Understanding about Free Will (July 16, 2007)
We humans are special in two aspects. First, we have “emotions” and I mean regular human emotions, such as feeling of love, joy, worry, grief, sadness, fear, anger, frustration, jealousy, etc. Second, we all enjoy “free will”, which means that you can make your own action based on your decision. You may be influenced by others, but the ultimate decision is yours to do or not. Today, I would like to talk about “free will” and I will talk about emotions at another time.
Having “free will” means that you respect your will as well as others. In other words, you are responsible for your own decisions and actions, but you have to “respect” others. In the strict sense, you cannot change others directly. This is a Universal Law and we must accept this Truth.
Nonetheless, humans live in union, whether in a marriage, partnership, family or community. It means that we do not live alone in solitude, but live with interactions with others. In the previous paragraph, I used the word, “respect.” This is very important.
Free will is not the tool for separating your self from others in making decisions and actions. Free will is rather a tool given to humans for being responsible for your own Self. The ultimate reason for humans to use free will is to work on your Self. In consequence, you are asked to respect others’, so that they can do the same at their own initiative.
Many students of mine asked me how to improve a relationship (marriage, partnership, family relationship, etc.) and I always suggested that they should start working on your Self. A relationship is a manifestation of who you are, showing your strength and weakness. There are many approaches for improving relationships, but one of the most effective way is to observe and reflect your Self in relationship. It sounds like a long way, but it is actually the most reliable and shortest way to get to the level you would like to achieve…
