icchā : Will (Part 3)
I hope that all is well in your life. As I read the news this week I realized how important it is to keep an all encompassing view of life. Life in all its beauty and horror and everything in between. In the midst of it all it is good to keep in mind that which we consider highest. We do this not as way to check out but to engage, to participate with what's going on from a much clearer and broader perspective.
I'm continuing to learn more about icchā, Will as a power, as a virtue we all possess. When it comes to our virtues my teacher said that they need to be practiced. So we want to exercise our power of icchā, Will. This is not something we do once but it is a constant practice applied to everything we do. The more we practice our icchā in this way the stronger it becomes in us.
The Netra Tantra, a philosophy scripture, has this to say about icchā, Will:
“It is the virility (ojas) of all virilities, it is the all, it is eternal, unmoving and perpetually steady. It is (none other) than my supreme Power, the Will, to which [all] other powers are joined, born from my innate Being." || 25 || (1)
All powers, virtues, or abilities that we are capable of are joined to the power of icchā, Will. This hit a cord with me since without the creative impulse, without icchā, all other powers remain within us as an unrealized possibility.
Does iccha9 seem to big of a task for you? It does not have to be. We practice icchā every time we exercise our power of Will in our yoga practice to come back to the breath, to sustain a pose, and to not run out the door when things get challenging (I really appreciate this one, thank you). In meditation we practice it every time we come back to rest our awareness on the breath or the mantra. We practice this in many different ways throughout the day but we also want to be conscious that we are practicing icchā in all these instances. We want to be aware that we are flexing our icchā muscle.
I look forward to seeing you in class
Blessings
Jorge Nihāl
(1) Netra Tantra, Ch 1, v.25 as translated by Christopher Wallis
