Eckhart Tolle explores whether free will exists, arguing that most choices come from unconsciousness rather than true freedom. He connects consciousness levels to responsibility and discusses how awakening changes what you're capable of choosing.
You realize that even there, one cannot say that you are choosing this. You are an expression of consciousness, and consciousness, one could say, is choosing. And you think you are doing it. I'm surprised there's nothing on Google about Eckhart and free will, but maybe I haven't said anything about it. So here we go. As you know, it's an eternal ancient philosophical question, and there's never been a definitive answer that everybody would agree with in that sense. So is there. You mentioned everybody's doing their best because nobody can act beyond their level of consciousness, etc. For example. Okay, let's start from on one level and then we go on to the next level. On the level of egoic unconsciousness where you are a conditioned entity, your mental emotional makeup, totally conditioned by the past, and you are completely identified with the conditioning of your. Of your mind. And in that state, that, spiritually speaking, is the unconscious state, it is obvious that in that state there is no freedom at all because you are forced to act out the unconscious conditioning of your mind with which you are completely identified. So most people would probably agree, if you understand that, that on that level there is no possibility of freedom. Your actions are determined by your conditioned mind. You are forced to act as you do because there's no choice, because choice would imply some awareness. So on that level there's certainly no freedom. Then awareness comes in. The human being begins to awaken. Then it appears. I'm not saying it is the case. It appears that then the human freedom begins to be a possibility because you can choose to step out of the conditioning of your mind. You can recognize a conditioned thought and you are no longer compelled to act it out because there is an awareness there. You can choose a certain course of action not from the conditioning of your mind, but from the presence of. So you can act, and you have much more freedom than before you could not have. Freedom comes with awareness. So it's then relative to the unconscious state, there is now freedom to act. But if you look more deeply, even there, even there, on that level, you are connected with the totality of consciousness. You're only an expression of the totality of consciousness. You are not really a separate entity. You are a. Like a. As. Who said it? You are. Was it Alan Watts who said you are in the same way that the. The wave is something that the ocean is doing, you are something that the whole universe is doing in the same way. So the wave is something the ocean is doing, you are something that the universe is doing. So although it appears from a Certain, relative to the previous state of unconsciousness, there is freedom. And relative to that, there is freedom. But then if you look more deeply into that, you realize that even there, one cannot say that you are choosing this. You are an expression of consciousness. And consciousness, one could say, is choosing. And you think you are doing it. Sometimes people ask me, can you choose to be present from one perspective, you can choose to be present from another perspective. One could say that presence chooses you. It chooses to become present through you. Depends how you look at it. So in ultimate terms, or in relative terms, there is freedom relative to the unconscious state when you become more conscious. But even there, it's only relative to the unconscious state. Even there, there is not absolute freedom because you do not exist as an independent entity. You are part of the web of interconnectedness that is the whole universe. So in that sense, there is no freedom of choice of the individual, because ultimately there is no individual. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Just want to add one more thing to that, because you mentioned everybody's doing their best and so on, and I agreed that nobody can act beyond their level of consciousness. A question that may arise, though, is responsibility and punishment. Because if the criminal or whoever, the perpetrator is not responsible because they are totally in the grip of their conditioning, does that mean then that the perpetrator is not responsible for what they do? And it does seem to be the case. A very unconscious person, in that sense, is not responsible for what they do. Now, does that mean we must not punish this person because he couldn't help it? Now, that's a difficult point. There is a destiny for human beings. Human beings are meant to move out of the unconscious state. And if they are not moving out of the unconscious state, they create suffering. And they will have to suffer the consequences of their unconsciousness, which eventually awakens them. So when humans suffer the consequences of their unconsciousness, eventually this leads to suffering. And then there is a possibility of awakening. So although they may not be conscious of what they do, it doesn't mean that karmic retribution on that level does not operate. And we punishment is necessary. And sometimes it could be at the hands of the law or the judicial system. First of all, other humans need to be protected from them. So they need to be put away. And although they are not, they may not be responsible, but they will have to suffer the consequences of their unconsciousness. And by suffering, the consequences of their unconsciousness. That is a possibility, possibility of awakening. And therefore, I have had contact with quite a few people who are imprisoned and they have written to me and they have experienced an awakening in prison that suffered the consequences of their unconsciousness and that led to an awakening. I was actually scheduled to talk in a couple of prisons in California, but I fell ill in the earlier this year, so I had to be cancelled. But hopefully soon I will be able to talk to prisoners both. I have scale both to a women's prison and a man's prison. It.
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