The Law of Volitionality

The Law of Volitionality The second tenet, The Law oj Volitionality, is very challeng- ing. It states that if we want to be free, then we have to be willing to assume absolute responsibility for everything that we do. The reason that The Law of Volitionality is such a challenging teaching is that we live in a world where most of us are convinced that we couldn't possibly be responsible for everything that we do. And the reason that we believe we couldn't possibly be responsible for everything that we do is simply because we are convinced that we are victims victims who are out of contro l I discovered something very extraordinary early on in my teaching career. I discovered that on a deep level we all know exactly what we are doings. What does that mean? It means that people who want to be happy make choices that enable them to experience happiness. And people who do not want to be happy deliberately make choices that ensure the continuation of their experience of unhappiness. For those of us seeking spiritual Liberation, the same rule applies. The Law oj Volitionality 1 7 These days many are saying that they want to be free, but if that is true, why is it that so few of us can honestly claim victory over ignorance? The second tenet. The Law oj Volitionality, states that everything is volitional, including our relationship to liberation from fear, ignorance and selfish- ness. The fact isjlhose who say they want to be free more than anything else and mean it actually succeed. And that is because they accept unconditionally the validity of The

Law oj Volitionality. That means they are wiUing to whoki, heartedly take responsibility for absolutely everything that they do. Often when spiritual seekers speak about their internal experience, they have an interesting habit—they refer to different "parts" of themselves. They say that there is one part that wants to be free and there is another part that does not. Some even report that there are different "voices" speak- ing to them inside their own heads—one voice expressing a passionate interest in freedom and the other voice very much opposed to the idea. Now when we hnd different voices speaking within^ us—one pulling us in the direction of Liberation and another pushing us in the very opposite direction—it does_ appear that there is morethan one of us in there . But the all-iinportant fact that so many of us seem to miss is that / there is always only one who hears rhp^p different voices Embracing Heaven & Earth pne entity, one individual, one self. Indeed, there is only one experiencer who perceives both the call to Liberation and the voice of doubt, that voice that continually insists that it's not really possible to be free. Not possible for \ whom? For that very same one self who hears the call to ' Liberation. Again, there is only one self who responds to the call to Liberation. And it is that very same one self who seems to fall into the clutches of our darkest impulses time land time again. It is very important to recognize this. What I'm speak- ing about seems to be obvious when described in this way. But it is definitely not obvious to most of us when we are in the midst of confusion, when we are directly experiencing these contradictory impulses within us—one toward heaven and the other toward hell. Now the reason that there appear to be different parts of ourselves isonly because we are in the habit of making choices that fojlowjhese extremely contradictory impulses withinjos. For example, when we choose that which is positive, the self that chooses experiences that which is positive. When we choose that which is negative, the self that chooses experiences that which is negative. Indeed, when we choose freedom, when we choose liberation from ignorance and selfishness, we experience a sense of self that is so positive that it shatters all the concepts we ever had about what the word positive means. And when we The Law of Volitionality choose that which is negative, we instantly experience a sense of self that is inherently separate, ambitious and driven by fear. Because there is a qualitative difference in the way these different choices make the one self /eel, we unknowingly presume that there is more than one self within us. But there is not. There is only one self, one experiencer , who is either experiencing that which is positive or that which is negative due to the choice that that one self has made. So therefore, what self are we choosing to manifest? What self are we choosing to be? There is only one self within us. \And that one self becomes what it chooses. The reason that we suffer incessantly, the reason that the painful experience of isolation and separation is so com- mon, is in fact only because we don't make the right choices. Why don't we make the right choices? The traditional answer is that due to our state of ignorance, we don't know any bet- ter. And until that all-important turning point in our own evolution when we make the momentous decision to he free, to be liberated in this life, ignorance will always be a valid ^xcuse for making the wrong choices. But after we make the_ ^^y^nscious decision to be liberated in this Ufe, ignorance will^ never a^ainhea reasonable excuse for making the wron^ choices lj>ecause if the choice to be free has been made in good Conscience, from that moment on, deep in our hearts we will Iwavs know exactly what wp are doing ^Iway: Embracing Heaven & Earth Now the most difficult choice for us to make is the choice to be responsTBle for everything that we do. Most ot us do not want to get anywhere near that'kind of relation- ship to Ufe. It's just too big. It's just too much. Only those individuals who have absolutely no doubt that they want to be free, enlightened human beings will be interested. Most of us don't want to assume this degree of responsibility Why? It's very simple. Because then we would no longer be able to place the burden of blame for our own misery upon anyone else. Wejonj want to give up the idea that we are victims, that we have been "hard done by." We don't want to give up the deeply held conviction that we need time to heal our wounds, that we need more time to overcome the past, that we need even more time to /^ontiT^n^ to 1ivpa^Jife_of_coin-^ promise. You see, perfection is not what we're interested in. What does perfection mean? It means taking unconditional responsibiUty for ourselves in the name of Liberation here and now. But perfection is a word that we don't want to get near. It makes us feel as if we can't breathe. And if a word like perfection causes us to experience a sense of suffocation rather than great inspiration, then it can only mean that we are deeply invested in and attached to being less than that. Indeed, words like absolute and perfect challenge to the ultimate degree every single part of us that does not want to be free, every part of us that desperately wants to remain separate. And if words like absolute and perfect disturb The Law of Volitionality us, then we need to look deeply into the true nature of our relationship to life. If we do, we will probably find that the attraction that we have tojhat which is sacred is divided. And that means that at those times when we are under enormous pressure, when our back is against the wall, that voice within us that doesnVwant to be free , that doesn't want perfection, is going to demand, in no uncertain terms, room for itself 1^ As long as we allow ourselves to be divided in this way, will never be possible to be free. And that is the only reason that so few actually succeed. Most of us are far more com- mitted to maintaining the freedom to be separate, the freedom

