How FREE is your WILL?
How many of your New Year's resolutions are you actually going to keep and for
how long? Are you really in charge of your life? Your passions? Your appetites?
Your emotions? Your intentions? Just how much in control are YOU,
really? Honesty, please. Lying to ourselves doesn't work, does it? For when it
comes right down to it, we can't fool ourselves... our real SELF, the godlike
DIVINE part of us just looks at our pathetic attempts, and I'd imagine... shakes
its wise head in perfect SELF possession of Infinite Patience.
One of the hardest
lessons to learn in this School of Life is SELF MASTERY, but without SELF
MASTERY, there is no FREE WILL... like it or lump it. Most of us are still ruled
by our lower self... aptly depicted by the chained humans on Key 15, THE DEVIL,
who have resigned self-consciousness and subconsciousness to far less than what
is divinely intended. Involved with this picture of BONDAGE and SLAVERY is the
metaphysical warning: Be careful of what you wish for. For everything we
"want" or think we "need" there is often a precious price to pay, a price
that enslaves our lower nature to one degree or another... like the big mortgage
for our "dream house" or the responsibilities that go with being "in charge" at
the top. And poof...there goes FREE WILL. For in Time we are "bound by our
engagements" as patterns play out.
One of the reasons for
"fasting" in a spiritual community is to learn self control... to find out how
much our physical appetite might be in charge. When our body wants sustenance,
it wants sustenance. Denial (as in dieting) can serve to increase the "need" or
"want" for the forbidden fruit, whatever that might be: Chocolate? Sugar? Carbs?
Crunchies? Munchies... more, more, more!? Ah, yes... I am strong. I am
determined. I am invincible. I will prevail... until those See's Chocolates show
up on the buffet table and one leads to two, three, ten or twenty. Oh,
well, I'll try again after the holidays. After the holidays, there will be SELF
MASTERY! After the holidays, I will have FREE WILL until the next
temptation, another word for KEY 15.
As long as your
physical needs, emotional desires, or mental meanderings decide the course of
your existence... you do NOT have FREE WILL. Then, there's KARMA, of course, the
long arm of UNIVERSAL LAW reaching out to grab you. If you're lucky your KARMA
catches up with you in the here and now (this life) and doesn't end up being
something to deal with in another life when you haven't got a clue why
everything is going so terribly wrong. It's the principle of
as you sow so shall you reap working out
in the process of your daily life, which is why is behooves you to
do unto others as you would have them do unto you for of such is the Law and the
Prophets in the here and now, and that's the absolute TRUTH taught by
all spiritual Masters. The chickens do come home to roost, like it or not. So
make one of your New Year's resolutions based upon that premise, please, any
month or day of the year.
The way to rise above
Universal Law is to live and breathe Universal Law... to BE Universal Law in
action. So how FREE is your WILL? How much is your WILL aligned with DIVINE
WILL, since ultimately the SELF always wins? Yet, in becoming that SELF more
each day you are aligning with those principles in ACTION and LIVING that LIFE.
You can start by making
wise decisions about the food you put into your body for it to operate at
optimum performance... this is the beginning of body wisdom that gives the body
the freedom to operate at its best. Your body is the holy temple of the Divine
Breath, the Holy Spirit, so honor and respect it, please. Keep your vehicle in
good running order.
You can make wise
decisions in terms of the books you read or the movies and television you watch,
so that your mind is not filled with negative images of fear and violence or
despair (avoiding the news may even be wise at times these days). You can
choose to read inspirational material, to meditate, to contemplate the wonders
of nature all around. Watching a sunrise or sunset is free if you have the will
to direct your consciousness to such beauty to lift your spirits for just a few
moments... providing food for your soul. Make friends with your plants and
trees, for they live to provide you with what you need.
Matters of the heart
are always karmic in nature. To love is a blessing, so love as much and as often
as you can. My spiritual teacher, Ann Davies, used to say that even unrequited
love is better than no love, since it provides you with the JOY of LOVING. Never
be afraid to love. After all, you are LOVE INCARNATE. When you touch that
experience at your core you will stop worrying about being loved back. If
someone is unable to love you, forgive them, bless them, and let them go. Any
type of negative thought or action toward another only serves to show you what a
slave you are to your lower emotions... your passions... and how far you are
from SELF MASTERY.
As you MASTER your SELF
you will gain FREE WILL, for you will no longer be bound or enslaved to your
LOWER NATURE. This is the task we all face, and we will keep coming back
to this world until our lessons have been learned and MASTERY has been
attained... even if it takes ETERNITY!
Godspeed!
PATRICIA
McLAINE
