The question
has often been asked: do we have free will? Or are our
choices circumscribed? Is there a divine plan that we are
all following? Are the events of our lives pre–ordained? Or,
perhaps, is our 'higher self' or God self' actually making
all of the decisions? If we have free will, then why do we
often experience so much of what we don't want?
If there is
free will, then the universe is arranged so that it supports
all of our decisions. This means that we are completely, at
all times, in charge of the content of our lives. It means
there is no chance or coincidence. It also means there are
no victims. Because we often observe exactly the opposite,
these conclusions are unacceptable to many. This is
unfortunate, for by limiting our choices about who we can
be, we limit the scope of our lives as well.
The difficulty
with believing in free will is that you have to practice
what you preach! Free will is an all or nothing concept. If
you have free will, you have it ALL the time. There is no
such thing as 99% free will. It means that everything that
happens to you, without exception, is caused by you. This
is, understandably, very difficult for most people to
accept!
In order to
make sense of the idea of free will, we have to first
discuss consciousness.
Consciousness
is the ability to be self aware. Self– awareness is
reflexive; meaning, that consciousness has the ability to
affect, or influence, or change, itself. Some wonderful work
on this subject has been done by Arthur Young. His book 'The
Reflexive Universe' outlines a model for consciousness. Mr.
Young bases his model for consciousness on the ring torus,
the energy of which comes back upon itself, and I have
followed his lead in these essays.
We say here
that consciousness is the non–physical, creative and
animating principle of the universe. We say that the
universe itself, at the quantum level, is a field of subtle
energy that composes everything in it. We say that thought
is ultimately the basic quanta of existence. In the
vibrational universe model, thought is vibrational. It is
conscious and alive, and therefore all things are, on some
level, conscious and alive. We will not get into
metaphysical questions about the nature of reality, except
to say that if you are perceiving something, it is real for
you. We avoid, then, debates about whether matter has an
independent existence, or whether it's true nature is
subjective, merely in the mind. If you are perceiving
something, it is real! If you wake up from a vivid dream,
shuddering and sweating with fear, that experience was just
as 'real' as if it happened in the 'real' world.
Physical
structure cannot be created out of nothing. Matter and
energy cannot create other matter and energy, so the
physical universe cannot have originated in a singularity
(The Big Bang and its variations), or some kind of quantum
excitement that necessitates the prior existence of
something that has not yet been created.
The Law
of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be
created or destroyed. Therefore, all of the matter and
energy in the universe must have existed, without reduction
or increase, since the beginning of the universe at time t =
0. This idea is, of course, absurd. Therefore, the idea that
consciousness originates in matter is also absurd. A
creative principle is necessary, at the very least, in order
to get the universe started! (See “The
Creation of a Universe.”)
We say the
universe must inherently be one of well being, because,
firstly, it is so well ordered, and secondly, we admit that
the Creator (the creative, animating principle of the
universe, by any name that you wish to refer to it) is sane
and reasonable, and would not create a universe in which the
inherent nature of experiencing within it was uncomfortable.
That would be like building a soap box derby racer for your
son or daughter and designing it so that it fell apart in
the middle of the race. Any rational being, when creating
something for it to experience, would naturally create it in
the most joyous and positive way. Therefore we state
unequivocally that the universe is, quintessentially, a
wonderful place to be and experience, and that the nature of
consciousness itself is the same way. Consciousness, in its
inherent positive experience of itself, created the universe
as a mirror image to its own awareness of Itself.
All right, we
have described consciousness as, first of all, rational and
reasonable. It does us no good to assume that the inherent
nature of an awareness which could create an infinite,
well-ordered universe, is psychotic! That is clearly
unreasonable, so we have postulated that consciousness is
fundamentally sane, not insane.
We also say
that because consciousness does not proceed from matter, it
is inherently unlimited and unrestricted. Therefore the
intrinsic nature of consciousness is one of no limitation
upon thought or belief (belief is just a thought or
thoughts you keep on thinking).
Because action
always follows thought, and thought is unrestricted, action
must also be unrestricted. (I dare anyone to take ANY action
that does not first involve a decision. Even the decision to
raise your arm in the air involves a choice). So we say that
free will MUST be one of the fundamental principles of
experiencing in the universe.
If this is
true, then it seems that we have painted ourselves into a
corner! Because it is obvious that people receive all sorts
of things that they don't want, in violation of their free
will choices.
Although this
is seemingly true on the surface, a little probing shows
the fallacy of it.
