The blunder here, which Non-duality clears up, is the belief or assumption that "god" (reality) is some person who is separate from you and you are some person who is separate from god. Like a divine parent and her undivine, sinful children. So of course you will have no choice if you are living your parent's will - like a small child HAVING to mow the lawn! You believe that, as a separate person, you have free will but that might collide or conflict with god's free will so there's a problem. So which "will" are you supposed to follow - god's or yours?
Non-duality clears this up by making the point that there is only one being, consciousness, mind, life, god, reality, etc. so god's will is your will and your will is god's will because there is only god (you). When you decide something, god is actually deciding it because there is only god or Divine Being in the entire cosmos. There are not 2 (realities) - just One. If I scratch an itch on my face, god scratched it! God is typing these words! God is sitting here looking, breathing, thinking, laughing, etc. I do have "free will" but it's actually the will of god or Divinity expressing AS me - Jim - a person BUT not separated from Divinity!
Who/what is the "you" in that statement? If examined very deeply this apparently separate "you" turns out to be the Source! It may seem to be a separate, entity/person BUT, when closely examined, you are NOTHING - which when examined closer turns out to be EVERYTHING! So you do have "free will" but not as an apparently separate person. You have it as and from the Source!
This question only arises if and when you, an assumed separate person, believe that you and god, another separate person, are in conflict = my will verses your will! My "free will" is actually god's will being done. Jesus said, "Thy will, NOT MY WILL, be done." Jesus could have said, "OUR WILL BE DONE." or maybe Jesus could have said, "Thy will ALONE be done because my will is also your will, father." The question of my will vs. god's will only comes up for a separate, egoic entity who believes it is on it's own and wants to get it's own way even at the risk of upsetting god! Free will is actually a misconception based on the assumption of an independent, separate individual when no such individual even exists!
LOL, that was the argument of the Nazi's after the WWII: "I was just following orders!" (so, I am therefore not guilty!) The military court didn't accept that "excuse"!
This is the silly "parent vs. child" scenario where the ego can not be responsible for anything since god made all the decisions and DICTATED the ego's actions. There is only god here and god alone is responsible and also
accountable for whatever happens in the Appearance.
We, as god, commit murders and we, as god, hold our self accountable! God is doing it all - killing & jailing. There is no action or reaction anywhere in the cosmos that is NOT done and responded to by anything other than god because god IS all of this -including the murdering and the murderers who must be held accountable and then put in jail.
If someone, like Ramana Maharshi, examines this "we", it will be found that the "we" is NOT a separate individual but is actually the Source or god so the concept of a person being punished for disobeying god is mute since there is no person disobeying but only god doing, disobeying, punishing, etc. Ramana, knowing that everyone is actually god, simply told his followers, "Do no harm". If someone believes they are separate from god and disappoints god, then they will have to fear god and perhaps suffer "punishment" but if a person realizes that there is ONLY god, then they are more likely to "do no harm". They would only be harming them self if they did.
God "gives" itself free will and if god MISUSES it (suicide), then god tells god "I shouldn't have done that". It always come back to who or what this "you" is in all of these you this and you that scenarios. The "you" is actually god disguised as: you, me, us, we, them, that, those, this, etc.
IMO, there is no "sin" when it's seen that god alone is and does EVERYTHING but I'd say there is "accountability" such as: Jail, Rehab or even execution.
Yes, its all god's will and MAYBE you will die.
How is god saying "Don't take any medicine"? How did someone go from god wants me (god) to be terribly ill and MAYBE even die, so therefore, I (god) had better not take medicine because that would go against my decision to be sick and PERHAPS DIE?
God never said he
wants you (god) to die. He made you sick and you MIGHT DIE [
"the chance would be great that you'd die"] or god made god sick and god
might die.
If god doesn't want you (god) to die, take medicine or not - its your choice, as god.
Once its seen that all there is is god, consciousness or you, all of these twisted and illogical scenarios of "me vs. god" will end along with all the weird and childish questions about sin, hell, heaven, angels, god, saviors, etc.
Some faiths teach about unity and oneness while others prefer to have folks behaving like frightened children in relationship to a Parental god who judges and punishes or rewards them.
To each his own. If being afraid of god and afraid to use or loose your "free will" is your thing, stick with it. It's your life, god, so enjoy or fear it - it's all you!
