These three are named somewhat differently in various esoteric teachings, so the reader and student should not get upset that exact terms are not always applied. There is a useful purpose for changing the words at times, so that students do not get overly fixated on certain words, and also so the student can see important conceptual relations between the words. There are many importantly related ideas in these teachings.
Here is one version of the soul’s triad of being: will, being, and consciousness. The one that might be new to people’s understanding is the term, being.
Essentially, being is what a soul is. As well, being is what a person is. More precisely, being is the substance of a soul. If we were speaking about just the physical body, we would say that this being is made of physical substance. But the soul is made of light substance. We could also say it is composed of energy vibration. Both would be correct, but light is more useful to our understanding. The essence of light is not physical, even though light emerges into the physical universe and makes physical effects. Yet the soul is made of a subtle vibration of light, so it is not evident to our physical senses. It could be seen perhaps, but our physical sense apparatus cannot detect it.
So the being of soul is made of light - some degree of light and some quality/s of light. But as well, the being of soul is the character of soul. We do not usually think of will nor of consciousness as having any unique character qualities; but when we reflect upon our being, we discover character qualities. We find essences in our being; we find essential qualities. And the fundamental essence of our being (our soul being) is love. We might not actually find it, and we might not actually think it is the primary essence of our being, but it is. There is no proof to be given for this. One simply has to discover and experience this as true. Then one will know it as true. There are other being-qualities of the soul, as well, but love is the primary and most fundamental soul quality, and from love all the other spiritual qualities are derived.
So the soul can be understood as a triad of: will, love, and consciousness. This could also be understood as will, quality, and consciousness.
Next consider will. This can also be understood as power, or as creative power since this power acts in creation and is able to create change in creation. Will and power are importantly related. Of course love is also a power, and also consciousness, because both do things and make things happen. In fact, every quality of being has an effective power; in other words, it makes effects. Yet the will is special, because it has an actual intention to direct power, an actual intention to make things happen or to make effects in life. Thus, our will is the director of our powers. And in esoteric magic, the will can direct powers outside of oneself as well, such as natural and even supernatural powers. So the will has definite power in itself. It has the power to direct powers. In terms of the soul, it is said that the soul aspect of will is its power to bring spiritual quality into life, and to express and to manifest its spiritual qualities (and the universal divine qualities as well, of which its own being microcosmically reflects).
Next consider the soul triad of: will, love, and intelligence. Here we have replaced consciousness with intelligence. Yes, the soul is a consciousness, but is also an intelligence. Yet these two ideas are importantly related. Consciousness is the larger reality of universe and soul. Consciousness is the essence necessary to any experience of life. Without consciousness, there is no experience; and without experience, there is no real meaning to life.
Soul brings consciousness into life, because consciousness actually comes from the spiritual essence, not from physical matter. Soul incarnates consciousness, so to speak. Soul radiates consciousness into the physical body, so that even an infant experiences life consciously, to some extent. Realize that the physical body can, at times, function in the world without much consciousness at all, when it runs on mechanical-automatic mode. It runs, but the possible intensity of experience is at a minimum. And of course, the body can live without much consciousness, as in sleep.
There should be no surprise to learn that some souls have a greater consciousness capacity than other souls. But this also relates to intelligence. Intelligence is a capacity/capability to learn. Some souls have a greater intelligence capacity, but we each have a greater intelligence capacity than we usually use. So if there is a problem of intelligence lack, it is probably a lack in making the most of what intelligence we already have. Our soul provides (like a seed) our mind’s intelligence capacity or capability, but each person has to develop this intelligence from latency to actualization. It needs to be developed into actual use. Otherwise it just remains latent in us, like an unwatered, unnurtured seed. This analogy can aptly be said for all aspects of the soul, whether it be consciousness, love, or will. We have to develop these, or actualize them, into living actual use. Even consciousness, which we normally presume is just present, can be developed further from its potential latent state, and thus increased and expanded.
We need to nurture, develop, and bring forth our inner capabilities and qualities, which come from the soul, the seed potentials of the soul. This is especially true of love. Love is the core essence of our soul being. In a sense, it exists between will and consciousness, the other aspects of soul. Love has a number of significant essential aspects or qualities in it.
