Q: Vedanta says I’m not the doer. I understand that I don’t choose the body I’m born into, let alone my thoughts and feelings, and so it follows that Isvara must be the doer. This makes sense to me, however you also said that I have freewill, so where does freewill fit into this if I’m not a doer?
Dave: Great question. Freewill belongs to you, existence shining as awareness, not to the person represented by the body-mind-sense complex. That person does not have freewill because he is not a conscious entity, but rather an inert object – a fully automated process – that is known to you. You have no control over what arises in your mind, but since you are not that process you are free to respond as you see fit to whatever arises. You have an intellect for the purpose of determining the appropriate response. The question becomes whether you use your intellect in service of your worldly desires or of the desire for self knowledge.
Q: But aren’t my mind and intellect also part of the automated program that I have no control over whatsoever?
Dave: You don’t have control over the conditioning or the content of thought generated in your mind, but you have the capacity to reshape even that by virtue of your discriminating faculty (intellect) and your response to what appears. What is cannot be altered, but freewill is future facing, not past. You respond to every situation for the benefit of your future self, even as the present situation has already played out. Doing is done before you have anything to say about it, but as the action-less self evident witness, the intellect affords you the opportunity to apparently influence the future by your attitude and interpretation of experience.
Your mind does not enjoy this same freedom. As with everything else created, it is subject to the ever shifting winds of change. However, the intellect does enjoy the unique capacity to know you as its very own self, and to recognize your signature intelligence, benevolence and stability amidst the unending flux of creation. How? Because it is you. The uncontrollable unstable creation is nothing of the sort. Rather, it is governed by the very same unchanging benevolent intelligence that arises in your own intellect when the illusion of duality is pierced. The key to freedom is aligning yourself with that intelligence.
Q: It sounds like you’re suggesting that we not only have freewill, but the power to create our own reality.
Dave: In a manner of speaking, yes. Remember, the topic here is you, not some external reality. That means that everything that appears – including Isvara – is only you. Your mission, if you choose to accept it (😉), is to understand what that means. The evidence has all been disclosed, all witnesses have testified, and you are the judge and jury. Non-dual thinking, Vedanta, is observation, inquiry, and analysis of what you are and how you function. Not once are we ever referencing anything outside of you.
Therefore, look closely at your own experience. You know that your mind and senses can deceive you, and yet you also know that your mind and senses are the only means you have to experience the world. The conclusions that can be drawn from this challenging scenario are many. Spiritual bypassing, nihilism, and the idea that there is no freewill are tempting options to the fearful and unsophisticated part of ourself that seeks security at all costs. However, if your interest is in understanding reality as it is, then even your most closely held conclusions mean nothing to you. Your well-being and self worth are tethered elsewhere, so you are free to navigate life as you see fit.
Do you have freewill if what happens is not up to you? Can you create your own reality if there’s no freewill? The answers would seem to be no. Yet if you meditate to quiet your mind, and contemplate the teachings of Vedanta to understand it, can that lead to a greater sense of well-being and dispassion? Can you eat sensibly and workout regularly, and thereby improve your quality of life? Can you recognize that your lingering anger towards a person or situation is actually coming from yourself, and find a way to heal that suffering? The answer to all these questions is yes. It all depends on your perspective.
That is all you really need to know about freewill with respect to your own well being, and all we really care about in life is our well-being, contentment and satisfaction. If you conclude there is no freewill, you still have the apparent freewill I described above. If you conclude that you create your own reality, you are still subject to whatever happens, even the parts you would have preferred didn’t happen. Drawing conclusions is the nature of the intellect, but the conclusions that are drawn are only worthwhile to the degree that they serve you. If your desire is to be free from suffering and ignorance, then conclusions serve you when they point you to your ever-full nature as existence/consciousness, and not when they don’t.
Vedanta exists for the same reason that there is freewill. How would something like Vedanta, a means of knowledge to remove ignorance and gain self knowledge, even appear were it not for the self evident nature of consciousness? It wouldn’t because without you, existence shining as awareness, who would know the world?
Q: It just hit me that even my initial question had an obvious answer. Not an answer exactly, but I mean that the question implied the answer, me! I am the answer because even if I couldn’t resolve the logical discrepancy myself, I knew there was one. That means I am already free from paradox. Is that what you meant before when you said the topic is me?
Dave: That’s a great insight, and yes, that is exactly what I was pointing to. Remembering that you are the topic cuts right through anything. It engenders mature, independent, and nimble thinking because the real topic of any inquiry is always what you value most. Then whether you are trying to resolve a profound spiritual paradox, or a charged disagreement with a spouse, your touch will be light and free and any conclusions you come to will be in service to the greatest good.
