Free will is not the power to alter the world —
but the power to awaken from the world within.
The unawakened acts — chasing shadows in the cave.
The awakened witnesses the act —
the shadows dancing on the cave wall they once called home.
Both move — one through refractive mind,
fractured by “me” and “mine,”
the other through reflecting light,
boundless as the screen behind the play.
In the end, even the actor bows —
not to change the scene,
but to see there was never a stage.