Dear Listeners,
Free will
Freedoms tend to be discussed in terms of access to actions or expressions, but in my opinion, it is less understood as free will. Will can be confused with free will they are different. Will comes from ego (think ‘he willed it’ to happen), free will is absent of ego.
These are some attributes I will use here to capture the nature of free will:
participation is voluntary
it is fueled by spirit
it appears open/spontaneous, some may understand this as being unhindered
it tends to be peaceful and employs wisdom
I’ll use an example based on a story I heard long ago; a woman decides not to attend a family event she was previously guilted into. Scenario A: Her decision not to attend is rebellious, she exclaims ‘They are not gonna force me anymore, cripes!!’. Scenario B; She sits with it, then says ‘I decline and am not compelled to explain myself, thanks.’ The scenarios differ in tone and reactivity but yield the same result. Her first response is directed against a system with tension, the second leans inward, frees her up, it is communicated with ease. This woman used to attend these family gatherings begrudgingly and as a result needed time to recover. She later realized she had a choice, didn't have to go, and could attend next year if she wanted to. With that freedom of choice, she decided not to this time around.
There are external and internal obstacles to free will. When interacting with others, expectations and judgements might be directed towards you. When goals, thoughts or actions are placed upon you (from an external source), that can squash free will. A benign example, a young man is in college selecting the topic he will focus on for the remainder of his studies. He wants to study political science and his family wants him to study chemistry. They believe he should study this particular topic based on family values and opinions about soft versus hard sciences, some of which is related to their faith and where they came from. These beliefs, in their view, shape his future prospects for family and their expectations about his career. From that you can pick out all the expectations, judgements and thoughts placed upon him. He however is very interested in history, politics and was inspired by the poly sci teacher… but the parents weren’t having it. What the parents didnt realize is that their son, a good enough and responsible student, would do quite well, even excel academically when his passion was ignited. Instead this young man’s free will was halted, he was corralled into another track of interests intended to please others. He did fine in school, however his potential was capped.
When I hear people express feeling exhaustion, health considerations are explored (as they should). In addition to this, I wonder how recent years of drama related to politics, social issues and the pandemic ground down our sense of free will. To what extent do people realize they can be free to make their own decisions. Peace and wisdom are added to the above description so these concepts are not misunderstood as encouraging some sort of lawlessness. That is not the intention here. Social norms are really not a deal and don’t need. However, I believe the pressure to adhere to social, moral or political views (for example, which contribute to self censorship) often cuts free will at the knees. These are examples of external obstacles to free will.
Every so often I read a view that we do not have free will or can never have it. To me this is limited, possibly based on understanding our world as trapped in a gravity cycle (sometimes wars are discussed in this way ‘we never learn.’). In this place, destiny is a non-negotiable rigid fact. Because x occurred, y will happen. Destiny however can be challenged (a separate discussion). To break free of gravity and live in a multi-dimensional way, each of us would benefit from exploring personally restricting thoughts/beliefs, which of course are limited by perceptions that operate on senses and a sensitive neuroendocrine system. Previous posts that mention methods of self-observation and pattern adjustment can be applied here. However, when I speak of freeing from gravity, I bring the power and mystery in the heavenly bodies that include this solar system, galaxy and universe. Why? Because the human body is an amazingly complex, graceful and spectacular by design. If the human body was a ‘soup’, ingredients would include astronomy, mathematics, mystery and alchemy! Instead of looking up at the clear night sky in wonder as if it were separate, why not contemplate what you had in common? That view can help expand the possibilities in your world and create space within.
If you were to consider having free will, how would you explore external and internal forces getting in the way of your choice to participate, in anything… you may be surprised how this can open your mind and relieve pressure that was difficult to name. You might notice repeating painful patterns can be a signal you’re off track from free will.
Remember; you can chose to participate or not, in anything.
The gift of free will is given to all of us. Happy July 4th
Please share this with anyone you think may find it helpful.
a lovely little daisy
st johns wort- all over the place otherwise known as ‘happy tea’
these photos below are for my substack-colleague Modern Discontent who was asking about wild parsnip- this is what the flowers look like and can be seen amongst MANY highways in the northeast (people, do NOT touch it) with the characteristic leaves in the second pic. My photo was out of focus so I pulled one in from the internet.
This is a photo of the flower from online, it has an amazing instinct to survive and propagate. Just don’t touch it.
Read more here on the Cornell website.
meditation: ribbon of love