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One of the more interesting aspects of our life dances between free
will and destiny. If we are destined for something, we have little
free will. If we have a free will, we should be able to change
anything we face so there cannot be destiny. It appears that free
will and destiny are opposites can cannot exist together.
Yet, it is said you have a destiny and a
birthright and that you possess a
free will At one level this statement seem to contradict itself.
To understand this seeming contradiction, it needs to be understood
that we have a free will but we are not normally going to interfere
with our own creation. If you take the view that the physical plane
is much like a sandbox where we all come together to practice our
creative ability with the material found in the sandbox, the two
concepts integrate quite well together.
It needs to be understood, we are a
creative living process and a creation unfolding. The creation
which is unfolding, sets up a destiny, or a flow path, to be
experienced in our life. Destiny as used here is a lot like
following a drop of water which falls in the mountains and enters a
river flowing across a continent to the sea. What that particular
drop of water experiences and sees as it flows from the mountains to
the sea are predetermined in the sense that it will flow within the
boundaries of the river back and through the country side that leads
to the sea. A river flowing within relatively fixed boundaries
across a continent of varying landscapes and terrains with their own
distinctive weather is analogous to the variety found in life.
However what that drop of water actually experiences depend on the
seasons and weather and what is actually happening on the river
banks as it passes at any particular moment.
Our lives are much like that drop of water. We incarnate at a
particular time in history within a certain belief structure in the
collective unconscious about how the world works and we experience
the world from within those boundaries seeing where those boundaries
take us depending on the type of terrain, through which we are pass.
There is a given path to our life but as the river there is a way
variation as to what we experience in that life. Unless we access
the intention for our life at the
source/Source of our being we will not access the power to
change it. We intentionally limit ourselves from access the ability
to change this intention at the source of our creative power. We do
so quite intentionally so we don’t interfere with the experience we,
ourselves, desired to create or in which we freely elected to
participate. If we had ready access to changing this intention,
whenever the experience we create offers something we think is
undesirable we would change the intention rather than continuing
with the experience.
Free will in the physical world is a lot like the early explorers
entering the United States in the 1600's. Each early explorer was
exploring the same land, but each had a different view of the land.
Their view of the land was different because of where they were
physically standing viewing the land, i.e., New England looks quite
different that South Carolina and each had a different reason for
exploring the land. Each had different expectations as to what they
were capable of producing when they were faced with the land before
them. Some sought religious freedom, some wealth and others a
homestead. Each explorer or settler had a choice as to the how and
what they were going to do in this new land.
In the same way, we all are exploring a new continent. This new
continent has two parts. One part is a unique part that each of us
have, - that unique internal unique continent represented by the
consciousness internal to our being. Yet, we each also explore the
same common continent, that collective consciousness in which we all
agreed to participate. We play out the exploration of these two
parts in our external physical world.
As with the early settlers and explorers, they entered a land of
untold promise and riches - a new life unadulterated with the
beliefs of the time - and they were free to start with completely
new beliefs about themselves and the land, or create a world based
on the beliefs of the old world from which they came. Not unlike a
new child entering life with a psyche open to be imprinted with
beliefs of the past and how the past manifested, or allowed to be
exposed to new beliefs rather than a continuation of the past. The
explorers were already in the promised land whether they recognized
it or not. The question was what where they going to choose to do
with it. So too our own life. We are already in the promised land.
But what do we create with it. A new life un adulterated by the past
or a continuation of the past.
In exploring the new continent, one could choose to stay on the
narrow coast line. They could stay with that which is known and
clearly seen - fearing to explore the unknown interior. Or, they
could choose to go inland and find out what was there. They could
choose to cross the rivers, mountains and deserts. They could choose
to face the unknown hardship to reveal the depth and breath of the
continent. They could continue to explore until they arrived at the
opposite coast to see how really huge and powerful the land was. Or,
as they could stop along the way where it seemed safe in what was
known rather than continue. One tends to forget that once they know
the true depth and breadth of the continent, they can always return
to the part they like best.
Then there was the question of how they were going to treat the
natives that were already dwelling in the interior. The natives are
no more than what dwells in the interior of our own being. All those
past life adventures and beliefs that are carried over from the past
are present in this new life, in this new world as the natives who
need to be dealt with. Some are down right hostile and other are
very peace loving and benevolent. One can go in and kill them off or
one can learn from them and understand what they have to offer as to
how to work with the land. The pooled knowledge is much more
powerful than the knowledge carried from the past.
