Free Will

Do we have free will?

The crucial clarification to elucidate here is what we mean by 'I' or 'we', for our investigation hinges upon that. Do we consider our Self to be a separate entity or the totality of Reality?

It is really a question of one or the other. Either our Self is a separate, limited entity or the infinite totality of Reality. Those are the only two possibilities to investigate, and the only two possibilities of what we are.

So let's take a look. Is there evidence of a separate entity, here, now?

We may imagine we have a plethora of evidence that validates the belief in a separate entity. However, if we take a closer look we will inevitably discover such evidence is only apparent and hypothetical. That is, it will be seen to be solely a mental interpretation, and not to have any basis in our actual, preverbal experience.

So let's ask a simple question of our experience now, is it possible to experience separation?

To verify the existence of a separate entity is actually impossible. The instant a separation between two entities is apparently defined or perceived, all that is really presented to us is the experience of connection between those two entities. They could not co-exist in our observation, as two things apparently separate, if they were not simultaneously present together. It is their togetherness which reveals their implicit unity.

We cannot experience something separate. If we are experiencing something it implies that we are connected to that thing, and as such, that we share a common, essential Substance.

So then, are we experiencing Reality right now?

The word Reality is rooted in the latin res, meaning ‘the fundamental somethingness of things’ or ‘the essential, irreducible Substance of things.’ It is in this sense that I use the word; to refer to the essential Substance of what is.

Are we experiencing the Substance of Reality now?

Yes. Reality is evidently substantially present. Thus, we can discern from this simple confirmation that by experiencing Reality we are connected to Reality, and therefore, that perceieved connection implies, in the essential truth of our experience, deeper than the perception of 'connection', that we are the one Substance of Reality itself appearing as a 'connection' between two conceptually defined presences, one which we have called 'I' and one called 'Reality'. 'I' and 'Reality' are, in the immediacy of our actual experience, two names for the same seamless, indivisible Presence.

If we were not experiencing Reality, we would not be. The only place to be is Reality, and the only place from which to experience Reality is Reality. The one experiencing Reality is Reality itself.

That which is, is Reality, the only Presence really Being. There is only one Reality, only one essential, irreducible Substance out of which all existence is made, and we are that. There is no other substance out of which we could be made.

A separate entity has never been and never will be verified to be real, only the infinity of Reality is real. The seeming truth and existence of the separate self was merely imagined by thought. The separate self we believe our Self to be is merely a thought with which we exclusively identify. There is nothing more to it than that; a belief in a concept.

Now, to the question of free will. We can see that there is no free will for a separate entity for no such entity fundamentally is. Only Reality is and Reality is one infinite, indivisible whole, with no separate parts within it.

So, having understood that no separate entity really is, that we are not a separate self, but are, in truth, the totality of Reality itself, we might ask at this point; why do I, as Reality, still feel that I have free will?

Free will feels real for the simple reason that it is real. The freedom to manifest a form of experience, such as a thought, sensation, perception, action, interaction and so on, is real, and that freedom belongs to the only One that is really here; Reality.

Reality is free to create anything and everything. Looking around and within, all we perceive is the creative display of Reality. Creativity is all that is going on here, as everything perceivable and conceivable.

When we feel 'I have free will' or 'I create' we are really intuiting the freedom of Reality, our Reality, to modulate its infinitely dynamic Substance into all the forms we perceive. That's what we feel when thoughts arise, actions pour forth and speech floods the air; the totality of Reality spontaneously creating an appearance within itself.

Moreover, when we believe our Self to be a separate entity, it is Reality itself believing or pretending to be a fictitious separate entity. There is only one Self, Reality itself. Hence, even in this case the feeling 'I have free will' only belongs to the totality of Reality. There is no one else to whom it could belong. Reality is all that is here.

The feeling 'I have free will' is an affirmation of the sense of freedom that is an intrinsic attribute of what Reality essentially is. Reality is the experience of freedom itself. Being infinite, Reality is the only one who is truly free, and therefore, the only one who can feel a genuine sense of freedom.

There is no presence outside of Reality to limit its Presence, to limit its infinity, to limit its freedom. Reality is absolute freedom.

Reality is freely creating these words right now, the reading of them and all presently apparent movements of experience.