Because the
universe is organized, meaning, that everything we see is
composed of smaller and smaller elements in combination with
each other, we must assume the universe is based upon the
principle of attraction. If we do not assume an attraction
based universe, but instead one based upon repulsion, then
nothing can ever come together, there can be no agreement,
no combination, and therefore no objects, no matter or
energy. A repulsion based universe is one of random and
incoherent chaos, and is fundamentally insane. We have
already observed that the universe is well–ordered and
therefore created in a reasonable fashion (consult your
biology and physics textbooks, or read “The Road to
Reality,” the wonderful new book by Roger Penrose). A
repulsion based, fundamentally chaotic universe is
impossible.
We live in a
universe where things are attracted to each other. Now we
can't say that attraction is the only principle of the
universe, otherwise everything would be in one great big
lump! We observe that some things come together and some do
not. What are the laws of attraction? Who or what decides
what will come together?
If you look
inside material objects, you find that each one has a
different geometry. All of the elements of the Periodic
Table have slightly different internal geometries, but they
are made out of the same energy (quarks, protons, neutrons
and electrons are the same ‘stuff.’ There is not a separate
‘silver energy’ and ‘gold energy’). Some geometries have an
affinity for each other, and some do not. Sodium and
Chlorine, for example, if taken separately will kill you.
But in combination they form NaCl, or salt. Helium and argon
never combine. We’ll let science tell us how and why this is
so, but it is clear that in order to have a material
universe at all, there must be attraction and combination.
The law that
describes what attracts what, can be referred to broadly as
'like attracts like'. This law, referred to as the Law of
Attraction, basically says that things that have an affinity
for each other will come together. So 'like attracts like'
is a basic property of the universe, and is the basis for
the formation of all naturally occurring structure and form.
This property
of 'like attracts like' explains the dilemma stated above,
with regard to free will.
Although
something may be wanted very badly, there may be a belief
that it’s impossible. Our attention is often more on the
things not wanted, than on the wanted thing. This explains
the apparent contradiction of free will.
The experiences
and events in your life have nothing to do with what you
want, but have everything to do with what you pay attention
to. Of course, if what is wanted and what is focused upon
are identical, then evidence of what is wanted appears in
your life.
This is
reasonable, for if we were to focus 99% of the time about A,
and 1% of the time about B, it would seem logical that we
would invite A into our experience, and not B.
And that is
precisely what happens.
If what you
want is where the predominant amount of your attention is,
you get it. For example, Joe desperately needs to push sales
up in the month of February. His small business hasn’t made
payroll in three months and things are really starting to
get tight. So Joe gets on the phone and contacts every one
of his customers. If Joe’s actions proceed from an
orientation of abundance, he’ll be relaxed and easy and his
customers will be receptive to his pitch. If, however, Joe
is feeling worried and anxious he’ll probably push too hard
and nothing will come of his efforts. Thought precedes
action. Regardless of the undertaking, your vibrational
signal is paramount. You can perform all the actions in the
world without getting any result. What you focus on, you
get.
Rigorously, we
say that you get something wanted if and only if your
attention is predominately and precisely upon that which is
wanted!
Now we can see
how so many get sidetracked, and how free will gets such a
bad name.
Because there
is a time lag between the desire and the manifestation (we
do not live, thank goodness, in a world where one can think
a thought and have it magically and immediately manifest),
it is often discouraging to work hard and see no results.
All that is necessary, however, is to change your
vibrational signal and watch how your attitude changes, and
how doors open for you.
It is always
your free will choice to decide where you are going to focus
your attention. It is literally true that every event in
your life is determined by the mix of your thoughts and
beliefs about them. In order to turn things around and prove
to yourself that free will exists, you have to become more
mindful and conscious about your focus. Although thoughts
are invisible, they are very powerful, for they affect your
attitude, the actions you take, and how others respond to
you.
The universe
has been designed for free will choice.
There is not
such a thing, anywhere in the universe, as a conscious being
that does not have free will, for free will is the
quintessential nature of consciousness itself.
All incarnated
beings, whether a bug or a dog or a human, have choices,
based upon their level of consciousness, to think and do
anything they please.
It is only your
vibrational offering that determines the content of your
experiences, and you are in charge of that.
There are no
victims, anywhere in this universe of attraction.
All things come
to you as a result of your thoughts and feelings about
them.
So if you do
not like what you are experiencing, choose again. It's your
free will choice.
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