Technique 5: Solar (or 5 Perspectives on Free Will & Desire)

In developing my approach to the Solar technique, I found myself immersed in a LOT of information. The explanation from the Ascension manual was a bit out there even for me, leaving me with a wide angle:

The result of the Solar Ascension Attitude is to begin to awaken the highest function of human consciousness. Mastery of the Solar Technique gives complete knowledge of each of these severally and individually. It is also a powerful tool for the development of the highest degree of human enlightenment, Unity Consciousness. Mastery of the Solar connection opens one to the Causal Worlds; upon death, this is where one goes. This is called the Path of the Sages.

I had expected something more along the lines of what I understand of SOLAR: the will, power, vitality, masculine, yang, the basic drive for significance, psychic and physical energy, stamina, rulers and authority figures, individuality.

And so I have attempted to reconcile what I extracted from the document with my own research, analysis and experience around the Solar force in our lives.  (And using my own SOLAR power-my will to do such!) Specifically, I want to focus on one's will.

In Hatha yoga, the "Ha" stands for Sun and the "Tha" for Moon. You can also say it stands for Yin/Ying, Masculine/Feminine, Force/Surrender, Right/Left. It is all the same idea of a balance between two opposing forces.   I was particularly intrigued by this topic after a recent conversation with a friend where I told him that I was still waiting to hear back from a group I wanted to work with. It went something like this:

friend: you know whatever happens is what needed to happen

me: exactly

friend: wait, wtf, i don't believe in that sentence

me: oh shut up

friend: seriously i don't- you know that right?

me: so what's your take? not that we are exactly where we need to be? of course we have free will and we can always change it up. it's the fine balance between surrender/acceptance and force/will...so I believe in both I suppose

friend: i'll tell you what-i believe you shape your world, don't wait for an answer, make it happen instead

me: like I said, I think it's a balance between shaping and surrender and the wisdom comes in when to do which

friend: i'm more of the 2nd part, pushing your future into your hands

me: lol-so what happens when you don't get what you pushed for?

friend: i push harder. it usually works very good

me: I suppose it depends on how much you want something...

we humans are full of desires

At this point, adding the topic of desires takes us from talking solely about the two opposing forces we face in our lives-our free will and "some other will"/that which is beyond our control-to the inclusion of WHY we want to push for what we push for. I have been reading and re-reading some of my favorite texts on life and have gone ahead to curate a number of perspectives on will, acceptance and desire for your reading pleasure as well as to encourage you to join me in this conversation. I have a feeling this is a conversation I won't end anytime soon. In fact, I am feeling as though this very subject is at the base of my soul's desire for understanding in this lifetime: "perfect balance".  Is there such a thing?

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1.) CHRISTIANITY

Though its authorship is questioned, the Serenity Prayer is what came to mind when I considered the topic from my own Christian upbringing.   So while this isn't directly from the Bible and maybe it’s a cop-out, I am choosing to use this to represent this segment of thought:

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

That sums it all up quite nicely. Notice that here there is talk of Serenity (grace, surrender, lunar) and Courage (power, will, solar).

2.) YOGA

“When the waters of bhakti (adoration, praise, compassion) are made to flow through the turbines of the mind, the result is mental power and spiritual illumination. While mere physical strength (Solar) without bhakti is lethal, mere adoration (Lunar) without strength of character is like an opiate. Addiction to pleasures alone destroys both power and glory. From the gratification of the senses as they run after pleasures arises moha (attachment) and lobha (greed) for their repetition. If the senses are then not gratified, then, there is soka(sorrow)” -B.K.S. Iyengar in his book, Light on Yoga with a little input from me in (green)

In essence:

Once sorrow/suffering sets in, we are often sent right back to using the mind alone, with power alone, to get what we want (greed) while with mindless adoration, addiction rages. This back and forth swinging is incredibly unbalancing and incredibly “normal”. Yoga seeks to stop this swinging and to reunite and reconcile the want and the appreciation.  So as to know when to implement and when to forgo, when to push and when to accept. Yoga encourages the finding of wisdom.

