A Big Mac OR A Quarter Pounder?- A Spiritual Understanding Of Free Will.

Banks asserted further that we all have the power of free thought and free will. That we are either operating from free thought and free will or, like clouds covering the sun, we are covering over this power with our “egos”—our conditioned personal thoughts we misguidedly believe are “absolute truths.” Fortunately, we have a built-in barometer— our feelings —that signals us when we are operating from free thought and free will or obscuring this power with our believed personal thoughts. In the same way that physical pain alerts us to a physical health issue, psychological pain alerts us to a mental health issue—that we are misusing the principles and covering over our free thought and free will. By using the signal of a discomforting feeling to discern that our thoughts are not serving us well, we can avoid re-thinking those thoughts, allow them to pass through, and fresh, healthier thoughts to surface. People have varying levels of understanding of the way the psychological system works— that everyone’s psychological experiences are created from the “inside-out” via their use of the principles of Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought, that free thought and free will lie within everyone’s consciousness and manifest whenever the personal mind quiets down, that everyone feels their thoughts and their feelings inform them when they are operating from free thought and free will or obscuring this creative power.

No one has a choice about the thoughts that enter their mind. However, we all have a say, about how we relate to our thoughts. With a sufficient understanding of the principles that operate the psychological system, we can choose freely the way we relate to the manifestations of the system (e.g., thoughts, feelings, perceptions, states of mind)—whether we take these experiences to heart or allow them to pass through.

At a high level of understanding of the principles, we realize that “we are the thinker”—the creators of our psychological lives. Then, our use of the principles improves—particularly our use of the power of Thought. In turn, our choices become aligned more often with free thought and free will—a formless intelligence that breaks through to assist us when our personal mind, or ego, quiets down. When our personal minds are open to and aligned with this formless intelligence, we access fresh, healthier thoughts.

As we come to count on the power of free thought and free will to guide us, we gain confidence that we “know” how to handle life. Our circumstances have less power over us. We realize our power to look away from our personal, often insecure thoughts, allow our personal mind to quiet down, and fresh, wiser thoughts to surface. The moment we realize we are hurting ourselves with our own thoughts we naturally default to “the now.” Banks stated: “When… people refer to the now, they mean the personal mind is free from the contaminants of yesterday’s memories and fears. This in turn frees the mind to see with clarity things as they are, not through distorted memories and apprehensions.”

At even higher levels of understanding, we realize the illusion of concepts. In turn, our mental quietude increases, and we become more predisposed to fall into a space free from the influence of concepts— a space of pure consciousness or Spirit . Banks (2010) stated: “You have to go beyond concepts, and you will find it in the stillness of your mind. When you go from the known to the unknown, from the physical to the spiritual, when you hear from beyond words an inner light goes on, and it brings out inner knowledge and wisdom, inner spiritual intelligence before the contamination of human thought.”