We have about as much autonomy from God as my hand has from me. Like my hand, we are an extension of God. We are his tentacles.
Think of free will as a power strewn throughout all of God. We’re all acting together, sharing in the will of one God.
So you mean if we weren’t so distracted by our bodily existence, we’d recognize the ultimate freedom we have… which is not limited by anything?
I agree that our persistent clinging to life is, at a deep level of our being, a choice… but you’re talking waaay deep. On the surface, where most of us reside, it seems pretty clear that we’re stuck with our bodies.
Yes, I remember that now. I’m jealous. Some day, Wendy, I’ll have a little taste of what you’ve been through.
I don’t know. Talking about enlightenment like it jumps out from the bushes and hits you is already very speculative for me. It’s on the fringes of meaninglessness.
Without fear yes, but we’re all capable of doing good despite our fears. You don’t have to be at the pinnacle of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it just comes more or less effortlessly at the top (or so I speculate). At the same time, there is a point to recoiling into defensiveness when we haven’t quite made it to the top–one has to work on one’s self before one can work on others, to stay temporarily blind to the humanity of others.