First is a feeling of belonging, relatedness, and connection with others and with life. This might also be a feeling of unity-with. This feeling, or feelings, will start off with a very limited inclusiveness. By analogy, an infant or young one will feel this belonging, relatedness and connection first with its mother but not much with anyone else. Gradually this related-feeling expands to include another and then another and then the family and then maybe the extended family or relatives. This feeling then expands gradually to include, perhaps, the tribe or the larger community. This feeling of love-relatedness can potentially keep on expanding, even becoming inclusive of all humanity and the whole planet.
But the usual norm is that it stops expanding at some boundary and becomes sort of separative. Yet this does not need to be, since the real soul in everyone loves to love and would love to include all in this love, to belong to all, related to all, and connected with all. Again to keep in mind is that love is a potential in us, a soul potential, so this needs to be nurtured and brought forth from its latent state of merely being a capacity in us.
Another significant aspect of love is sensitivity. Sensitivity is the foundation of our emotional being. This too comes from our inner soul. Emotional sensitivity, or let us say heart sensitivity, is very much like an ability, or capability. In fact it is. Yet people do not see it as such, so they take sensitivity for granted and do not consider the need to nurture this, in oneself and also in others, and to develop it, just as one would develop their inherent capacity to read or to write. So in homes and in schools we see a need to develop and improve a child’s ability to read and write, yet we do not think about the need to nurture and develop a child’s emotional/love sensitivity, in order to bring this human potential, this human capacity, into actual ‘ableness’ ; just as we would treat any other potential human ability, such as dance or singing or even skateboarding.
Sensitivity is being emotionally sensitive to the feelings and needs of others. In saying it is emotional does not have to mean emotional drama, nor emotional gushiness, nor emotional reaction. Emotion does not have to be a reaction; it could be a ‘response’ which is pro-active rather than re-active. Then, in this sensitivity and with this sensitivity, a person can act and respond with love, giving another person a feeling of love’s belonging and acceptance and a receptive kind of understanding.
The third essential aspect of love is caring, which also needs to be nurtured and developed from its soul latency into personal expression. Caring is a significant capacity in everyone, but it needs to be nurtured into maturity by the local social environment. This could also be said of all soul potentials in us. If the social environment is not itself caring, or not love sensitive, then the developing soul (or child) in that environment will not be experiencing these qualities which will hinder the bringing forth of their own potentials for sensitivity, caring, and love. So in order for caring to develop from its latency, from capacity to actuality, the person needs to first experience this from its environment. Then hopefully those around the person will also help nurture the caring capacity in that person. This is like teaching a child to care; but instead of saying teaching, we might say ‘reminding’ or help the child ‘recognize’ in their own inner being the feeling of care. Because this quality-capacity of care is already within everyone; it just needs to be given a bit of positive support and nurturance from those around, which is of course their expression of love and care.
Later on, as an adult, we might not need to rely on others so much and the social environment might not so crucially effect us; in other words, as an adult one becomes more independent - which is a developed ability to maintain one’s own self-integrity while not being so emotionally dependent on others. This might turn into a closed-off sensitivity, but not necessarily, because it is very possible to develop emotional non-dependency (not being desperately needy for other people’s attention, approval, and acceptance), while at the same time be emotionally caring and also love-sensitive in relation to others. That is, I can be increasingly sensitive and caring, in relation to the feelings and needs of others, but not emotionally dependent on everyone around me necessarily expressing love and care to me, or giving me attention, approval, and acceptance.
This is all part of developing emotional maturity, which includes a developed self-integrity of independence but also an increasing sensitivity and care in relation with others and all of life.
These are the fundamental three aspects of love. Consider them with great importance. If we might consider a fourth aspect of love, it would be compassion. This is a very important idea in most religions, but difficult to understand. The word comes from two parts, com and passion. Passion means desire for, or wish for. Com has a similar meaning with communal, or with. So using a kind of word play for understanding, compassion would mean a wish for communal-ness, or communing with another. But passion can also mean an impulse to action, so compassion has this wish for the good of another, as well as an impulse to act in favor of that person’s good. Compassion has the sense of caring, mixed with a sympathetic sensitivity, and also mixed with a feeling of communal belonging. Compassion is saying, ‘I feel your feelings and needs, and I wish to actively help you.’ Compassion also gives one an impulse to act towards others as one would hope others would act toward oneself; because one has a feeling of relating to the other as if that person were part of oneself. In fact, this is a spiritual practice -- to see others as parts of one’s own larger Beingness, then to act accordingly to them.