How Fate Relates To Free Will Pt. 2 - Does Intention Affect Karma, Can Free Will Triumph Over Ignorance, and Can One Who Is Unconscious Choose To Become Aware?

by Robert Wilkinson

Yesterday, I gave you some ideas about the choice we have to be abusive or not, to become conscious rather than unconscious, and the difference between innocent ignorance and willful ignorance. Today we'll continue by examining Divine Will versus ego-will, the nature of the mind and choice, and our ability to learn how to become more conscious in the moment.

Even if you've already read part one, you may want to re-read it before continuing with this one, since these two were composed as one piece. As with the initial articles in this on-going dialogue, I realized together they were too long for a single post, and that's the only reason I split them in two.

To reiterate a primary point, any lack of perception of how to be or not be arises from two sources. One is innocent ignorance, the other is willful ignorance. When we are innocent we all get at least one pass. However, after we've been shown a different way, a higher or more thoughtful or compassionate example from any source whatsoever, then we are no longer innocent.

Even if a being is only marginally able to glimpse for one instant a different way, it puts the responsibility of choice on them, and them alone. No one else can choose for them, and no one else can choose to set aside abusive or ignorant behaviors and replace them with helpful and aware behaviors. Again, the Third Eternal Truth.

Once we have seen a better way and choose to follow a rationalized desire into abusive behavior, or obsolete responses, or willful misdirected actions, that is ego-will. Someone in this state is choosing to follow a desire, and yet they still have the power to grow beyond that desire any time they choose.

Ego-will arises when desire has been awakened. Where there is desire, there is subsequent experience leading to combinations of pleasure and pain, and in each the being chooses which way to continue. They are no longer innocent.

If a being chooses to ignore a life-altering event, or even a chance to take a higher road because of someone else's example, they are making a conscious choice, even if they are unconscious they are making such a choice. Any being can change their behavior, even if they are unconscious, simply by paying attention to examples of better behavior going on all around them.

When a being chooses to remain ignorant despite signals that could awaken them to better ways, they will continue in whatever patterns they are attached to, whether abusive or just continuing to be whoever they were before the event. I have observed that Spirit sends us all signals of how we can best evolve every day, whether we notice them or not. When we notice and choose not to grow, ego-will is manifesting. This is where the nature of human wiring provides us the clues to understand just how much choice we really have.

As I have mentioned in many past articles and comments, we have a Higher Mind and a lower mind. Each of these has a strong pole and a weak pole.

The lower mind's weak pole is reason and its strong pole is desire. That's why any desire can be reasoned out, including the desire to hurt another or refuse to grow despite all signals that it's time to give up abusive behaviors and attitudes.

The Higher Mind's weak pole is intellect. That's why intellect alone is not strong enough to give up a desire that's been reasoned out, including the desire to stay willfully ignorant. That's different than simple ignorance. When it's time to choose a different way of living and a being desires the same patterns, that's willful ignorance that has been consciously or unconsciously chosen by ego-mind.

The Higher Mind's strong pole is the only solution to the lower mind's malfunctioning. The strong pole is Will, in the sense of Spiritual Will. When we apply our Spiritual Will in any moment, old ways are transcended immediately, and the desire mind and its rationalizations have no hold on the being.

This is where we hit the rub of evolution itself, since energy being energy, it can be used for good or ill even when a being is working from their Higher Mind as they see it. An evil magician and good magician use the exact same tools and energies, but the former uses it for ego gratification while the latter uses it for the service of humankind.

In a historical example, the Nazis believed they were agents of divine Will to better the race. They were operating off their sense of what their "higher mind" dictated, even though it was actually rationalized misguided ego separateness focusing the energy of ego-will in extremely cruel and abusive ways.

This is why motive and intention don't matter in examining conscious or unconscious hurtful actions and ego-willfulness. Hitler thought he was doing the human race a favor by eliminating all he deemed "lesser" genetic stock. Does that excuse his willful actions? If we allow unconsciousness as a defense for abusive behavior and refusal to grow into a more humane existence, then we give Hitler a justification for his inexcusable actions.

In another example closer to home, war criminals in leadership positions may believe that torture helps us avoid our potential to suffer in the future, but however unconscious, this is also willful chosen behavior. The fact that a torturer can rationalize all kinds of hurtful behaviors while remaining deliberately obtuse regarding the insanity of their actions is no excuse for those actions.

The Lords of Karma take no note of intention, only actions and results of those actions. The fact that someone is ignorant of the hurtful results of their actions is no excuse, since on subconscious levels they are entirely aware of the larger feeling field in which we all live, breathe, and have our Being. This is why all beings are totally responsible for what they do and do not do, regardless of their seeming inability to grow and move forward into less hurtful behavior.

