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What Is Free Will?
The ability to make a decision with or without sufficient understanding of the alternatives, responsibilities, causes and effects of each possible decision.
A person exercises free will when choosing to eat junk rather than food and vice versa. A person exercises free will when deciding what version of the Supreme Being to subscribe to.
For more understanding, see #398.
What Is The Purpose Of Free Will?
To allow creation, with fixed and variable abilities, to make decisions based on the fixed and variable information encountered which then provides the feedback of understanding to the Creator of how different aspects of self function under various conditions. This allows the Creator to work out weaknesses within self, thus also in creation.
Free Will Bears Certain Responsibilities
1. Continuously increase understanding. Free will is never free of this responsibility. Also, free will is always limited by one's level of understanding, because better decisions cannot be made without continuously gaining better understanding. Information alone is not enough. Possessing information is not the same as processing information.
"Make up your minds that you will rise to the knowledge of your soul. because of your ignorance you cannot decide between good and evil, you don't know whether you're doing right or wrong. With a greater knowledge of life you're able to appreciate all things around you.
- - Marcus Garvey Interview
2. You must question and analyze information because decisions require thought and thought requires analysis. Understanding comes from having freedom of information and then analyzing that information which activates understanding. This is the basic process a computer uses, a brain uses and the spirit uses.
Summary
Free will is not a substitute for conscience so that you don't have to consider the appropriateness of decisions. Free will is not a free pass. Just because it's your decision doesn't mean that you are the only one you must consider.
Free will must exist in order for other things to exist such as responsibility, judgment and especially understanding.
The best use of free will is to use it to gain more understanding.
Free Will Is Limited
There are varying degrees of limitation due to the following:
1. The ability to make certain decisions is influenced and affected by the free will of others and by all things whose energies influence the universe. This is universal karma. The ability to carry out decisions is affected by the same forces. For instance, you know you are limited by neighbors and human-made laws.
2. Information encountered and pursued.
3. Understanding. Since understanding affects decisions and no one has complete understanding of anything, thinking is limited, thus free will is limited also.
4. Information and understanding of the spiritual aspect of existence. Many decisions boil down to following either the higher spiritual self or the lower spiritual self.
5. The Creator, existing as One, also has free will and is part of the influences in #1 of this section.
6. Free will is limited by the combination of information and understanding about natural laws and agilities.
7. Free will is limited by both, an optimal worldview and a suboptimal worldview.
