The Big Question: Does Humanity Have Freedom of Will?
In our world, we are almost completely dependent on nature’s providence. We are compelled to be born; we do not choose our time of birth or our family, our talents, or the people we meet in this life. We enter an environment we never chose.
All my characteristics are predefined: the feelings, the aspirations, and the character. Everyone is born with his or her own Mazal (luck). Moreover, it is said that “there is not a blade of grass below [in our world] that has not an angel above [a force from the upper world] that strikes it and tells it: Grow!” So is there any freedom at all?
Both nature and society evolve according to their own laws, and so do all the changes in the universe and the ever- greater catastrophes that happen, hence there is nothing that depends on us. But if everything in humankind is dictated from above, not only our characteristics and inheritance, but everything outside us, including the forces that lead us to the end of correction, to a predetermined state, what kind of freedom can we talk about or even think about?
Predetermination vs. Free Choice
On the other hand, if we just obey nature’s orders, it is unclear why we were created in the first place, not to mention everything else around us. If everything is predefined and there is no freedom of choice, there seems to be no point to the whole of creation. The goal of creation, however, is not that everything will continue the way it has so far advanced, without any reason, but rather to attain completeness, precisely through our gift of free choice. For that reason it is vitally important that we find where and in what our free choice manifests.
Why Everyone Desires Independence
No plant, animal, or person can tolerate the denial of their freedom. Despite our awareness of the rigid frameworks in our world, the aspiration for independence dictates our life. Animals that lose their freedom lose their livelihood and become weak. Nature will not tolerate any kind of slavery; all living creatures want to be free. Therefore, it is not a coinci- dence that in recent centuries so much blood has been shed just to attain a certain amount of freedom.
The Search for Freedom of Choice
It sometimes seems that we must ignore the question about our freedom of choice and choose only the most convenient options. This is one of the most fundamental dilemmas in our lives. We must clearly see where we have freedom to choose and where we do not—what is up to us to decide and what is dictated from above. The problem is that in our current level of development, we can’t see the limitations that are acting on us from above.
But if there are even one or two actions or decisions in our lives where we are free to choose, we must study and understand those things carefully, because they are the only means of expressing our freedom and changing anything in our fate. In all other things, we still remain under the laws of nature, the ones we can and the ones we cannot see.
“The Secret of Whether or Not Humanity Has Freedom of Choice” is based on the book, Awakening to Kabbalah: The Guiding Light of Spiritual Fulfillment by Dr. Michael Laitman.
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