Are We Puppets Being Manipulated or Are We Free?
Philosophers, theologians, and thinkers have pondered this profound question for centuries. The idea of a puppet suggests that our actions are entirely controlled by an external force, leaving no room for free will. Whether or not this aligns with your beliefs depends on how you view concepts like divine will, free will, and human autonomy.
There are several different perspectives on this idea.
Many spiritual traditions and philosophies affirm that humans have free will—our ability to make choices is part of our human experience. From this view, while God (or a higher power) might influence or guide, the ultimate decision-making rests with the individual.
Some believe that everything is predetermined as part of a divine plan, which might make life seem like a script already written. This doesn’t necessarily mean we’re "manipulated," but that our actions fit within a larger, incomprehensible framework.
Another perspective suggests a dynamic interaction: we have free will, but divine influence or guidance works alongside our choices. This view allows for personal responsibility and divine sovereignty to coexist.
Beyond theology, some might argue this question reflects the human desire for meaning. Are we looking for control or purpose? Understanding this desire can help you explore how much agency you feel you have in your life and why.
The wisdom of Kabbalah reveals that a person in our world has no free will. He is born in an already completed state and develops the innate qualities with which he was born and which he did not choose himself under the influence of the environment. Neither his inner parameters nor the external ones that influence him are not chosen by him, and that is why there is no freedom in that.
Freedom exists only in selecting a specific environment so that it would shape me to be the way that I want to be. I choose my environment in accordance with the kind of individual that I wish to become.
This environment exists within the fascinating and elegant study of the wisdom of Kabbalah, a study and practice that provides a method for attaining the purpose of life, the development of an inner state in which we derive all our pleasure from caring for others before ourselves. In other words, not a smidge of self-satisfaction for serving another, but only pleasure in the performing of the action itself.
To learn more about the fascinating world of the wisdom of Kabbalah, you may go here.
