The LAW and Free Will

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Deep Dive Discussion

Many of us struggle with balancing the concept of Law and Free Will because they appear to be mutually exclusive of one another. It appears illogical to talk about Free Will, which is popularly understood as unbounded freedom to act as one wishes, if there are Laws, whose purpose is binding and restricting.

But, what if, contrary to what many believe, LAW is not the consequence following the violation of a principle or statute, but simply that which governs how an entity or system exists or operates, i.e. something that does not need the participant’s or beneficiary’s acquiescence or acknowledgement.

For example, we need to breathe in air in order to remain alive. Therefore the intake of air is The Law for the human body’s existence. As we all know, lack of air, or any obstruction to breathing has consequences for the body. And, like it or not, or believing or not, the body will gradually sicken and die if the violation is not reversed in a timely manner. In this example, the violation can be voluntary or the result of other activities that brought about the unintended violation. Regardless, the violation of The Law of air intake will

always attract consequences. Thus here too, a person is free to choose to breathe, or to take actions that can impair their breathing and face the consequences. With this they exercise their Freedom to Choose (Free Will), which co-exists naturally with the Law of Air intake.

Many will reject this analogy, with the argument that no thinking person would choose not to breathe.

That is true for any rational person. But consider this, the rational person learned very early in Life, the consequence of the violation of this Law, when they attempted to choose not to breathe. Many parents have, probably, experienced children who in a fit of a temper tantrum decide to hold their

breath in order to get their parent’s attention. Usually the child gives up, when they realize that their body instinctively demands air intake to survive. And the child quickly learns that the exercise of the choice of free will not to breathe is dangerous to their continued existence.

Therefore, is it illogical to consider that if the consequences of all violations of the Laws were immediately experienced that many would quickly learn to distinguish between the exercise of choice (free will) and The Law.

Now, if we look at Life in the same way, we may come to realize that the social ills we experience, as a result of our voluntary or unconscious choices that violate The Laws, are simply signs of deterioration of our Spiritual health. And, if we persist, and do not go back to adapting to the Laws that sustain existence, it will simply lead to the individual’s Spiritual death.

Another observation worthy of consideration is that, affirming, studying the effects, or trying to understand the nature of the consequences arising from the violation of Laws, may be elucidating, but does not necessarily focus effort at assimilating and abiding by The Law. Therefore, Cause and Effect is nothing but the consequence of violation of Law, and no amount of studying, or understanding the consequences can help a person who does not wish to acknowledge The Law itself.

Unfortunately, our focus on the consequences arising from the exercise of the free will to choose, without regard to the underlying Spiritual Laws has given rise to the perplexing Sphinx that has confounded mankind for millennia.

Today, many are about to give up and are wondering whether the unwholesome traits of mankind are not simply a part of what it means to be a human being, and therefore a part of our nature. Some even suggest that perhaps this aspect of “our nature” needs to be fostered.

Believers, who are not ready to throw in the towel, find solace in the thought that The Lord is all forgiving, and will not hold our weaknesses against us. Therefore, even though they consider these traits as unwholesome, they do not see them as endangering to their Spiritual health.

As comforting as these conclusions appear, a little quiet introspection should easily puncture a hole in them. Even the most accommodating and forgiving parent cannot expect that a child who has consistently failed to develop the necessary skills required to become a useful adult member of society will suddenly become possessed of them, just because the parent has always forgiven their transgressions during their time of development. If that is true with humans, how can we expect less of the demand placed on

us as human beings to mature into becoming gainful members of our ecological and Spiritual community?

Just as with children, each human being has to go through a period of inner development, to mature into a contributing “adult” member of our greater community. But, the development of the inner person (the Spirit core) spans many life times on Earth, a fact which many of the formal orthodox religions today no longer believe, or reject. And, this disbelief or rejection also makes it impossible for many who have this belief to see or grasp the Spiritual purpose and import of Life on Earth.

Indeed, it can be said that this very limited view of Life is what has led to man’s inability to overcome his/her negative traits. “After all, what is the use in trying to do the impossible, when it is so evident that it is not likely for anyone to achieve “goodness” in one earth life-time, except perhaps for the very few saints?”

Our self-imposed limitation also makes it difficult for many to see any connections between experiences in our different incarnations on Earth. For example the uncontrollable urges to which we succumb against our better judgement, or the “senseless” crimes and evils perpetrated by some. Strange as it may sound, some of these have their roots in unresolved or redeemed past life activities, or ongoing, but unseen, degenerate Spiritual activities in the present Life time on Earth. Yet, any misstep, if properly understood, could serve as a stepping stone to (inner/psychic) Spiritual atonement and development. Indeed, making mistakes is part of the development process. What is important, and expected of us, is that we learn from our experiences and missteps, even if we have to suffer their painful consequences.

Through The Grail Message, we now know that The Lord’s forgiveness of our

trespasses is manifest in the opportunities that we are given to recognize our missteps; oftentimes through experiencing the pain and suffering that we have caused others. The idea being that through such experience we will learn, and take voluntary corrective actions by, and for ourselves.

Thus, The Lord cannot change our choices or desires. We alone must do that for ourselves, and that too is part of exercising our Free Will.

It is for this reason that many warnings and helping messages have been sent to mankind over millennia to encourage and help us recognize our missteps and thus realign our choices to the Laws that sustain existence.

Hopefully, some may yet awaken, through their experiences and acceptance of these messages and thereby recognize that the only path out of our quagmire is in knowing and abiding by the real Laws that govern existence.

With this recognition we can slowly learn to free ourselves from our focus on the externals and begin to redirect our minds to the essential Laws which we will then slowly decipher, as we observe the human conditions that we

experience every day.

Hopefully, the following excerpt from the Lecture: Chastity, Vol I of “The Grail

Message” given to mankind by Abdrushin, will give a practical and helpful hint to anyone who truly wishes to overcome the Sphinx blocking the road to Spiritual awakening and development for many of us.

“He who always also bears in mind in his doings, that he is not to bring harm to the fellow-creature who trusts him, or undertakes nothing that can oppress him afterwards, he will always act in such a way, that he remains spiritually unencumbered and therefore is really to be called chaste!”

These simple words, properly perceived and absorbed, can guide man, well protected through the whole of Creation and lead him upward into the luminous gardens, his true homeland. The words are the key to the right action on earth……

The Son of God Jesus expressed quite exactly the same with the words:

“Love your neighbor as yourself!”

But you must guard yourselves beforehand, of falling into the old human faults and compressing the meaning of the words again, and to twist them so that they serve your own purposes, and appease you in doing wrong, or to lull your fellow men into carelessness, even helping to delude them.

Take up such words, as they are to be absorbed in truth, not as they seem

comfortable to you and fit for your own will. Then they will be for you like the sharpest sword in your hand, with which you can strike all darkness, as you only desire. Let them become alive in you in the right way, in order to seize life on earth as jubilant victors filled with gratitude!