The dividing line between ego-will and Divine Will is as sharp as a razor's edge, and leads to death or life. Each chooses in the moment based in their acceptance or avoidance of the higher lessons being taught.

All beings are capable of awakening, without books or people or any other thing. We were shown that for all time by the example of Buddha, who found that life is about suffering, that suffering arises from ignorance and attachment, and that we can end suffering without needing a teacher through practicing the 8-Fold Path.

If a being chooses not to practice any of those 8 ways of living, then they will surely suffer at some point. Then they either choose to end suffering, or in their suffering try to find others who also suffer to justify their suffering, or perpetuate their suffering by taking it out on another. These all involve choices.

Ignorance is no excuse for one who has been offered the cup of life. Either they drink of life, or they choose to stay lost in death. No one who is on Earth must suffer from ignorance. Any who ask will be given what they need to learn to grow.

Up to now we have not dealt with the factor of conscience, that indwelling sense of what is true, good, and beautiful cultivated over the ages of many lifetimes. Each being has a conscience that allows them to know what is higher, and what is lower.

No one is unaware of their conscience except for psychopaths and those with organic brain dysfunctions. Since this only factors in for a small percentage of the human race, it remains that most people have a conscience cultivated over countless lifetimes, and thus have a reference point, if only in subconsciousness, to know what they should and should not do.

That means all beings do perceive, consciously or unconsciously, a "better way to be," and thus are capable of change any time they want. While self-consciousness may be clouded by desires and illusions, subconsciousness is always beholding superconsciousness, or Spirit. There is no separation on that level. The only thing that thinks it's separate is ego mind, and that too is an illusion.

The entire universe is always sending us signals. It is up to us to pay attention to Spirit, and not stay lost and distracted by illusions, desires, avoidance and attachments. These may be afflictions of the mind, but it is our task, each moment we are alive as sentient beings, to antidote these afflictions.

Each is given many opportunities throughout life to grow in awareness of self, others, and the larger life in which they live, breathe, and have their being. Each chooses to accept these growth opportunities or ignore them at their peril.

All beings have the opportunity to choose to awaken at any given moment in their life if they pay attention to the life around them. Since the evolutionary process itself always offers us new truths, we always have a choice to "see it differently." There is never a time or circumstance where we are prevented from moving from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality.

The light is always there, impossible to ignore or forget, even for those who are ignorant. That's why we always have the power to choose to awaken to a more "enlightened" way of doing our Being.

Copyright © 2010 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Morlokk]

I do love your work Robert, as you've done it again Robert. You have just posted another article on a subject which I have been mulling over in my mind here and there over past week. And your last two paragraphs which I do so quote below does sum up the situation I ponder, thank you Robert;

All beings have the opportunity to choose to awaken at any given moment in their life if they pay attention to the life around them. Since the evolutionary process itself always offers us new truths, we always have a choice to "see it differently." There is never a time or circumstance where we are prevented from moving from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality.

The light is always there, impossible to ignore or forget, even for those who are ignorant. That's why we always have the power to choose to awaken to a more "enlightened" way of doing our Being.

#

1 "DAY" soon no individual on this planet will be able to say that they are ignorant. As everyone worldwide shall see the light it being undeniably of the "TRUTH". Those that do accept this knowledge and embrace it shall forever have tomorrow, but all those who deny shall condemn themselves forever to be of yesterday's "HISTORY", for their fate shall be same as those who magician evil - "NOUGHT". As the saying goes "you may lead a horse to water but you cannot make it to drink" being "TRUE", for everyone have "FREE WILL" to so choose which "PATH" they wish to pursue in living I? - You do have to have "COURAGE" and "A" sense of "HUMOUR" if you wish to walks "HIGHWAY" if you are "AN ENLIGHTENED PERSON".

Cheers!!

[caliban]

WOW!

[ull]

In this world we are not afraid of the dark - we are afraid of the light..

[Dafna]

Thank you for another brilliant poetic article.
Every moment we choose to expend/evolve or remain in the illusion-ary comfort of the perceived reality/story we carry as truth...
Until we embody our True/HigherSelf and Live an Authentic way of Being.
Thank you for your constant insights.

[BritLitChik]

I second Caliban - WOW!!

Interesting that sometimes we require messages more than once, and how willing our higher selves give said messages. Not just for people being willfully ignorant causing pain and turmoil, but the willfully ignorant who hurt themselves by not learning, listening, embracing the light.

It took a SOLID 30 years for me to find a semblance of inner peace. I put myself in the path of a lot of wilfully ignorant people; apparently I needed to be beaten over the head a lot to listen AND respond/respect to my own higher self. And accept my guilty plea for something that rolled past my ignorance years ago into full-fledged wilfullness of harming myself by not 'paying attention'.

