Self will is a manifestation of the domination of the intellect whereas free will is the manifestation of the domination of the spirit. Which is the right way is not difficult to imagine. Free will is a property of the spirit, being inseparable from it. An active human spirit uses his free will to adjust himself to the Laws of God. In so doing he is able to know exactly what he has to do to lead a blameless life and be pleasing to God. Consequently he is able to rise more quickly and surely to those heights where he can draw uninterrupted strength and knowledge from the Living Fount. 

Self will, however, is a property of the intellect whereby we have decided to live according to our own thought-processes refusing to acknowledge the spirit within us and consequently creating a kind of parallel existence to the order established by God. We devise a parallel set of rules and laws by which we now live our lives irrespective of the existing spiritual laws. This situation exactly describes the modern man of today.

We have collectively decided that the Laws of God were not good enough for us and we have consequently created our own earthly laws thought out by our own intellects and these are the laws that we live by. Laws devised solely by ourselves since we have a very high opinion of ourselves and feel ourselves superior to anything else, perhaps even greater than God Himself. No other conclusion can be drawn.

We have refused to acknowledge and realise that there must be Laws in this Universe right from the very beginning, even before our existence. Laws which led to the creation and the evolution of everything in this Creation. Laws which are perfect and never changing. Laws which are strict and vital and never allow for any deviation. Why have we never striven to learn these laws? The answer is simple: these Laws were deemed to be too strict and we would rather devise laws which suit us and which perpetuate the delusion of our own importance. Why learn about Laws which tell us that we are nothing but one among many other creatures when we can be free to indulge in the thought that we are the most important creatures in the entire world?

The consequences of living a life of self-will rather than that of the free will can be seen before us today. A world where we do not actually understand each other and a world where we think that we need to take advantage of one another to progress. A world where it is impossible to have real justice because justice requires that we use our spirits which is just what we have neglected to use when we chose for the intellect.

It is now impossible to use our free wills anymore because we have burdened it with so much sin. We first have to live off this burden of sin before our free wills can be set free again to work in the way it should. It is only by acquiring spiritual knowledge that this can be achieved.