The basic notion of The Book of the Law and the Thelema is all but new and fresh.
The notion I am talking about is:
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”
A similar notion is old news in Tantric tradition, dating many hundreds of years back, if not more. It is called Svecchācāra (Sanskrit: स्वेच्छाचार ).
My point is that executing one’s innermost Will is essential to the spiritual awakening, which has been forever. Nothing new about it.
Avadhuta Upanishad is closed by these words:
“Svecchā means one’s own wish or free will. Svecchācāra means a way of life where one acts as one wishes and does what is right in one’s own eyes. Doing one’s own Will. The concluding Sanskrit expression in the Avadhoota Upanishad is “Svecchācāra Paro.” The term “Paro” means a mysterious or secret pattern to that action done by one’s own Will. In other words, we do our Will but with discretion, not making it too obvious, nor to harm or hurt other people. Yet this is also a typical Nathism; a complete reversal of Vedic morals and philosophy.”
“The Will” is also mentioned in the Yoni Tantra, one of the most influential texts in Tantra.
The Sanskrit word Svecchācāra means a spiritual state in which an individual may act according to her or his own will. As she or he is Shiva or Shakti incarnate, there can be no morality but only freedom from the rules of the ‘pashu’ or herd-person fettered by the mind.
“One may be like a child, a madman, a king, like one in a swoon, like an independent spirit, like a Lord Hero, a Gandharva, a naked person, a Tridandin, or like one teaching knowledge for gain. The way to be is to act however one wills.“
(Kaulajn ananirpaya, Patala 8)
Kaulajn ananirpaya is an ancient tantric text dating back to the 9th century – more than a thousand years old.
That said, there is a will, and there is the Will.
And the Will I am talking about here is the so-called adesh, the will of God/Goddess/HGA. When it is attained, outer masks and human roles in life don’t matter anymore. The Inner becomes the only source of inspiration, action, and passion for Life. The little candle in the human heart becomes equal to the glorious stars, never pretending to be more than just a candle, completely embracing its full potential and claiming Divine inheritance.
What is new, however, is the explicit focus on the individuality or the crowned child-ship (is that even a word? lol) of God. It is the focus of the Horus Aeon, as per Liber Al: personal and transpersonal freedom from social, cultural, educational, and other systems and also from both the Mother and the Father (Goddess and God form).
Therefore:
“There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt” – Ra-Hoor-Khuit
Liber AL III:60