the entire idea of transcendence from suffering begs the age-old question of free will: that is, do we truly have free will, or is everything already predetermined? But here's the thing: this is another example of human Duality thinking, having to choose one thing or another and not at all realizing that it can be both. They say that once that first cue ball is struck and the balls scatter in their own individual directions, it is predetermined where they land, depending on how that first ball was struck. They feel as if Free Will would be the equivalent of, say, the eight ball waking up and then making a drastic right-angle turn like the Kennedy bullet. We seem to forget that we are not the pool balls in this metaphor; we are the ones holding the cue. We are the ones holding the stick, and depending on how we strike that first white ball determines the results of our reality.

Free-Will and Non-Duality (clip) #zen

Free-Will and Non-Duality (clip) #zen