The iron law of cause and effect decrees that nothing happens by chance. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Are we locked into a perpetual chain of cause and effect? Are we ruled by our genetics and our environment? Is it possible to create a new chain of causality? There is a raging debate in the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, and religion on the topic of free will.
Most scientists and philosophers believe that free will is an illusion. They are convinced that we do not have agency, are in an immutable chain of cause and effect and that our lives are predetermined. This is counterintuitive to our daily experience of life. There is, however, convincing evidence that they are correct.
On the other hand, most religious scholars believe the opposite. Free will is a central doctrine of theology. This belief also has its philosophical conundrums. For instance, if there is an omniscient God who knows the future, this is mutually exclusive to free will.
Your Mental Symphony – Physics – Chemistry – Biology
Our brains are a symphony of electrochemical reactions. When you see a tree, your eyes are capturing light, color and depth, and your neurologic apparatus translates those electrochemical impulses into an image in your brain called a tree. It is all physics, chemistry, and biology. Our brains are energy and information centers, which are expertly designed to maintain equilibrium. Your brain automatically controls many of your physiologic functions such as breathing and digestion. Your mind also functions to keep you consistent with the predominant images in your subconscious; better known as your current circumstances. If you are unaware of this process, you will not have control of your life. You will be locked into a perpetual chain of cause and effect, creating and recreating your current reality. This is the opposite of free will.
The Illusion of Agency
A real-life example will help clarify this point. Let’s say that you are a middle-aged man, recently single and decide to venture out to the new “hotspot” in town. You may be wounded from a recent breakup or discouraged from string of relationship “failures.” Perhaps you have been hitting the gym and have garnered a newfound level of confidence. Two drinks later, you see someone across the room who looks extremely attractive, and your reticular activating system goes into high alert. Suddenly and automatically, you are contemplating your next steps. From the varied decisions you could make, the one you do make has the potential to alter the direction of your life.
You calculate the following in an instant: Does she look happy? Does she have a ring on? Who is she with? Is she sexy? My type? Will she like me? Is she available, friendly, successful? Too good? Too pretty? Do I have a chance? Should I expend the energy again, and risk rejection? The list of mental machinations is endless. At the end of this computation, you have a feeling. You make one of two decisions — approach or avoid. What is comical about this situation is that you think you are consciously choosing. There is the illusion of agency that you could have chosen differently; this could not be further from reality.
Feelings are Survival Algorithms
Feelings are survival algorithms developed over millions of years. They are engineered to rapidly process millions of bits of information to make instantaneous survival decisions. In a thousand years, you could not excavate the true essence of all the factors that went into this, approach or avoid feeling. This, in a nutshell, is the free will problem, and we use this process for every major and minor decision in life. Despite the unconscious nature of our feelings, we tend to deify them with phrases like, “follow your heart.” This is a discussion for another day, but it is easy to see the potential conflicts.
Mental Autonomy
By way of the above example, we do not have free will, certainly not in the way that it is commonly understood. Our brains are automatically accessing the preprogrammed images and experiences in our mind. We are totally blind to 99.9% of these calculations. The seminal question is, can we develop mental autonomy? To break into this programming and alter the chain of cause and effect, we must proactively be the cause of our thoughts.
Your current thoughts, feelings, and actions that are creating your present reality are the unconscious, automatic result of your programming. They are your long-term habits of thinking, feeling, and acting. The challenge with changing mental habits is that they do not have a lag phase. Your thoughts and feelings enter your mind and immediately take control. This is in contrast with physical habits, which have a long lag phase. There is a significant amount of time from the idea of having a cigarette to the physical act of smoking. Thoughts and feelings occur in real-time.
Therefore, to take charge of your mind, you must be proactive. You must break into the river of thought and take two steps back; watch! The most efficient and productive way to do this is with a new and compelling vision. A new vision requires new thoughts, feelings, and actions which conflict with the old. This process brings your current programming to the surface while encouraging you to adopt new and empowering mental habits. This creates a new chain of cause and effect in your life.
Allow accelerating expansion to guide you in developing a new and compelling vision.
A challenge, or a bold new vision, creates temporary mental disequilibrium; it generates tension between your current circumstances and the new ones you want to create. You must allow an expanding vision to reprogram your mind; this will help you establish a new equilibrium at a higher level. An expanding vision prevents your brain from restoring equilibrium by snapping you back to your former habits of thinking and your old, unwanted reality. Conscious creation is the process of proactively creating disequilibrium then restoring equilibrium by achieving your vision and never reverting to your old, unwanted reality. The tension/resolution mechanism must always be directed toward the new, higher reality.
With accelerating expansion as your guide, you will always restore equilibrium by moving toward the new goal, and this will never keep you stuck in your current reality. You will create a new chain of cause and effect. You will be the cause of your thoughts, feeling, and actions and the master of your circumstances.
