Transcript
THE POWER OF MY FREE WILL
When I was in my early twenties, I went to the U.S., hoping to stay there.
customs: What is the purpose of your stay?
me (with load of luggage): Er, holiday? Heh-heh…
me: I’ll learn multimedia from a friend! Then I’ll get a job in his company! Hurray! My dream comes true! This is what I really want!
Two weeks later, however…
me: What am I doing here? I don’t belong here! I want to go back to Amsterdam! This cannot be my path! But I thought this was my dream! Why do I feel as if I’m PULLED BACK?
Is there such a thing as Predestination after all? And lies my fate in Holland?
The American friend (businessman & buddhist): Your karma has predestined you to walk a certain path… But with your free will you can decide to walk a different path!
Me: Isn’t my will strong enough? Am I led by fixed patterns?
IS AUTONOMY AN ILLUSION?
Me, doing the dishes with Yiri: “Is everything predestined? All the things I will feel, say or do in the future, are decided in the present! Through my upbringing, education and experience! Doesn’t that mean that everything is FIXED?!
Even the idea of having Free Will is dictated by the culture in which I was predestined to be born! My future is fixed and there’s nothing I can do about it!”
Yiri pours a cup of water on my head: SPLASH!
Yiri: “Too bad you were predestined to be doused! Well, that’s fate for you!”
Me: “I’m pretty sure your free will was part of that ‘fated’ act!”
Yiri: “Really? I’d say you were predestined to revise your faith in fate!”
Me: “Grmbl…”
Questions
What does your Free Will look like?
Like a raging bull?
Like a parrot?
Like a small boat in a strong current?
Like a kite?
Like a butterfly?
Make a drawing of your Free Will - but only if you really want to, of course! 😀
Original pages
My free will is like a greased up hippo climbing up an infinite staircase. I'd draw that but I have to go to work now.