A big issue we ran into when I took existential philosophy was whether or not free will was possible. The main hang up that I can remember basically was the question of whether anything we do can be considered free of the influence of what came before it - prior thoughts, choices, and deeds, and not just of ourselves, but of everything - a kind of exponential butterfly effect, where every last little thing is a consequence of something else. So, not putting much of any thought into this at all (rather, just staying up late and falling asleep on the couch), I wonder whether the concept of nirvana - or, escaping from an cycle of reincarnation - might somehow be applied to escaping a cycle of consequence. Or perhaps, a zen ideal of no-ego might be applied in a similar way...