In this article, I am describing a spiritual realisation. It can be rather difficult and uneasy to read. But I hope to challenge the Reader to question upon what is generally being accepted as true.
The question for ponderance is this: Does our personality has free will?
Below is my findings on this very important subject. Reading it may change the way you understand yourself. Please proceed with caution!
The thoughts in our mind come and go… we can’t stop them, we can’t will them. For example: can we stop how we feel? When we are feeling sad, can we stop the sadness instantaneously? The answer is an obvious NO.
Our ‘sense of self’… give us a sense of personal decision-making and action-taking ability… The ‘sense of self’ seems to be in charge of these actions and decision-making… but is this really the case?
My opinion is that the ego/personality has no personal free-will. The sense of self is caused by the impression of continuity and connectivity of thoughts that gives the impression of coherence and personal-willing. In another word, the sense of self IS the sequence of thoughts itself… that is interspersed with the intelligence that make coherent meaning of this sequence of thoughts. This can be realised within deep meditation, when the arising of thoughts are clearly perceived… In such meditation, one will discover that there is really NO observer of these thoughts. The subsequent thoughts that arise after the previous thought are the ‘observation’ of their predecessors. All these are happening at lightning-fast rate, and therefore is perceptible only under deep clarity.
My view is that only the soul/oversoul/source has free-will… because it is the state that held the impulses and intentions/desire/purpose for the incarnated personality. But, ironically… part of the soul/oversoul/source itself may not have a ‘sense of self’.
‘Sense of self/ego/personality’ is only a part of the entire field of consciousness. The ‘sense of self’ is not the doer… it is part of the ‘being done’.
However, this realisation does not imply that all in existence is fixed and static. In fact, the opposite is true. The visible (our conscious self/personality) works in partnership with the formless/invisible, in order to realise the potentials into physical manifestations. All of physical manifestation that is perceptible are in fact already ‘being accomplished.