In order to understand the meaning of free will, it’s important to view it from a practical perspective. Most people consider free will as a spiritual concept within their own particular religious orientation, and therefore rely mostly on what they have been told by the individuals within those institutions. Our goal is to always gain understanding through our own experience, rather than adopting a belief system from an outside influence. By doing so, we allow ourselves to become more actively involved in our personal and spiritual development. We grow more quickly into truth when we develop beliefs based on our own experiences. To properly define free will, we must understand how it can be practically applied within that experience. Let’s take a look.
Free will is not so much about right and wrong as it is about understanding the effects that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have upon our experience. There is a very definite relationship between our beliefs and what we experience in our lives. Our goal is to understand that we are creating ourselves and our lives in every moment. Our ability to choose is the gift given to us. This gift lives, if you will, in the realm of the mind and involves our awareness of where we place our attention. Our beliefs create patterns of thinking that generate corresponding feelings. If we notice that we are not feeling good, we need to understand the thoughts we are having. We do not try to get rid of the thoughts, but rather, “choose” to think something else. The gift of free will then is the idea that we can change our minds at any time! The concept of right and wrong as it applies to free will involves whether we are learning from our experiences. Generally speaking, most of us do not intend to harm another or create damage in some way, but we often do, nevertheless. Let’s remember that we are indeed in a school and are being educated through the experiences we are having. There is no judgment from a “God” or “Universal” perspective, for it is understood that we will make many mistakes along the way. As we let go of self-judgment, we allow ourselves the opportunity to make corrections. It is only when we do not learn from our experiences that we get into trouble. Things become exceedingly difficult for us when we continue to re-create past mistakes. Do not worry, however, because we are given plenty of time and opportunity to get it right. Let yourself off the hook and try again. If we intend to do harm or have a conscious understanding of the willingness to do harm, then we are headed for danger. The karmic implications of our actions are more severe when we know what we are doing. In most cases, for most of us, this is not a concern. Even within the experience of severe karmic retribution, we are given the opportunity to make the necessary corrections and changes. My suggestion is not to go down this road of experience, as the pain and suffering one would encounter should be obvious. “Live and learn” as they say. Do the right thing, and you’ll be just fine.
Before I end our brief discussion today, I would like to bring in the concept of limitation again and note how it is intimately involved in our understanding of free will. As you may recall, there are some things we can control and some things we cannot. As we accept our personal and spiritual growth as a reality, it’s important to recognize that we do have some say over our development in terms of “when” and “how” we evolve, but not in terms of “if” we are going to evolve. We are part of a vast universe indeed, but we are not the whole universe, at least not in terms of our present level of awareness. It is the intent of God to progress with forward motion, and this always involves change at all levels, including us. Humility is our friend in this regard! It’s best to view our life and experience as a great river of movement and flow with it. Attempting to control our experience is not helpful and will slow down our progress. We will have a more pleasant go of things if we follow this simple, but important advice of those who have gone before us.
Thanks for being with me today. Remember to disregard the idea of achieving some imagined state of perfection. Take it easy and let go! I also wanted to give a shout-out to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We are with you and providing all our love and support from behind the scenes!
All my love and support to you as well, stay safe and be well