Thursday, January 12, 2012

Free Will & Self-Will


Perhaps the scripture from the Bible that had the most profound affect on my life has always been from the Gospel of John where Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus of being born of the spirit: “The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is everyone that is born of the spirit.” (John 3:8).
The reason this scripture has impacted my behavior so deeply was a misinterpretation of what it actually means. I believed it meant, in context with the subject (the talk being the relationship of spirit and logic) that I go with my feelings wherever I wish without regard for logic, social conventions, laws and norms; i.e., self-centered free will.
As I have grown spiritually, I have come to understand that intuitive thoughts or decisions that arise from prayer and meditation are by all appearances similar, sometimes transcending social conventions, but for entirely different reasons. They are similar with the exception that such actions are to be taken free of self-will. The nature of our intuitive thoughts and actions that are the result of a higher consciousness always takes into consideration the impact my actions have on others first. The Golden Rule applies here more than anywhere else… even where what is required of such intuition might at first appear otherwise. Bad table manners, or running when the lights say walk, do not fit within this category of free will. Free will that was based on self-will was only free within the confines of a cage created by a slavish bondage to my own desires.


geo, 4,591

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