Free will is, quite simply, the natural right of spiritual entities to make a choice. Let me be clear in stating my belief that spiritual entities and only spiritual entities have free will. True free will resides only in the spiritual domain and is exercised in and only in that realm.
Physical entities (the human mind for example) do not have free will...not a single one does. Society, in general, believes and want us all to believe that all choices we make are the exercising of our free will. In the majority of cases, these choices are made by the mind and the mind alone. The truth is that all such "choices" (made solely by the mind) are not real acts of choice but rather, are the natural acting out of our programming (inherent human nature or mental/social conditioning).
Not convinced by that last sentence in the preceding paragraph? Let's look at a few simple examples. When we chose to look the other way as thugs severely beat another person right in front of us, are we exercising free will? When we chose to allow anger and hate to enter our hearts in response to the actions of others that we perceive as acts of disregard or disrespect for our feelings, is this the exercise of free will? If you subscribe to what I believe to be so concerning this truth, your answer to both questions would be a resounding "NO".
Let's look closer at some of the choices our mind has made in our lifetime. Were not a lot of these "choices" made in response to fear, insecurity, greed, envy, or pretentious pride? Even some of those choices that (on the surface) look like selfless acts of "love", were these not actually motivated by our natural programming to feed our selfish physical, intellectual and emotional needs? Let us also not underestimate the powerful programming within us that drives us to commit acts that satisfy our five senses and even gain pleasure from them.
There are choices that are made by our minds but which originated in our soul. These choices are the true exercise of our free will. Our soul makes a choice and it influences our mind to fulfill the choice. Our mind, in turn, controls our body to carry out the act associated with that choice.
At the very root level, there are only two core choices that the soul makes...two simple yet all-powerful choices - chose to be in union with God, or chose to be God. All other choices are merely sub-choices in support of one of these two.To recap, as long as the "choice" is formulated solely in the mind (non-spiritual realm), it cannot and should not be construed as the true exercise of free will. These types of choices are not true reflections of who "we" are. And if judgment exists in the spiritual realm, it certainly will ignore and not take into consideration all choices made at this realm.
The truth about the concept of free will (as presented here) might be a little too much to accept for those who are ingrained with the notion of accountability as it is commonly used in the context of responsibility for one's actions and choices. Try to keep in mind that the term "responsibility" is a concept that relates to the establishment of order within society and the role that is expected of us (by members of that social order) in maintaining a desired order. Although it also relates to the relationships between members of society, between two people, it does so at the non-spiritual level...the realm where the concept of "reward and punishment" is more aptly applicable and used in. In this regard, society will cast judgment upon our choices (and the consequent actions) based on the soundness and maturity level of our mind.
The soul of a human being is a spiritual entity...as such, it has free will. One excellent example of the true exercise of free will is the influence of the soul on the mind to overcome its programming (in all its many forms) in order to consistently carry out acts of true love.
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