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Old 18-09-2016, 01:17 PM
Within Silence Within Silence is offline
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I think that the problem of answering the question of whether or not we have freewill or is our life the result of divine destiny are the result of words and also the belief in the concept of time. And so to use more words in an attempt to solve a problem which is created by words is to compound the problem, to use the cause of the problem in an attempt to solve it, which cannot be done. In other words, the answer cannot be expressed in words, but only silently observed by oneself, Now. One must observe one self as it moves through life, observe oneself without any verbal dialogue taking place, with labeling anything, without judging, without thought, without comparison, without thinking that the past "could have" been different, as there is no "the past" in actuality, but only memories/thoughts of the past, and the past or what happened in the past cannot ever be different than it was. Now, the thing to see is that the past is 1 second ago, in fact less than that, in fact there is no space or "time" between each second because seconds themselves are an illusion, they are a fragmentation of the ever present moment, as, there is no pause in life, no space between this second or the next, which gives the illusion of time, there is only and ever movement, ever continuos momentum, change is the only constant, and it is the rate of change, or the measurement of change which we call time. But when we see that everything is "ever" changing, we realize that we are now and have always been in the eternal momentum (moment) as there is nothing else. To help see this, go and get the past, go change what you said or did in the past, this cannot be done and it is in seeing this that you realize that your whole life is the result of cause & effect, not free will. In other words, you simply react to some stimulus which then causes another stimulus which you react to and on and on and on. And there are so many things we simply do not control, for example:
Did you create the color of your eyes?
Did your parents create the color of your eyes? Tell them to explain to you how they did it.
Did you create the color of your child's eyes? Explain in exact detail how you did it. Don't say "my" genetics did it, but explain step by step the process you created to do it.
If you have an itch you scratch it, did you create the itch?
If you have to use the bathroom you do, how did you digest the food? Explain in exact detail how you crated the acids in the stomach used to digest food.
If a thought arises in the mind, you either react to it or ignore it, did you think to create the thought? Do you think to think? No it happens.

So, as I see it, all of life is the result of spontaneous arising, and there is no first cause, no beginning and thus no ending, only ever continuos change.

So when you begin to observe your life, you begin to see how little control (other than how you react to life) you have. Thus its been said that life is not so much what you make it, but more important is how you take it, thus how you react to your immediate present situation/experience, to what is right before you is really all that matters. Many of us spend much time lost in our thoughts about the past during the present moment, thinking and thinking as if all these thoughts could somehow cause the past to be different than it actually was, and they cannot. To prove this to yourself go change the past, go undo what you did or said, go cause someone else who said or did something you didn't agree with to undo what they did. Cause the future to be exactly what you think its going to be, cause it to be what you think/assume/believe it "should be". This is not to say that you don't have options/choices right now that were influenced by the past, and that will help influence the future, but that all your power resides in the present and in actuality you don't know how it will absolutely influence the future. Remember, what you think, is just what you think, I know this sounds simple, but when you really look into it it is profound. For example; if I think so and so doesn't like me, this is my thought, not theirs. If I think so and so should have done this or that, this is only my thought and just like myself the past cannot be changed, and no one could have acted different in the past then they actually acted, and so my thought of the past is just that, my thought about it. <that is a profound thing to realize. No one could have acted different than they did in the past, including you, as everyone is doing exactly what they believe they needed to do when they did it, and many of our actions/reactions are the result of habits, unconscious reactions, preprogrammed and conditioned responses without our consciously choosing them. Again, when you begin to really consciously watch your self as you go through life, observe the thoughts that arises in reaction to exterior stimulus, you'll see just how programmed we all are, and how many of our actions are the result of habitual thought patterns. Did you use your free will to create these habitual thought patterns? Can you change them? Did you use your free will to create the way your brain is wired?

So, as I see it, we are unconditionally free, not that we don't need to take responsibility for ourselves, but that we are free to choose how we will react to whatever the moment brings before us, and it is in this moment that we help to shape the future which then becomes the past. In other words, the more present you're based, the more conscious and aware choices you make, then the less you need to regret the unconscious habitual reactions you made in the past. Thus spirituality is all about present moment awareness, waking up is to be present, focused now, attentive to whatever the moment brings, to be awake, alive, aware, attentive, alert, allowing, accepting, aligning yourself with now and in being these your attitude and actions will change. Its hard to explain, but you don't need to try to do these thing, just like you don't need to try to find the present moment, its all right here and now. The problem we have is we leave it to go find it, we leave now to go get the past, we leave now to project into the future. Actually all of this takes place now but I must use words to point to it. Really it all comes down to is WHERE IS YOUR ATTENTION FOCUSED? Upon what period of your life is the foundation of your life based? Are you lost in the past, worried about the future or being right now?

So, after my long winded rambling the point is, there is no need to figure out if we have free will or not, just enjoy your life, live in the moment with the freedom and unrestrained creativity and imagination of a child. Be,...... as children.
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