In Buddhism what is 'the will'? Is there a Buddhist concept that maps to the western concept of the will? For instance the will to get up on a morning, to go to work, practice Buddhism etc... One of my teachers said that it is just another name for our greed, hatred and delusion. I really like that concept but I wonder if the will is discussed in Buddhist texts or by established teachers and in what terms.
The will to do something would probably be equivalent to the term cetana, which means intention or an act of will. The term itself doesn't have any particular positive or negative connotation, as you can have a cetana that is good just as easily as a cetana to do something bad.

Most significantly, the cetana formed with an act is what determines the kind of karma that is produced, as is explained in AN 6.063 where the Buddha said:


  Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of
  body, speech, &amp; intellect.