How Much Free Will Do We Have?

In answer to a question about free will, Silver Birch once stated: “You have free will. You may make your choice. Life is not chance, accident or even coincidence. The whole of life is governed by immutable natural law.*

“Whatever aspect of being you examine, it is due to natural law. Human beings are not outside the operation of natural law. They are integral parts of it.

“There is a limitation placed by natural law on what man can do to the planet on which he lives. He cannot destroy the whole of the planet and all that it contains. Now this is part of man’s free will, his choice as to whether he will rise to the divinity within him or whether he will fail.

“In that case, he will not fulfill himself. He will pass to our world unequipped and unready, and have to learn all over again.

“No man, and no combination of men, have the power to thwart divine will. They can delay, they can harass and they can impede.”

The guide continued: “Infinite wisdom and love rule the universe. These will prevail because that is the law. The whole of life is regulated by natural laws. Nothing is left to freakishness, to miracles or to chance.

“All is cause and effect, sowing and reaping, otherwise the universe would be chaotic. You have evidence of the infinite plan of an infinite intelligence in the operation of natural laws wherever you look.

“It is to be seen in the sequence of the seasons, the movement of planets and galaxies, the ebb and flow of tides and the growth of a myriad forms of floral life, where natural law reigns supreme.

“So there is the limit which the divine power has placed because nothing can occur beyond the framework of natural law. But there are laws within laws. There are not only physical laws; there are mental and spiritual ones.

“You live, you breathe, you exist. You have your being because from the moment of conception spirit begins to associate with matter in individual form and gradually that individuality unfolds.

“It is part of the plan that you should have an element of free will, the power and the ability to make choices in certain circumstances.

“Used for its best and highest, you can play your part in the spiritual unfoldment and evolution of the race, the world, the universe and the cosmos because your spirit is part of the Great Spirit.

“You share in the divinity that is responsible for all that exists everywhere. You are the Great Spirit in microcosm. All that the Great Spirit has of that infinity you have. You will have eternity in which to unfold it.

“Your free will is limited because your choice is restricted. There is another limitation placed on your free will. It is the mental and spiritual stage which you have reached in your development.”

Silver Birch added: “You are free to kill, but your character will ensure that you refrain. So even when you have choices these are limited by who and what you are at the time. Like many things in the universe you have a paradox. You have free will within limitation all the time.

“Now I must go a stage further because you introduced the question of karma. This, too, is a very important consideration because many of those who have work to do in your world chose to do it beforehand. Though awareness may not come immediately, the choice imposes another restriction in free will.

“Nobody has perfect free will. It is free will within a restricted range. Your will is subject to circumstances which you cannot control. The soul knows before it reincarnates what it has to achieve.”

* From Two Worlds Magazine. Founded in 1887