Free Will – Is Freedom Truly Free?

When mankind first became a sentient race, we were given the power, by the gods, to make our own decisions. This might seem too good to be true, and in fact it is. The consequence, as we soon discovered, was the idea of karma: our actions have far-reaching consequences, and to live for oneself alone is not enough.

If we accept the idea that our actions are pre-determined for us in the form of destiny or fate, and that nothing we do matters, what is the meaning of this ability to make our own choices? Even if we don’t and we believe in the idea of Tabula Rasa, or a ‘clean slate’ at birth, why do our actions in life matter in the grand scheme of the Universe?

Nature almost surely operates by combining chance with necessity, randomness with determinism ~ Eric Chaisson

The best way to look at free will is from the perspective of a wise, benevolent parent. Parents will let their children grow through making mistakes. This is the only natural way to learn. If we keep children too close to home, only allowing them to make decisions and choices our way, they are stunted and do not develop a proper set of life skills.

Oppositely, if we let them have complete free rein, anarchy ensues and they may make destructive and unhealthy choices. The best balance is somewhere in the middle. Free will allows us to do just this: we live, grow, and learn through our mistakes. And this is also how we climb higher on the karmic ladder.

Admittedly this is a difficult concept. Even someone as brilliant as Albert Einstein admitted he couldn’t fully understand free will!

The first place to look for answers is in our past. Because we have all lived many times before our present life, our previous experiences, hopes, and fears will color our present. This is also why it is so important to know about our past selves, so that we may learn about our current predicaments. If you had a road map to a destination you have never been before, wouldn’t you want to take it, instead of going in blind?

For you will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John ~ C.S. Lewis

All of us make a plethora of choices in the course of a single day. As the well-known Butterfly Effect shows us, these little decisions do add up. We may tell ourselves that having an extra cup of coffee or not calling our mother isn’t important. It is! In a day and age when we feel so unimportant and caught up in a fast-paced world, this is vital.

We have the power to choose. We can be in a good mood, or not; we can reach out to others, or not; we can be bitter, or not. That is what karma means. All of our lives intersect with one another’s. In making better choices, we make everyone better, and thus move closer to true enlightenment.

Learn what your particular spiritual tradition or religion has to say about free will. It is a complex idea, but is more easily digested when you start with the basics.