CHAPTER IX - FREE WILL
Free will is a spiritual gift controlled by volition which, when well used, is guided by reason.
The greater the power of reasoning, the easier it becomes to control free will. Free will means complete freedom of action, both for good and evil purposes.
People do good when they further their evolution by working for the sake of improvement of life's habits. Those who, through action or thought, hinder evolution, do evil which will hurt them more or less harshly sooner or later.
The gift of free will begins to emerge when the intelligent particle of Force reaches the stage of evolution that permits incarnation in a human body. At this stage, as it is easy to understand, knowledge about evolution is totally lacking. Nevertheless the spirit is already aware of the distinction between good and evil.
Improper use of free will results from low reasoning capacity, the development of vices and bad habits, as well as the harbouring of inferior feelings, among which wickedness is outstanding.
Under the influence of these harmful habits which are detrimental to good health and spiritual evolution, man becomes saturated with sensual vibrations that lead him to lose his self-respect and act in a reproachable manner. Every evil grows is stature whenever its perpetrator is aware of it and those who act in this way will surely meet with a sad, painful awakening.
It is a crime worthy of the most severe condemnation to use one's free will to slander, intrigue, sneer, defame, or discredit one's fellow-man.
Never will man escape spiritual justice. It will in due time make him reap the fruits of the seeds scattered by him on Earth, no matter how many times he may have escaped man's justice which so often fails in the judgement of human behaviour.
Contrary to what it may appear, there are no astral courts pronouncing spiritual sentences on the defendant. It is the spirit itself that voluntarily submits to spiritual justice. Free from all earthly influences, it makes a detailed review of all its actions, of which not a single one escapes its judgement.
Then remorse scorches conscience like hot iron. overcome by feelings of repentance, the spirit yearns for a new incarnation and becomes anxious to give as much of itself as necessary to recover the time lost on Earth as quickly as possible.
What trains and develops reason is the intense suffering caused by the innermost struggle between the awareness of wrongdoing and that of unfulfilled duty.
Wickedness is an unequivocal sign of spiritual inferiority. It reveals a spirit not yet sufficiently polished and makes clear that its vibrations are identical to those of the less developed spiritual strata of mankind.
Under such circumstances, free will, with its behavioural distortions, reflects the spirit's state of ignorance.
Spirit is light and as such it glows with an intensity that corresponds to its level of progress. Intensity of light means intensity of vibration. The higher the intensity, the greater the knowledge of life, the more evident the dynamic spiritual action, the safer the control over human behaviour, the better the use made of free will.
As the intensity of the spirit's vibration grows, the lesser the chances of it being engulfed in inferior vibratory currents or of engaging in actions disapproved of by its conscience.
It can never be overemphasised that evolution is ruled by natural laws which are never changed in Time and Space. No one can escape from their imperative norms.
These laws place everyone on an equal level as regards the means available to all men to freely use the spiritual assets already conquered, at a slower or faster pace, depending on their use of free will.
BUILDING UP ONE'S FUTURE
Evolution may be delayed and even stagnate on account of human laziness, indifference or negligence. Many times, indifference, laxity and desertion of duty are attributed to a supposed predestination or to an unrelenting, cruel fate which many believe it would be useless to fight.
This way of looking at such serious matters leads to disastrous results. Incarnate spirits have enough power to change the course of their lives at any time by proper use of their free will. They are the craftsmen of their happy or unhappy future, of their own success or failure.
The enlightened man's tomorrow is planned today. In other words, his future will be what is being planned and done now.
As there is much to be done, man needs to be always attentive to his duties and endeavour to use his free will in ways that will safeguard his future and make his journey easier.
Moral pain - if accompanied by bewilderment - produces vibrations capable of attracting and retaining harmful influences and animistic matter.
Nevertheless, provided an individual has some knowledge of life and understands the associations between body and spirit - without losing sight of the uncertainties and temporary character or earthly values - he will realise the need for immediate reaction to suffering so as not to allow himself to be overwhelmed by it. The same applies to thoughts of weakness that may lead him to physical and spiritual depression which is the cause of so many obsessions.
No one is required to give more than he can give. Good use of free will is within everyone's capacity. Why, then, make mistakes that torment oneself? Why do so many people allow themselves to be absorbed by sparkling uncertain, deceitful sensations of earthly feelings?
It is therefore in human interest to know the responsibility man holds in the control of his free will. This responsibility is an integral part of life and is therefore irrefutable and non-transferable. It is useless to deny it as it is useless to try to escape its consequences.
The mystique of forgiveness for crime, swindle and evasion of duty makes no sense whatsoever in spiritual life.
What is imperative above all is the compelling, urgent need for everyone to face the problems and responsibilities of life with courage and determination.
One needs to be aware of danger in order to avoid it. The harms resulting from ignorance of the role played by free will in human life are incalculable. If free will were properly used, there would no be so many lost incarnations.
The spirit's journey on Earth, in successive stages, is undeniably long. However, all steps can be climbed without useless repetitions if Christian Rationalist principles are carefully followed. And the subject of this chapter is an important part of them.
A large portion of mankind knows little about free will. Many are even unaware of its existence. The multisecular misconception of regarding life as one sole incarnation has contributed decisively to this ignorance. And mankind has paid a very high price for this error.
When will mankind awaken to life's realities? When will it feel strong enough to break the shackles that enslaven it to misconceptions?
No matter when, this will have to happen one day.