If there is no free will, your individual self is an illusion.
As well as the self of any other.
So there is life that takes place, where everything happens, but where there is no one.
It's very simple. And for this very reason it is so difficult.
Good luck.
That's true.There is no individual essence, except insofar as the finality of a death and then another person or persons arbitrate as to what the deceased's essence was.
Personal prayer is the attempt to crystallise and hopefully define one's essence . The individual is either persuaded his life is all about himself and his pleasures and wellbeing, or else he is not self centred and lives persuaded that his life is about others' wellbeing. Unfortunately personal prayer serves the former as well as the latter.