Ask: What are your thoughts on free will?
“In the past decade free will has come under quite a bit of scrutiny as to it being an illusion. Several books have been written regarding this, and of course, the science of the mind is nowhere close to being complete. I have been looking for references in ACIM about this subject. It speaks of course about the world and its illusionary nature as well as the self. It reminds us that the world was over long ago. It does speak of willingness quite a bit. What are your thoughts on free will?”—ESA
My experience of the concept of free
will as it is usually understood—that a person determines their own
thoughts, feelings, and actions—is that it is impossible because I now see what
unfolds in time and consciousness as a symbolic depiction of the idea of
not-God arising in God (Reality) and simultaneously being undone by God’s
all-encompassing nature. So, what unfolds in time is an expression of
the Atonement, it is not bringing about the Atonement. This is my understanding
of “the world was over long ago” and “the script is written” in A Course in
Miracles.
As merely a symbolic depiction of an
impossible idea and its undoing, consciousness (the Atonement) is an illusion,
so anything that happens in it is an illusion. A part of that illusion is a
sense of an independent will apart from the whole of what is unfolding in
consciousness, which is how I define the experience of ego. Therefore,
it was not always the experience in this consciousness that free will is an
illusory idea. When ego was the center of consciousness here, free will was the
experience and made total sense and predetermination was incomprehensible.
The Course discusses free will in
two ways: As described above, dealing with a person in a world. And also, in
the sense of liberation—will can only be said to be free in Reality, or
God, because will is shared with God.
Regarding persons, the Course
states right up front in the introduction:
“Free will does not mean that you can
establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to
take at a given time”
(T-in.1)
Later it says:
“The acceptance of the Atonement by
everyone is only a matter of time. This may appear to contradict free will
because of the inevitability of the final decision, but this is not so. You can
temporize and you are capable of enormous procrastination, but you cannot
depart entirely from your Creator, Who set the limits on your ability to
miscreate.” (T-2.III.3)
But of course, this is a
contradiction, because to say a will is free but that it has limits is to say
it is not free. It would have been less tortured to simply restate what was
said in the introduction, that the only place in which you exercise free will
is in the time you take to complete the curriculum. In any case, this
contradicts:
“Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a
vast illusion in which figures come and go as if by magic. Yet there is a plan
behind appearances that does not change. The script is written. When experience
will come to end your doubting has been set.” (W-158.4)
The Course is filled with these
kinds of contradictions because it straddles two levels. It states the way
things are in consciousness, thus “the script is written.” But it also speaks
to two egos who seemed to have free will as they brought the Course
about, experiencing a lot of resistance that seemed to cause delays. These
contradictions are the Atonement, or the correction of the perception
that a reality separate from God is possible. Spirit is here in consciousness,
seeing things as they are for Itself. And Spirit is also here as Teacher,
Guide, and Therapist, meeting egos where they are, correcting the sense of
separation that is ego, not so much with ideas and outcomes, but simply
by being in consciousness.
So, what should you do with the idea of free will? If it has not happened yet, perhaps someday Spirit will rise in your consciousness, bringing to you an expanded awareness of consciousness that reveals what is really occurring in it—an expression. But if predetermination does not make sense to you, scares you, makes you feel trapped, etc., then forget about it. If the idea of free will makes sense to you, if you feel this is how it is, then go with it, and Spirit will meet you there.
>>>>>
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Comments
With respect to consideration of "will" in ACIM, the COA, or purple edition, provides greater understanding of the Course's teachings on the subject. It's notable that, as Robert Perry indicated, the word "will" was omitted over 300 times from the FIP edition, so the CE would be the better reference tool it seems on this important subject. And in this respect, it does indeed seem to be the case, given this alteration of the curriculum, that free will overstepped its bounds nevertheless.
In keeping with the reference Liz makes to God limiting our miscreations and how that limit shows up, we learn from the truth teaching that First Cause (of creation) applies. Even in the thought system of falsehood it is recognized we are, and were not, the procreators of our parents, no more than God. We also are powerless to change what God created, despite our best, or perhaps worst efforts. Is this a limit on the all-encompassing, or the limit of misperception of pretty much everything in the false thought system?