Sovereignty may be thought of in two different, but interrelated, ways:

1) Autonomy, and
2) Dominion.

The most primal aspect of sovereignty is the innate autonomy of each individual; this is due to everyone’s true, spiritual nature and innate free will.

We are free-will beings living in a free-will universe. This must be so or there would be no game and no significance to anything. If man were simply an automaton, like a wind-up toy, everything would be purely mechanical and predetermined. There could be no moral or ethical choices, in fact, there could be no choices at all. This would deprive all of Us and the Creator of experiencing the very point of creation: ever new and freely created situations experienced by a myriad of beings whereby we can experience the Creator’s glory and infinity of qualities in otherwise unattainable ways. A purely mechanical universe would eliminate this crucial reason for creation. It would disallow the possibility of assigning significance to anyone’s actions, while at the same time preventing surprise. Life would have no “emotional” meaning.

The central aspect of our very being is free will—the unfettered and autonomous capacity to make choices in any situation or context whatsoever. This inherent autonomy is ultimately due to our immortal spiritual nature. As a result, it cannot be abrogated or destroyed—by us or anyone else. Indeed, it is us.

The Dalai Lama summed up well the characteristics of sovereignty (as we mean for the word to be used) as a combination of liberty, freedom, and nature; when he stated on October 21, 2007:

"Brute force can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom. Freedom is the very source of creativity and human development. It is not enough to provide people with food, shelter and clothing. If we have these things but lack the precious air of liberty to sustain our deeper nature, we remain only half human."

Sovereignty is partly the freedom to joyfully create your life, your own unique truth, and live it in harmony with the rest of creation; even more than that, sovereignty is the character and nature of our consciousness, spirit, Soul, existence. Sovereignty is always waiting to be remembered and claimed as it is your very nature, it can never be lost - only forgotten by the mind. To claim (remember) your sovereignty requires exploration into self-knowledge, and engagement of the mind on the more subtle aspects of creation, such as that of utilizing ones free-will.

Possessing this free-will nature means that we have the unalienable right to exercise it, i.e., to be independent, self-governing, self-regulating, and, as a corollary, self-responsible. That which is has the innate right to be itself, or it’s very existence is self-negating. Indeed, the premise that we are all sovereign and self-responsible is the foundational presumption of all law. If we were not deemed free, autonomous, self-responsible beings, but only mechanical robots, no one could be held accountable for anything. There could be no rules nor any basis for enforcing them.

The second aspect of sovereignty, as it is thought about and implemented throughout history, is dominion. This, in both ethical and existential terms, may be deemed an abuse of sovereignty. Everyone has the ethical right to his own life, as well as the innate duty of exercising stewardship over it. Since everyone has that right and duty, who has any right to usurp it? The meanest peasant has as much right to his life as the king (“a man’s home is his castle”). This is a basis upon which Jefferson (re-phrased by Benjamin Franklin) could write in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Give yourself the freedom to make any choice you wish—and give those you love the same freedom, in fact give it to everyone - that is the fastest way to rceieve it back. You are all sovereign, when you recognize it in others you will begin to vibrate it within yourself, creating better realities for us all to share.