In the same way the Northeast Confederation of Six Nations gave us
the essence of the Constitution, a new belief not carried in that
which was carried over from Europe, our internal natives can give us
new beliefs and new understanding that are not present in the
knowledge we gained from external sources. The question is, “Do we
live and use the knowledge we have within our being and blend it
with what we learn externally or do we live by external authorities
and the rule and regulations they impose from the outside?” In the
same way the early colonist needed to deal with the authorities of
the old world, the individual must deal with the authorities
external to them. And, as in the New World there were battles as a
result of the struggle between the European powers wrestling for
control of the New World, we will face battles both internal and
external to our being as we wrestle with all the external
authorities that compete for our lives and our internal wealth.
The question of free will boils down to, “How are we going to choose
to live in this new world - the life that we have?” Are we going to
explore the depths and breath of the continent facing the unknown
terrain and natives or are we going to sit on the coastline where
all seems safe? Are we going to listen to the external authorities
and live by their rule and regulations or do we make our own, more
appropriate to the time and place that we have chosen to live? And
how are we going to use the land that we have settled on - do we
raise sheep and cattle or do we farm the line, mine the land or keep
the land in a natural state only living of what the land can
provide? And do we live exactly where we are, or do we look around a
little and at least explore the river valley, the swamp, the hill
side, the plain and see what kind of terrain we like best?
We have many, many choices for the land that is given to us. More
choices than we could ever hope to utilize in one lifetime. However
most sit exactly within the beliefs they were enculturated with
never venturing outside these beliefs. It is as though you are born
in a small town within a valley with steep mountains on all sides
and told that there is nothing outside the valley. Or, you are born
in a small village on an island in the river and are told there is
no reality beyond the banks of the island. Believing those in
authority, you never look. In never looking, you never know what is
possible. Until one day someone from outside the mountains or from
across the river and say, “Come and explore - you know, there is a
whole new world to explore out there.” But the question then is, “Do
you believe or not believe this outsider - and if you do, do you
have the courage to go look and see for yourself. Or, are you
content to live the adventures and experiences of others who were
more bold and adventuresome?”
The choice is yours. You may be stuck on this particular continent
determined by this particular time and place in history, but it is a
vast unexplored contention of unknown wealth and adventures. You
have more choices before you than you could ever imagine. But it is
and always has been, your choice as to what you do with the
continent of consciousness you have before you and the choice you
make about that continent.
Where these two concepts come together is that you are this drop of
water seemingly destined to flow to the sea within the banks of this
river flowing across a continent and you stand on the shore of a
whole world to explore. However, the part of the river you are in
that is flowing with you is a vast continent itself for you to
explore and exercise your free will. There are some limits and
boundaries because you have incarnated in physical form, but yet
there is an infinitely vast continent for you to explore and
exercise your free will. And more intriguingly, the more you explore
the vast continent before you, the more you change and shape the
boundaries of the river itself as it flows into the sea.
However, we see the physical boundary of our physical form as a
limit when in reality it is only the container that we chose to have
the experience we chose to have. You can leave the container when
ever you want if you have a strong enough will to do so. Or, you can
accept the continent you have chosen to explore and realize you
maybe only have settled in a very poor part of the countryside that
does not lead itself well much as the river that you have choose to
flow in is only passing through the desert. So even if you are
flowing through the desert you can choose a part of your continent
that is more refreshing and enjoyable to experience the desert. It
is a matter of learning to understand what type of terrain in which
the river flows at any particular time. Then work with the part of
the continent available to you in a way that is best suited to
terrain in which the river flows. That is, if you are in the flow of
the river as it flows through the desert, be with the desert and
irrigate the land. Use the life giving waters of the river to create
a more acceptable life in the desert.
It is not unlike sitting in New England in the middle of winter or
choosing to fly South to Florida during the winter. If you are in
New England, learn to be in New England and not be somewhere else.
If you really don’t like New England, then figure out a how to go
somewhere else. Don’t be wanting to be somewhere else. Work to be
somewhere else. Either be fully present to where you are or be full
present to being on a journey to go somewhere else and actively
working to get there.
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