Free Will

The whole concept of free will fascinates me and is one of the main reasons behind me writing the 33rd Sage and sharing the teachings of The Elements of Man.

Many of us believe we have free will; those who are a little more self aware realize that in reality there is no such thing as free will. I know some of my audience will baulk at that comment, but just stop for a moment and think about it.

The definition I would like to use is,  "The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act with one's own discretion." This last bit is where I would like to focus my attention, "...the ability to act with one's own discretion." It is almost like I can hear some of my readers screaming at my blog. "I am alway at the point of choice. I have spent years clearing away all this muck and everyday I make the choices that define me." Yes I am sure you do, but is it Free Will?

The next time you buy food at the supermarket. The next time you buy your beauty or cleaning products. The next book you buy. The next movie you see. Your choice in fashion or even your choice in a partner or friends is it because of Free Will. I would love to say yes, but on balance of a very strong possibility I would have to say no.

The reason I wrote the 33rd Sage was for many reasons, but one in particular was to help people to understand that they look at the world through a bias which has been called the season or Elements. Each of these Elements has a very distinct way of viewing the world and it is because of this world view that we make many of the decisions and take many of the actions that we do in our life. These inherited, incarnated or genetic predispositions blinker the way we see the world. Add to this the fact that our senses including our sight and hearing are not that good at seeing and hearing what's really there. Add to this that in the first few years of our life we are a sponge and take in all types of ideas from our parents, media and friends which give us an even smaller world view and by the time we are a teenager we see the world as we are programmed and not necessarily how it is.

As you wander through the day making countless free will decisions, stop and reflect on whether you are making these decisions out of free will or preprogramming. When you order that chocolate bar and the first taste sends you into that short state of ecstasy is it because you chose it out of free will, or are you addicted to the chocolate or sugar or does it remind you of a time when you were young and innocent or maybe you shared this chocolate with your first love or maybe it was given to you as a reward by your mother, teacher or whatever for being good. Now you associate chocolate with being good and when you are a little down you reward yourself. Chocolate was always my weakness. I always wanted to be a good boy and my reward was chocolate.

For me the word Enlightenment was alway a fun word. I would love to watch as all these Holly Molly Enlightened beings who would parade their cleverness when I have met many of them on my spiritual journeys. They could recite the bible, the Tao, Buddhist teachings and yet for the most part they were some of the most heavy spirited individuals I have come into contact with; some were so anal retentive that could not see there was any other way than theirs.

For me Enlightenment always meant to lighten up. To be Enlightened there always needs to be a lightness of being. Your teachings or studies can help to point the way, but in the end you have to be the way.
Enlightenment is about becoming lighter and this means to remove the biases that we currently have and this will give us a better chance of seeing the world as it really is. Eventually we will stop using the organs that have their own built in biases such as the eyes, ears or even our touch and begin to use the organ that allows us to see everything as it is.

This short journey from our mind to our heart is the true meaning of the spiritual journey; the journey within. The heart unencumbered by our prejudices sees the beauty and connectedness in all things.

After twenty eight years on this my spiritual journey I still don't have free will, and every day I make judgements of others and myself and yet I am lighter in spirit now than I have ever been.

When you really want to make a choice that is yours, go into your heart and allow your real decision to come forward.

Blessings and Peace. May the lightness of your being shine its light for all to see.

Take a look at my Book Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNMGhfwtdg

The 33rd Sage is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.

Twitter @GeofSpalding
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