3.) BUDDHISM

Buddhist psychology says, “There are both healthy desires and unhealthy desires. Know the difference. Then find freedom in their midst." From Jack Kornfield's The Wise Heart:

"Our world runs on desire. We would not have been born if not for sexual desire. Without continuing desire, we would die. There is a desire for love, connection, growth, understanding. When people lose their desire to live, they jump of a bridge or swallow pills. We need desire. And yet desire is a great challenge for us.

The idea is not to be without desire, but to have a wise relationship with desire. As William Blake once said, “Those who enter the gates of heaven are not beings who have no passions or who have curbed the passions, but those who have cultivated an understanding of them.”

So how do we develop this wisdom? Buddhists connect to the root of the desire with neutral thought called “the will to do”. When this will is directed in healthy ways, it produces healthy outcomes. And vice versa. Classic examples of unhealthy desires are not different from any other religious or philosophical view: greed, addiction, lust, and overwhelming ambition. Whereas healthy desires allow us to feed, clothe and care for ourselves, tend to others and to develop our communities. Simple.

4.) JUDIASM

First a quick glance at the Jewish views of Human Nature:

• Humanity was created in the "image" of the Creator
• The "image" of the Creator is the ability to discern and reason
• Humanity has an inclination to both good and evil
• Free will is the ability to choose which inclination to follow

In Judiasm there is what is called the yetzer tov. This is the moral conscience, the inner voice. And there is also the yetzer ra, usually seen as the selfish nature, the desire to satisfy personal needs (food, shelter, sex, etc.) without regard for the moral consequences of fulfilling those desires.

The yetzer ra is not considered a bad thing.  Like in the Buddhist view of desire, it is understood that without the yetzer ra (the desire to satisfy personal needs), man would not build a house, marry a wife, beget children or conduct business affairs. Yet, the yetzer ra can lead to wrongdoing when it is not controlled by the yetzer tov. That seems to be the Jewish understanding of free will: People have the ability to choose which impulse to follow: the yetzer tov or solely the yetzer ra. It is also understood that we all have the ability to make our own choices, and we will all be held responsible for the choices we do make.

5.) TAOISM-verses from the Tao Te Ching

38

The Master doesn’t try to be powerful;

Thus he is truly powerful

The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;

Thus he never has enough.

The Master does nothing;

Yet leaves nothing undone.

The ordinary man is always doing things,

Yet many more are left to be done.

77

As it acts in the world, the Tao

Is like the bending of a bow.

The top is bent downward;

The bottom is bent up.

It adjusts excess and deficiency

So that there is perfect balance.

It takes from what is too much

And gives to what isn’t enough

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I must admit I am enjoying the fact that I don't prefer any one of these philosophies over another. (Well other than the obvious superiority of the Yogic...just kidding!)  They all say the same thing; you’ll notice there is one word I underlined in almost every perspective.

That word, even if not in the word itself, but rather the message, is wisdom. Wisdom , whose synonyms are discernment and understanding, is an inner knowing . Wisdom can be as simple as saying to oneself, "Remember last time I did that I felt horrible afterwards? I won’t do that again." To something as incredibly complex as in taking the role of a teacher and “knowing” how to guide students to their inner wisdom. In all of this, something I did learn quite concretely is that wisdom cannot be taught.

My greatest take-away from recently reading the Herman Hesse classic, Siddartha, was that knowledge can indeed be passed on, but wisdom must be cultivated within. This comes through applying what we know (or don't know) whether from past experience of our own or of another, a teacher. I dare to say that wisdom is innate. Perhaps it is covered up by our conditioning and deception of how life "is" in the illusory world. Perhaps over time we are simply peeling away layer after layer of our nonsense to get to the core of our wisdom. Or on the other hand, perhaps widsom is something we earn over time, through trial and error, through learning when to PUSH (Solar) and when to ACCEPT.

In these final words, I wish you great success in failure. In failing to push when you really wanted something. For failing to accept something you could not change and causing yourself undue suffering. I wish all of these for you, for in time, slowly, slowly, you will gain the wisdom of the Universe. After all, “the result of the Solar Ascension Attitude is to begin to awaken the highest function of human consciousness.”  Perhaps "the highest function of human consciousness" is wisdom...

Om shanti. Om peace.

-Sivakami