Chapter 17: The Joyous Will; The Will Project; and Appendix One: Self-Identification Exercise

Gaston La Touche The Joyous Festival

Chapter 17: The Joyous Will                                                       
This chapter begins with acknowledgment that the "association of will with joy may seem surprising." Since will has often been associated with forbidding and denying one self satisfaction of one's inclinations and desires, this is understandable. However, Assagioli says, "the act of willing can be and often is intrinsically joyous." He says "there is not yet a coherent psychology of joy" because, in essence, we do not have a coherent psychology of true psycho-spiritual health.

In the remainder of the chapter Assagioli examines satisfaction of the various levels of needs and resulting experiences of enjoyment or joy. Basic needs' satisfaction results in pleasure. Happiness is the "general subjective state of a person whose 'normal' needs and desires are (...) satisfied" Fulfillment of higher needs leads to joy, and "finally, the full Transpersonal Realization and even more the communion or identification with universal transcendent Reality ... (is) bliss." There are, of course, times of adjustment and struggle during which one does not experience joy, but these times are temporary. It is also possible to experience mixed feelings of joy and pain (as different subpersonalities experience different feelings). And, some people may be so focused on satisfaction of higher values that even pain is experienced as joy.

The Will Project

-Introduction-
The introduction emphasizes the importance of inner attitude and the "constant application of "good will" needed to bring about changes in the inner attitudes of people. Assagioli is especially concerned about the application of will to "the great issue of peace and war." He says that "good will automatically excludes violent conflicts and wars. It would be well to realize this strategic point and to make a campaign for good  will, in schools and everywhere." Further, he advocates the higher uses of the will, Transpersonal Will and identification with Universal Will, toward "achieving true peace."

Assagioli than presents an outline of a "program of Research on the Will and Its Applications." I will not attempt to summarize that outline here. Much of it is an outline of the material in the body of The Act of Will, and some of it points to what would be involved in an expansion of the book's effort to understand and apply the will in individual and social development.

Graeme Wilson has undertaken to further fill in and expand on the outline, and to collect relevant materials related to the will on his website, www.willproject.org. His website includes references to the works of philosophers, psychologists and occultists who have written about the will.

Appendix One: Self-Identification Exercise                                   

Identification and Disidentification

This exercise helps us to distinguish between the contents of our consciousness and consciousness itself. We usually identify ourselves, not as the "I" but as only a part of our self. "This identification with only a part of our personality ... prevents us from realizing the experience of the "I," the deep sense of self-identification, of knowing who we are. Because of our partial identifications we too often experience certain kinds of losses as a kind of "death," a "painful crisis." We must then "enter ... into a new and broader identification ... into a higher state of being." We can facilitate this "rebirth" process by a "conscious, purposeful, willing cooperation." And, we can do this by "a deliberate exercise of disidentification and self-identification.

The Identification Exercise

Participants in The Act of Will book study will recognize this exercise as the alignment process with which we begin each telephone conference call. "I have a body and I am more than my body. I have desires and I am more than my desires. I have emotions and I am more than my emotions. I have a mind and I am more than my mind. (disidentification) I am a center of consciousness and will, the personal self. And further, I am the Transpersonal Self and more. (identification)

Assagioli recommends that the full exercise as he presents it in the book be practiced daily, especially shortly after awakening, and in abbreviated form throughout the day.

Hedi Weiler provides a lovely recorded version of the exercise on the Center for Awakening website at www.centerforawakening.org/resources/meditation