Free Will?

​I was having a conversation with a few people on “do we have a choice?”. How much control do we have over our lives, how much free will do we have? Do we get to dictate the course of our lives?

One of the people I was discussing this with said “Yes, we are often given a choice between two or more things and we make a choice then we live with the consequences whether good or bad”.

The other argued that the majority of our life is already set out for us and that we actually have very little control over our lives, that’s why we find ourselves in situations, relationships and jobs that we might not classify as a dream come true.

I had heard a saint talk about this once and he said that God has us tied like cows onto trees. The more peaceful, loving and aligned we are the longer the rope we’re tied with is, giving us freedom to move and make choices. The more violent and hurtful we are the shorter our rope is going to be leaving us restrained and frustrated.

Now if we look at the two states he is describing, the latter is what is known in spiritual practices as the ego: our identification with our bodies and our minds, our belief that we are separate from others and with it comes all the selfish desires and the pain of separation.  When we act out of the ego, we are not aligned with the order of the universe. We may cause harm to others and ourselves, and we don't always know what's best.

The other state is that of the soul or the Self: a state of equanimity, the soul doesn’t differentiate between me and you, it doesn’t have an agenda or desires and sees everything with no judgement or labelling. This state, because equanimous, doesn't mind how things go and therefore easily "flow" through life.

And so his statement rung true for me for 2 reasons:

If you imagine that the whole universe is run by one giant brain. Call that brain God, love or Allah whatever you wish to call it. That consciousness is compassionate and loving towards everyone and everything. When you are aligned with your soul, you are also aligned with the direction in which God is moving and your desires would therefore be the same as God’s, which will make it seem like you’re getting what you want all the time.

The other reason is that when you are aligned with the source the less desire you have. You become more easy going, surrendered and trusting in that whatever is at the moment is the best possible scenario. The absence of desire will therefore mean that you will be getting what you want all the time since you don't really "want" anything.

May you all find freedom and power and be released from the bondage of desires.

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