Who Actually Makes the Decisions?

Who actually makes your decisions? And what happens if the illusion of self is seen through? Nothing changes. You simply see how it has always been.

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“If I see through the illusion of self – who will make my decisions then?”

I hear this question again and again in guiding.

Who will decide whether I quit my job?

Whether I move somewhere else?

What I will do tomorrow?

And if there is no one making decisions anymore – how is life supposed to work?

The thought of it can be quite scary.

But there is a small misunderstanding in the question.

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This article looks at stream entry and the first three fetters. For the full overview and the practical investigation, start here:

🔹 Seeing Through the Self-Illusion

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Nothing changes

With seeing through the illusion of self, nothing changes.

You simply see how it has always been.

That is an important difference.

It is not that you are making your decisions now, and after seeing through the illusion there will suddenly be no one there to do it anymore.

You are not going to lose control of your life one day.

The question is:

Is that control actually there now?

How does a decision happen?

Take a very ordinary decision.

You are standing in front of your wardrobe in the morning.

The black T-shirt or the blue one?

A thought comes:

“The black one today.”

Your hand reaches for it.

Done.

But what exactly did you do?

Did you choose the thought “The black one today”?

Did you know beforehand that this particular thought would come?

Did you decide when it would appear?

Don’t look for an explanation.

Just look at what actually happens.

What about important decisions?

With bigger decisions, it can look more complicated.

Maybe you think about something for days.

Thoughts come:

“I should quit.”

“Maybe that would be a mistake.”

“I’ve wanted to leave for a long time.”

“But what about the money?”

You make a list.

You talk to someone.

You sleep on it.

And at some point, the decision is there.

All of that happens.

The only question is:

Where exactly is the one who is doing it?

Can you find them?

Or are there thoughts, weighing up options, bodily sensations, conversations – and eventually a decision?

The assumption of a self covers this up

Right now, it may seem completely obvious:

I think. I weigh up my options. I decide.

That is the assumption of a self.

It sits on top of what is actually happening.

That is why it can be so difficult to imagine how decisions could possibly work without this “I”.

But you don’t have to imagine what it might be like later.

You can look now.

How does the next thought arise?

How does a decision happen?

Where is the one making it?

You simply see how it has always been

Seeing through the illusion of self doesn’t stop thinking.

You will still think things through.

You will still weigh up different possibilities.

You will still say yes and no.

And of course, you will still make decisions. That’s what we call this process.

What changes is only the assumption about how this process happens.

So you don’t need to worry about how a life “without a decision-maker” could possibly work.

It already does.

You just don’t see it yet because the assumption of a self is covering it up.

With seeing through the illusion of self, nothing changes.

You simply see how it has always been.

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Look for yourself

Who makes your decisions?

Where does the next thought come from?

And can you find the one who is deciding?

If you’d like to continue investigating, you can find more articles and inquiries about the illusion of self and the first fetter of stream entry here.

And if you don’t want to investigate this on your own, we can also look at the illusion of self together.

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