Freedom of Choice
Q: Does a person who has become a Kabbalist have at least the freedom of choice?
A: There are only two possible situations for us:
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Surrendering to our nature. We might think that in this case we simply become at peace with ourselves. However, as soon as we begin to feel the Upper World, meaning something spiritual outside us, we will discover that our egoism is not us, but a foreign body that has penetrated us and forces us to serve it. We will find then that we have no freedom of choice in such a state.
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The other is to obey the nature of the Creator. We might think that this situation implies losing our freedom, but what in fact happens is that the Kabbalist exits his own nature and becomes neutral with respect to the one and only factor that ordinarily controls him completely and without cease. Only then can he take on the attributes of the Creator, and activate his freedom of choice.
Q: Since everything is determined Above, where is the freedom of choice?
A: Man’s only freedom is his environment, the society that influences him. You can read about it in "The Freedom" by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag. Everyone’s situation is determined from beginning to end. The only way to go is forward. We should want to do it ourselves, consciously, but if we don’t, nature will force us to want to progress. We cannot attain the final situation if we don’t learn how to lead creation.