Chapter 2

Desire-Will.
We have seen that the first meaning of the term the
Will or the first phase of the manifestation of
the Will according to the viewpoint, is that which
we have called Desire-Will. In one sense Desire is one of the
meanings of Will; in another, it is one of the three phases or
manifestations of the Will. Desire, like Will has many definitions.
In the popular usage Desire means: An emotion, eagerness,
or excitement of the mind directed toward the attainment,
enjoyment, or possession of some object from which pleasure,
profit, or gratification is expected; an earnest wish, longing,
or aspiration for a thing; lust, appetite, craving; wish, will or
aspiration; etc. Crabbe gives the following various shades of
meanings of the synonyms of Desire: The desire is imperious,
it demands a gratification; the wish is less vehement, it consists
of a strong inclination; longing is an impatient and continued
species of desire; hankering is a desire for that which is set out
of one s reach; coveting is a desire for that which belongs to
another, or what is in his power to grant; we desire or long for
that which is near at hand, or within view; we wish for and covet
that which is more remote, or less distinctly seen; we hanker
after that which has been once enjoyed; a discontented person
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wishes for more than he has; he who is in a strange land longs to
see his native country; vicious men hanker after the pleasures
which are denied them; ambitious men covet honors, avaricious
men covet riches. These shades of meaning are but various
phases of the want to feeling which is the essence of Desire.
The word will is sometimes used to express Desire in its phase
of wish, pleasure, etc., it being said that he wills to do or have
a thing in the sense of he wishes to have or do the thing; or in
the sense that it pleases him to have or do the thing. Likewise
a very strong desire is often called will, probably because of its
intensity and because the action of the will follows so closely
upon the desire that the two seem to blend and become one.
To outward appearances there is indeed very little distinction
between a strong, ardent, active desire and the manifestation of
the will, because the latter flows out in response to the former
and seems to be a part of it rather than a resulting effect. It is
often said of a person that he has had his will, meaning he has
gratified his desire or want to.
But a close analysis will always distinguish the two phases of
Desire-Will and Action-Will in all manifestations of Will, even
if the intermediate phase, or Decisive-Will be not apparent.
There must be always a want to, conscious, subconscious, or
superconscious, before there is the response of Action. Desire
and Will cannot be divorced in active manifestations of Will. It is
true that one may feel Desire and not manifest the Action-Will,
but one never releases the Action-Will without the existence
of precedent Desire in some form or phase, direct or indirect,
close or remote. This being so, we may see the importance of
an understanding of, and control of, our Desires. If Desire is the
great inciter of the Will, then if we control, rouse or restrain
Desire, we have in our hands the mastery of Will.
Desire is precedent to every act of the Will; that is, Desire
along either conscious, subconscious, or superconscious lines.
Desire contains within itself two phases or stages, i. e., (1) the
stage of feeling; and (2) the manifestation of the call upon the

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