Free-will ... What to Do!

There are two assertions on free-will that come to mind.

1. One is that we are body-mind organisms that are programmed to respond in specific ways to specific situations. The situations are different enough that we think our responses are different each time/we are responding with some choice. But, they are also similar enough that we can see that our responses are the same. What does person X choose to do when he has an evening of free tme? How does a person X react when person Y says or does Z? Even when we recognize that we respond in predictable ways, we justify it saying "that is who I am." There is an attachment, a need to defend this person ... that everything else is built on. This person is the last to be challenged because we cannot afford to. Our state of mind is dependent on keeping this person secure. If we feel that this person is a programmed person, nothing special ... this shakes the very foundation of how we feel secure now. Accepting that we are programmed beings is one key step, which is in itself is dependent on our programming and its interaction with situations. Programming + situations = new situation.

Here, there is nothing to do because, by definition, you are dependent on your programming and the situations (both of which you can't control) to create your reality.

(Is there a meta-level from which you can change your programming; how does one get in to the meta-level? Isn't getting in to the meta-level itself dependent on your programming and situations. If you get in to the meta-level by accident, what replaces your programming in choice-making? Masters say this is the spirit which is 100% in tune with the environment ... still there is no choice from your personal perspective.)

2. Another assertion is that even if we are not programmed (and our actions are new and creative and full of choice), the results have never been under my control. Experienced business leaders say that they are right 60% of the time ... or what they choose to do is successful 60% of the time. Just slightly better that 50-50 ... and that too in the biased opinion of the choosers themselves. So, what is the use of choice and free will? Is it better to focus, not on choice and decisions but on getting on with the action as best as you can ... and enjoy it as you go along without the pressure of choosing and decision making. This is the assertion of Hinduism (Vedanta), Zen, Taoism, Sufism ... much of Easter thought ... they focus on action rather than choice. They have been interpreted as license for not acting ... it is actually a license for not being too worried about choosing. Any choice is OK ... acting well is far more important. Free will is not important if it is the free will to choose. If it is free will to act, it is supremely important.

Once again, nothing to do.

While we are not the doer, the language of doing is all we have. In this language: Act as if you have free will to choose, but let this be a thin thread ... be open to allow the choice to change (choicelessness). While you are in action, be totally in action (immersion). Spend more time in action than choosing. Nail down both choicelessness and immersion in action by accepting that results are way beyond your control. You are but one drop of water in the mighty ocean. Your path depends more on the ocean that any choice/action of yours. Relax ... and ... Unclutch.