to act properly, we acquire knowledge, understanding, and power to act more effectively. Through action, we too can become an angel, a buddha, a master. Such a being is a master of conscious action: conscious willpower in motion.