Poesie:

From Ordinary Self-Determinationto a Self-

Determination in Alignment with the True

 From Self-Determination to Alignment

*A poetic contemplation of the will on the spiritual path*

There are themes

that do not lie at the edge of our path,

but at its innermost center.

Themes that meet us

the moment we stop merely searching

and begin to walk.

One of these themes

is self-determination.

Not only the form of it

we are accustomed to living,

but also that deeper self-determination

that lives in alignment

with the True.

---

Two Qualities of the Same Word

Both are called self-determination.

And yet they arise from different realms.

One is ordinary self-determination,

born of the “I,”

carried by the mind,

shaped by fear, control, and defense.

The other is a self-determination

that does not stand against the True,

but walks with it,

rests within it,

acts from it.

Both are will.

But not the same will.

---

Ordinary Self-Determination

Ordinary self-determination

lives in the realm

of mental and vital existence.

There the “I” rules,

experiencing itself as the center.

It determines

because it fears.

It controls

because it believes

it would otherwise be lost.

This self-determination appears free.

It feels autonomous.

Yet it is bound—

bound to habits,

to reactions,

to familiar inner landscapes.

Here, the human being

defends their freedom.

But in truth,

they defend their habit.

And so fear of surrender arises.

For surrender is confused

with submission,

with dissolution,

with the end of one’s own world.

The ego knows no self-determination

other than its own.

It knows nothing

of a freedom

that is not isolated.

Thus surrender becomes a threat—

not because it is one,

but because it is seen that way.

---

Not Criticism — but Transformation

Yet this is not about criticism.

Not about judgment.

Not about rejecting ordinary self-determination.

It is about transformation.

About a movement

from one level

to another.

The question is not:

*Should I be self-determined or not?*

The question is:

**Who determines within me?**

And from which realm?

---

The Transformation of the Will

On the spiritual path,

self-determination is not destroyed.

Not suppressed.

Not eliminated.

The human will is

clarified,

deepened,

consecrated.

It is not broken.

It is illumined.

Ordinary self-determination

transforms

into a self-determination

in alignment with the True.

The will remains—

but it is no longer isolated.

It no longer stands alone

against life,

against the Eternal,

against the Whole.

---

True Self-Determination

True self-determination

is harmony.

Harmony between the Eternal

and form in this world.

It is oneness

with one’s highest inner truth.

At times it moves

through the soul-being,

through that depth

which does not act from fear,

but from truth.

There it is not said:

*I must not will.*

There it is said:

**I will the truth.**

---

Surrender Without Loss

If we believe

that surrender means

losing ourselves,

then we have not yet known

this transformation.

For in true self-determination

nothing is lost.

Dignity remains.

Freedom remains.

Will remains—

but a will without fear.

Thus the divine will

does not act against the human being,

but through them.

It is not about breaking the will,

but about widening it.

Not about annihilating it,

but about letting it

be permeated

by the highest light.

---

The Great Circle

Thus the great circle of transformation unfolds:

From an apparent freedom

that is isolated,

toward a self-determination

without boundaries.

From a self-determination of habit

to a self-determination

in alignment.

And in this light

a small secret is revealed:

Self-determination

was never the obstacle.

Only the level

from which it was lived.