I love how you have outlined this process, Robert. Thank you sooo much for your guidance and light. Blessings.

[Sara]

Powerful, strong truth, fearlessly stated. Thank you!

[william]

How to change your karma for the better and get good karma-
Do nice things!
(people worry about karma like they're going to get punished something-
well maybe, but most of the time, 99.9999 per cent of the time they're
wrong about that-
If worried about it-- do nice things! This is word I got about that anyway..

[william]

and by the way, people should calm down about the spirit world,
hey, it's hard to even just survive paying bills etc. - just to survive!
higher ways of being I think somewhat illusory- you still need people
and friends to relate to (that's how spirit comes to you usually anyway)
Even if you were a millionaire who would you talk to? who would you call?
Spirit is for the EArth, for life, just to live... and stay sane and healthy,
God is the Earth it's his kingdom trying to come in and it's gonna take
a couple thousand years probably so people should relax.. it's gonna happen

[Elizabeth]

Sorry for the length of this. No one has to read it; I just had to express it. The imminent Pluto-North Node conjunction compels...

ODE TO PLUTO

I continue to experience a lessening of judgment about where others are at on their evolutionary path and to feel more compassion than repugnance whenever and wherever these kinds of behaviours appear.

Two points come to mind which might ruffle feathers in fluffy pink cotton candy New Age circles:

First, the victims of abuse (including at times Yours Truly) are every bit as neurotic as the perpetrators, except in those cases where karma is clearly at play, such as when innocent babies are mistreated. As I like to say half-jokingly to my married friends, relationships come down to matching neuroses. This dirty little truth is one of the most helpful things anyone ever said to me. A buddy tired of hearing me complain about being harangued by someone close to me finally offered this: "XYZ screaming at you and slamming the phone on you is HER stuff; your being screamed at and having the phone slammed on you by XYZ is YOUR stuff." I've never looked back, having learned slowly over time to take full responsibility for whatever manifests in my field - without assigning blame to self or others, as my helpful and exasperated friend so kindly advised.

Second, increasingly I view the aggression and malfeasance we witness around us, both personally and as a society, as a projection or outpicturing of our own repressed and denied Shadow material. How we love to identify scapegoats and foist all of our secret urges, drives, obsessions, compulsions, addictions, fears, phobias and all that yucky stuff we're ashamed of, or afraid to own up to, onto the latest guy to go postal, or the jerks on Wall Street, or "those people" who do everything from littering to cheating on their income taxes. Who, moi? No way!

The prison population in the U.S. keeps growing exponentially and is now the largest per capita in the world. This is a graphic and grotesque reflection of the convenient compartmentalization of the nation's collective Shadow. No one wants to deal with the root causes of these social issues, much less contemplate their own subliminal role in it. And very few people are interested in healing the world one person at a time by taking direct responsibility for creating their reality and the dynamics of their relationships. So there is massive projection of unowned KRAP onto "the other guy" in our personal lives, and onto the ubiquitous "bad guys" on a societal level.

With Venus retrograde in Scorpio for many weeks, disposited by Pluto closing in on a once-in-seventeen (or so) years conjunction with the North Node of destiny, these themes have been very much on my mind and in my heart. Scorpio, the eighth house (the twelfth as well) and Pluto are about daring to lift the lid on the Pandora's box of your own messy psyche and taking a gander.

Dare to don your hip waders and plunge into the murky, stagnant swamp of your own unconscious gunk. Get to know your psychological issues and patterns, own them, get comfortable with them and, yes (!), partner with them, rather than projecting them onto those around you as a way to escape dealing with them.

The reward is integrity in the sense of wholeness as well as the Buried Treasure we so often forget is associated with Pluto - the uncovering of our hidden resources, the harnessing of our personal power and the revealing of our previously unrecognized talents.

As Carl Jung so famously said: what is not brought up into conscious awareness comes to you as apparent Fate. By taking responsibility for everything that happens in my field, I feel empowered. When I get into blame or judgment, it weakens me because my power is given over to other people. The only Bogey Man is the one I see in the mirror and he's not really that scary.

Some time after this realization had really sunk in and I had become quite comfortable with my Shadow, I received a letter from an inmate in a U.S. prison...He said he had picked me from a list of members of a an astrological association because he got a good vibe from my name. He was very respectful and made it clear he hoped I was not alarmed by his overture, asking if I would do a chart reading for him. This was a perfect Jungian/synchronistic comfirmation that by embracing and even partnering with your Shadow, you discover it's not that threatening after all. And the world around you becomes friendlier too!