Question: About will-power, is it an aspect of the ego or of the heart. Is not will a desire or effect of the heart where e-motion lies?
Reply: As an overview, the mind has four faculties of ego, intellect, heart and memory. It is the mind which moves the physical body.
The heart produces emotive power or emotional force to push the ego to act. Yes, desire does arise in the heart but any action is done by the ego.
The ego has within itself the power or force with which to make a decision whether to act or not act or act differently. That power is an inherent part of the nature of the ego. The ego makes a decision using the contribution of clarity from the intellect and emotive force from the heart. These add to the power residing in the ego.
The emotive force from the heart is of a different nature from the force in the ego. This can be verified by observing how different egos function. Some egos are forceful even when there is not much involvement of the heart, eg. cold-blooded killers. Some egos are weak even when there is a strong push from the heart, eg. those vacillating, procrastinating. These latter feel they do want to act but hesitate. Such hesitation is because the ego cannot decide on the course of action even though there is a desire to act, a push from the heart. It is the result of weak ego-power in that ego.
Desire, which is an effect of or arises from the heart, is not will power as such. But it is very close and can be easily confused with the power residing in the ego. It is a fine distinction.
In conclusion, will-power is a force residing in the ego but which gets support from the heart and intellect. Thus, as in common usage, will-power is associated with the ego.
