Free Will … Myth or Reality?
Free will … does such a thing exist?
This is an age old philosophical debate.
Yes, says the existentialist,
No! Determinists and nondualists state.
The former posit we are the body/mind,
And that our innate personality,
Can be by our will refined,
For ‘we are what we choose ourselves to be’. (J.P. Sartre)
However, deeper than this body/mind
And the level of thought and sensation,
The conscious subjective essence we can find,
Ever aware of this manifestation.
At this level there is no separate being,
And thus no personal free will.
However, this is not so until we are seeing
This deepest ‘ground’, peaceful and still.
Until this is so we need to choose,
To investigate and uncover this ‘ground’,
To accomplish this we need to use,
Our will and intent ‘til it is found.
So when identified with thought,
And feeling separation,
Free will exists and so we ought,
To investigate with determination.
Once the discovery has been made,
And with Awareness we become identified,
No personal will can be displayed,
For no separate being can we now find.
Colin is the author of two great books I’ve read a couple of times: “Beyond the Separate Self” and “A light Unto Yourself”. He also has turned these books into poetry as separate works. To see all of his available titles please visit his site on Lulu.com HERE.