Now, the question comes; do we, as Reality, have the ability to choose to initiate creation in the first place? Do we control what specific forms of experience arise? That is, am I, as Reality, predicting with absolute precision the exact words that will be written here before they are written? Are you, as Reality, predicting with absolute precision, the exact words that will be read here?

No! We have no way of telling for certain what is going to happen next. Experience spontaneously and unpredictably appears the way it does.

Try to see what is going to happen next, finely look with a microscopic style of contemplation, and see if the tiniest nuance of the next moment is absolutely predictable. The exact muscular tensions of the arms, the legs, the precise volume of the diaphragm, the rhythmic flow of breath, the slight gestures of the fingers, the wiggling of the toes, the dancing articulations of thoughts that float by. Are any of these really choreographed by you prior to their arising? Really look.

We have to admit that no one is driving this stream of experience. It's just flowing on all by itself. The unpredictability of the next moment shows us that we, as Reality, are not in control of the next moment of experience. We create the next moment, for sure, because we are the source of everything, but we don't have the ability to choose, beforehand, what form this next moment will become.

In the morning, do we choose for the world to wake up in us? Did we choose to perceive this movie of a human being? Did we choose for the big bang to occur? For the beginning of manifestation to occur? No! A choosing process does not exist prior to the beginning of manifestatio. A choosing process is limited to exist inescapably within manifestation. Before manifestation, there is no manifestation, and therefore no-thing or process that could initiate manifestation.

Every moment the totality of manifestation is created anew. To see whether we are in control of how manifestation appears, we can look at how one aspect of it appears, for all aspects are interconnected as a seamless whole, and thus, what is true for one aspect is true for all the others. So, let's take the appearance of thought. Do we really know what thought is going to appear next?

We might say, "yes I do, I’m going to think about bananas." But how did we come to that seeming certainty of what thought would be next? That thought of seeming prediction just arose unpredictably. We didn't know in advance that such a thought would arise. Knowing in advance would mean that we have access to an infinite plenum of possible thoughts, through which we sift in order to specifically select one to manifest. But all of that sifting, and the plenum through which we would sift are already phenomena manifest in experience, and thusly, could not be occurring before manifestation and before the 'predicted' thought begins.

Now, to explore more deeply how a thought, decision, or action arises - whether its form and timing are truly controlled or chosen - we simply turn our attention to the Self, the Reality that is present prior to any such arising, and enquire whether there is any actual mechanism, like a hidden joystick, through which we manipulate these movements. What is present prior to the arising of a thought, decision or action? Is that Presence maintaining a force of control, or holding a mechanism in place that affects what is going to appear next?

Prior to the appearance of thought, decision or action, the Presence of Reality is simply aware of itself as I. And in that Presence, as that Presence, there is no thought, decision or action present, for no thought, decision or action has arisen yet. There is only silence, stillness, changeless Awareness, completely devoid of thought, decision or action.

Can a Presence that is intrinsically thoughtless, decisionless and inactive be in control of what arises?

No! 'Control' is precisely a concept that is defined by thought. A concept does not experientially exist prior to its conceptualisation.

Where does our idea of control come from other than a thought that imagines such control exists?

When thought is absent, there is no sense of being in control; simply because, in that absence, what remains is the Reality of our Self, which is entirely free from control and beyond all possibility of being controlled.

How could that which is indivisibly itself have the ability to control itself? It cannot separate from itself in order to control itself. It cannot become an entity outside itself to interact with itself in a relationship between a controller-entity and a controlled-entity. There is no relationship between Reality and itself. Reality, our Self, is that which is indivisibly, seamlessly, inseparably itself. Control is impossible for itself.

We are not in control of our Self and of what happens next in creation, and we are the creative source from which the entire cosmos arises from moment to moment. It seems like a paradox from the viewpoint of the mind, but from the Reality of experience it is a coherent truth.

Absolute freedom is being uncontrollable, for that freedom is being infinite. There is nothing outside or beyond our Self to bind or limit us.

Thank the heavenliness of Reality that we have no clue what is going to happen next! We love surprises. Life would be boring if we could predict every nuance of the next moment. Let life continue to be what it is; a magic show.