to not be fully responsible for ourselves, than we are to attaining Liberation here and now The fact is that most of us do not want to rid ourselves of this fundamental division. In our internal experience, before the eye of our mind, numerous possibilities arise and pass away in every mo- ment—^numerous possibilities and also numerous choices. So once again the question is: What choices are we making? As I said earlier, if you look deeply enough within your own self, you're going to discover that there is only one of you, Lot many, and the choices that you make define the very 'identity of that one self within you. In fact, it is the choices that we make and those choices alone that define who we actually are in any given moment, and from one moment to another who we are can change radically But this is the good news profound Embracing Heaven & Earth

(c^r\r\ j-^Hiral li}->pration from ip^norance always exists as a living, possibility in every moment . So therefore, we have to ask ourselves: What choice am I making in every moment? When we look into that ques- tion, everything becomes simple and obvious—as a matter of fact, everything becomes shockingly simple and terrify- ingly obvious. That's when we discover for ourselves that there is an enormous burden that must be carried by any man or woman who is awake, any man or woman who is truly conscious of the fact that he or she is alive. So we ask -5^ ourselves: What choice am I making? Do the choices that

make express a love for the truth, a preference for that which iTsacred? Or do the choices that I make demonstrate attach- \ ment^to falsehood and identification with that which is \unwholesome? What I'm saying is this: To be ignorant means that we are compulsively making the wron^ choices in a biind^and deeply conditioned way. To be awake^ means that we are constantly making the right choices. Why? Because we can see. Because we know what it is that we are doing and why we are doing it. And because now at the very core of our being we no longer want to make the wrong choices. When we ^ no longer want to make the wrong choices, we have finalbl, been purified of the desire to chooseegojXLchoose separation. It is then that we begin to see directly for ourselves how the law of karma actually works. The Law of Volitionality when we make the wrong choices over and over and over again, a karmic momentum is created. It's the accumu- lated momentum of having made unwholesome choices consistently over a long period of time. When we have chosen selfishness and separation hundreds of thousands of times, it eventually becomes a powerful momentum, a momentum that Uterally becomes self-generating. When it becomes self- generating, that momentum begins to usurp the energy of the personaUty, ultimately taking control of it, propelling it forward in time. But the point is, we created this momentum. We created it by the choices that we made over and over and over again. That's why we so often say, "But I couldn't help it!" You see, the karmic force of this momentum has gained so much energy that it actually seems as if we couldn't help it. It Uterally appears to be happening_byJtseJf2_buto^^ because of all the momentum behind it that has been accumu- lated over time. To be a truly liberated individual, this momentum must be completely destroyed, utterly and perfectly^xtinguished forever. You see, only when this momentumhas been destroyed will one have realized a state of permanent Liberation. And the way the destruction of that powerful momentum occurs is simply through making the choice to bejree^ Making the choice to be free not only once or twice, but over and over and over again. If we want to be free, if we want to destroy the accumulated momentum of past karma, consistency is Embracing Heaven & Earth everything. And in order to succeed, we must develop a deep confidence in our own ability to continuously make the choice to be free, whether it feds like the right thing to do or not. Often when people begin spiritual practice in earnest, they encounter this force of karma, this momentum of con- ditioning, and begin to do battle with it. And they usually experience enormous resistance. Resistance to what? To doing the right thing. Many believe that spiritual experience, in and of itself, will liberate them from the chains of karma. But the fact is, it usually does not, and this is because of the tremen- dous power of the accumulated karmic momentum. Spiritual experience may indeed enable us to directly perceive the true and right relationship of all things. But it is rnaking^ the right choices that makes it possible for us to act upon that revela- tion^ And it is throughacting upon that which has been revealed to us in profound spiritual experience over and overl and over again that the powerful momentum of karma can eventually be destroyed . To succeed, we must be convinced_beyond any doubt from our own experience that Liberation is a living possi- bility, that it is real. But from that moment on, whether that which was directly experienced in the spiritual revelation is apparent or not, we must choose to be free in every moment no matter what. That's when we become true spiritual warriors. That's when we have finally become serious about attaining victory over ignorance in this life. The Law of Volitionality The second tenet, The Law of Volitionality, states that we alone are always making the choice to be free—or to be unfree. It states that if we do want to be free, it is essential that we come to that point in our own evolution where we are determined only to make the right choice—the choice that will bring us to Liberation. In the same way that the negative momentum of karma becomes self-generating as a result of making the wrong choice countless times, through the experience of revela- tion and, most important of all, through making the right choice over and over and over again, this momentum begins to slow down and our confidence in the possibility of Liber- ation mcreases. As that confidence becomes steady, itgets_ easier to make the right choices. And as our confidence increases even more, as a result of consistently making the right choices, the momentum of karma continues to decrease until it not only ceases altogether but—and this is everything—<i new momentum is horn. That new momentum is the energy of Liberation itselL If pursued until the very end, that energy also becomes self-generating . Self-generating means without effort. This is a spontaneous condition, a natural state. This is when the energy of Liberation itself has overtaken the personaUty That is Liberation—when the unconditioned, uncontain- able energy of that which is Absolute, perfectly mysterious and all-knowing reveals itself in this world. What remains Embracing Heaven & Earth is the same body, the same nervous system, the same mind, but now expressing something completely other, something so miraculous that it no longer has any memory of what came before. The Law of Volitionality