which it developed and starts on an independent career. It all
depends on the degree of development achieved by the ego:
And what has come to you that you hope not for something more
weightier from God, when He has developed you by gradual ascents?
(71:13-14)
"Gradual ascents" are the keywords in the above verse. The self
does not remain stationary but is meant to rise to higher stages of
development. When it reaches a particular stage of development, it
would mean that it has related itself to the meaning of the world and
the world, therefore, cannot afford to throw it overboard.
III. Will and ActionWill and action are of paramount importance for the
development of the self and, therefore, for its survival too. Will
and action are really aspects of the same process. Action is "will
actualised" and will is latent action. It has been truly said “no will, no
action,” but the reverse is also true “no action, no will.” Only a free
self possesses "will" in this sense, and only such a self can perform
actions which have relevance to survival. Animals act under the
compulsion of instinctive urges and without foresight of the results
of their actions. They, therefore, cannot be credited with will as we
understand it. In the same way, the activities of the animal are not
actions. An action is that which has been deliberately chosen by a
free self and has been voluntarily performed by it. The free self
expresses itself in action and holds itself responsible for it. Without
freedom and responsibility, action, in this restricted sense, is not
possible. These facts about "will and action" have a direct bearing
on the question of survival. Man is the product of a long
evolutionary process. This process does not stop at any point, but
continues indefinitely. At a certain stage, man becomes an active
participant in it and through his free will and purposeful activity
determines, within certain limits, both the speed and the direction
of evolutionary process. This process which has been at work in the
world for untold aeons is now transformed into something far more
rational and meaningful. It also becomes more dependent on its
material, i.e., humanity, through which it is working. The primitive
organisms were moulded and shaped by natural forces, so as to be fit
for the next stage in evolution. It was a long and painful process in
Survival : Individual and Collective^171