It is desire that locks one into the mundane way of life. In the process of evolution, in the world of manifestation, desire is the driving power of the mind in the lower worlds in which the personality functions. Whereas, spiritual will is the driving power in the spiritual worlds of the individuality. It is when the will is drawn forth to action by the attractive and repulsive objects by which we are surrounded and to which we are attached, that it is desire. However, when the will operates from our spiritual center to accomplish some purpose determined by our higher Self or the God within us, not affected by the objects around us due to our no longer being attached, that it is spiritual will.

When lower desires are eliminated by the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation spiritual will appears in its place automatically.

The one thing that one learns is that it takes tremendous will power to progress along the path of spirituality. This is why so many weaken and fail to progress. They fail to realize that one does not have to develop or create spiritual will, since it is the pure potential energy of our real Self, the Atma. It is hidden within our desires in the early stages of our evolution and it is the real power behind our desire nature. The thing we must ultimately do is to free this energy from the gross elements which debase it into the form of lower desires and which then prevents it from functioning in its true spiritual form. In fact, the more powerful and varied the desires are in a debased form, the more powerful the energy. Therefore, if we purify our lower desires, or lower self, then more energy will be available in the form of spiritual will. This is the meaning of the age old statement, that the greater the sinner, the greater the saint. However, the really great saint only appears if the lower self has surrendered to the higher Self.

It is important to understand that it is not necessary for us to pursue lower desires to gain spiritual will; rather we should pursue the path of inner unfoldment. That is the ideal way to develop our spiritual will. As an example, Transcendental Meditation frees the mind from any kind of obstacle that would prevent the revelation of the reality that is hidden within one. The greatest of all obstacles is attachment with its two aspects of attraction and repulsion. Repulsion binds one just as much as attraction, because repulsion is the negative aspect of attraction and we are bound to persons who we dislike or hate just as much as we are bound to those who we love.

So, if one wishes to be free, one must eliminate the negative. Also, to become free one must desire God and not Mammon. At the beginning of a spiritual life many feel that all desires must be immediately rooted out, but this is impossible. What one should do is to institute higher desires to replace lower desires, since lower desires are the ones that cause inner conflicts, worries and most all fears. Whereas, it is the higher desires that bring peace of mind, strength and a loss of fear. So, replacing higher for lower desires makes a vast improvement in one's way of life. Many feel that to give up all of the mundane desires of life renders life devoid of interest and leaves one very little to live for. However, the opposite is the truth, for to live for God is to gain everything and to lose nothing. One pursuing a spiritual life gains eternal life in the absolute and not uncertainty in a temporal life.

Spirituality is hidden in the hearts of everyone, only it has to be sought out and realized as the truth of one's existence. It is the only source of true knowledge, power, strength, love and happiness that one can ever know. When one is earnest and sincere in his effort to gain a cosmic status and to find God one receives a vision of God. It may be only for an instant, but one becomes aware of and bound to God forever on this earth and onto God consciousness. Desire becomes one-pointed and one becomes forever dedicated, since all of the lower desires lose their meaning. However, that does not mean one no longer has desires. One's mind becomes more and more subtle and so do one's desires, because the mind penetrates to deeper levels of consciousness. Even the Atmic plane is not free of desires, only we cannot comprehend the nature of such subtle desires, for this is something we must grow into and you only grow into it when you step onto the spiritual path.