Yogi: In my practice, I was taught that I could always choose what I wanted to do, but Sayadaw says that it is the mind which decides what to do – the mind thinks and feels.
Do I have the freedom to decide or does the decision happen because of some mental quality? It seems that I can decide to go with thinking or to be aware of the body.
Sayadaw: Since the ‘I’ is an illusion in the first place, what we’re calling ‘I’ is either defilement deciding or wisdom deciding. When defilement decides, we think that we make an unskillful choice; when wisdom decides, we think that we make the right decision. That’s all.
The sense of freedom comes from the wholesome. When it is the unwholesome that is in charge, we’re almost without choice because they have such a strong hold on us. Unwholesome choices are usually automatic.