Theos-Talk Archives (January 2004 Message tt00299)

Hi Ed,

This is an interesting statement:

Many Theosophists
> say that things are just automatic and you don;t really "choose"
> anything when you come into this life - you are just attracted to the
> circumstances that fit you. I disagree. Intuitively I feel that we
> do choose things for this life 

Perhaps the difficulty comes from the lack of acceptance of the 
oneness of all life, of the fact that the individual human being is a 
much larger entity than is apparent from a material point of view. If 
we see ourselves as nothing more than a sack of skin with a 
personality, then we may indeed think that all is preordained (or 
not, as we prefer). But if we see ourselves as parts of a universal 
Self, connected to the past by a chain of lives during which our 
various emanations, or personalities, made choices which generated 
effects, and that we are currently living out those effects and 
making choices that generate future effects, the prospects become a 
bit more fascinating. It becomes interesting to try to understand 
what constitutes a "right" choice, if such a thing exists, and how to 
control the unruly desires that seem to try constantly to trip us up, 
once we begin to discover to what we truly aspire. 

Best wishes,
Adelasie