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Choiceless Freedom

From a more transdual view, we see that we have no choice and also full freedom.

No Choice

As a human being, there may not be much choice.

From the view of the whole, we see that everything in the world of phenomena is a fluid seamless whole.

From the view of the parts, we see that the movements within this whole appear to us as infinite connections, causes and effects. Every change in any part has infinite causes and infinite effects. Any part is completely dependent on the history of the whole of the world of phenomena, and the history of this whole. Not even a virus exists in isolation or without depedency on the history and current extent of the whole. Without the world of form bringing itself into existence (Big Bang) and reorganizing itself into energy, matter, galaxies, birth and death and rebirth of stars, solar systems, this planet, life and so on - and without the extent of the universe, galaxies, this solar system and this planet - nothing we know today would exist.

There is really not much room for choice here. As a human being, we are a puppet pulled by a million strings. A vortex in the stream. A fluid and temporary pattern in the world of matter and energy.

Full Freedom

As the groundless ground - formless awareness, space & awareness - there is full freedom. There is a natural and inherent freedom to allow anything and everything come into existence, as it is, and allow it all to come and go as guests. This is a mirror in which everything is reflected and nothing remains. Here, there is really total freedom.

Choiceless Freedom

And there are of course many layers of interactions between these two as well.

The obvious interaction is that of the choicelessness as a human being arising within the full freedom of the groundless ground.

There is also the sense of freedom arising when we find ourselves as formless awareness, distinct from and with a new overview of the world of phenomena. This allows us a sense of choice in how we relate to various situations. The sense of freedom is real, although the choices may not be as "free" as they appear. (There are of course many and sometimes dramatic changes coming out of this shift from being exclusively identified as a human being to finding ourselves as formless awareness, but these may just happen on their own - living their own life - as the rest of the world of phenomena.)

Individual vs. God's Will

Another aspect of all this is the process of aligning our individual "will" with that of the larger whole, as it is expressed in the Christian tradition. Or, in a Buddhist context, to realize that there is no separate and fixed self.

From exclusively identifying as a human being, with a dualistic view and an attachment to human preferences often different from that of the larger whole (the situations we are in), we gradually move into a deeper transdual view beyond and embracing our human preferences and what arises in the present.

We move into a view where we find ourselves beyond and including our human preferences, allowing them to arise and unfold as guests and engaging in them in various ways, and also seeing that there is no separation between this and the larger whole. It is all one process.

Here, we are - gradually or suddenly - released from the struggle of identifying with our human preferences and finding these in opposition to how the rest of the world manifests.

Our view moves beyond and embraces individual and God's will. They are no longer opposed to each other, but aspects of a larger fluid process.

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