Question:
I have enjoyed reading your books, and some similar books, and have felt comforted and reassured that if I only used my free will I could do anything. It has also been a burden of cause, when it seemed like it ‘didn’t work’, or maybe I did something ‘wrong’ or maybe I didn’t listen carefully enough. But then…of cause…i stumble across the book I Am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, and the work of Steven Wolensky, and I find out that there is no free will, or subjective intention. And it also seems quite logical that behind this world, behind this mind of mine, there must be something,…a witness, and who is observing the witness then, and when i get ‘out there’ there can be no I, no construction because then it is consciousness, and therefore an illusion. So the ‘master mind of nothingness’, the -0, is the creator of the illusion that I call me, and my world. ?
So in short, do you believe in the free will?
Answer:
Yes, I believe in free will. I read your letter and chose to answer it out of all the other letters today. If you reflect upon your activities today, I’m sure you can find many similar choices you made. For instance, you chose to write me an email and chose to his the send button, right? Isn’t that free will? Wasn’t that a subjective intention?
The abstract concept that Maharaj is describing is not graspable by most people. It’s the idea that in the state of unity consciousness, the self that operates in the world is just part of the forces of relativity acting upon each other. From that level of enlightenment, the will of the ego is an illusion. But if this isn’t your level of awareness, then it is only confusing to try to pretend that that is your reality.
What I would add to Maharaj’s point is that from that state of consciousness you can say there is no individual will, but it is equally true that in unity consciousness your Self has become that universal consciousness and your intention is the intention of the cosmos, your will is the universal will or force of creation. Our limited concepts of free will and determinism don’t really do justice to the reality of that state anyway.
For now, keep your understanding in step with your level of experience so as not to confuse yourself and impede your progress.
Love,
Deepak
I am thinking I am free to create my own physical reality, and the closer I get to a state of unity consciousness, then I have ultimate freedom, but don't exercise it because then I would just stay in this place where I have no ego, no self, no reality. I like how you answered this question Deepak, because I DO get confused about the paradox of being truly free with the intent of unity, and acting freely with my mind and body. The only thing I have found is that I have always had free will, but the awareness of the Unity has just expanded my choices… which makes me feel much freer, and yet much more confused with so many choices! So MANY intentions to choose from and so little physical time. That is the place I am at… choosing commitments to focus my intention on. So many beautiful seeds… which one to plant? It seems when I ask the Universe what should I do… it answers. "You tell me."
Thank you for reminding, us always.
Love
Adriana
Thank you Deepak for making me more aware and enlightening!
Love
Rajesh
http://rajeshmsharma.blogspot.com
beautiful explanation. thanks deepak.
It's a wayward path, but we are always revolved around an invisible centre which is spinning off our experiences, shall I say spirally. I guess that metaphor would explain our confusions in trying to get a handle on it.
Our free will, it seems to me, is in how we perceive it. Once we realise that we are not finite, that our Invisible Centre is very much alive and well, Eternal, we can move on into the infinite of possibility. Just as a great artist, say Picasso, could express it on canvas, we can quantum leap further and express it perceptually in our interactions with Life itself. The 'canvas' is the infinite 'gap' between each of material entity and the paint-box is Love. Way to go!
Love,
ed
Beautifully expressed, Dear Ed.
Thank you
Love
Adriana
I freely choose to respond to Dr. Chopra's blog, but my decision is fourteen billion years old: finitude cumbered by the finite.
Alas, to me, 93 billion light-years of latitude, and growing, is large enough to qualify as infinite possibility! Though indeed, 24,000 circumnavigable miles is quite enough to disunify a speck of One.
The horror of free-will is the illusion that unbinds us all, b/c choosing to faithfully serve "the other" opposes pusuing one's own happiness.
A great Son of God once said this, the other children, us, are not listening.
Peace
Free will is ONLY for those who are free.
Free from the control of the 5 senses . Only they can think and act FREE.
All other's actions are fine tuned by the senses which control them.
Only people FREE and above the senses have free will.
Rest of our actions have the invisible signature of the senses that control us ,
not exactly lettnig us act FREEly or think freely.
ah. phani, yessss !
interestingly, Ramana Maharshi ( a 20th century Indian sage recognized as truely enlightened ) had this to say about free will vs. destiny / karmic influence in our lives :
' It is true that what is destiny has prescribed for us is what will take place. But it is open to us to be free from the joy or pain, from the pleasant or unpleasant consequences of that by not identifying ourselves with the body or with that which acts out that destiny. It you realize your true nature and realize thereby that it's not you that is doing it, then you will be unaffected by the consequences of whatever action you are engaged in according to your prescribed karna or destiny or divine plan, whichever you prefer to call it. You are always free to do that and there is no limitation to that freedom. '
At another time when asked : ' Are only important events in a man's life, such as his main occupation or profession, predetermined . . or are trifling acts in his life, such as moving a cup of water from one place in a room to another, also predetermined ? ' Ramana replied : ' Yes, everything is predetermined. ' Questioner : ' Then what free will does anyone have ? ' Ramana : ' Why does this body come into existance ? It is designed to do the various things marked out for execution in this life. 'Not an atom moves except by His Will ' expresses the same Truth, whether you call it His Will or karma. It's all the same. As for freedom, man is always free not to identify himself with the body and not to be affected by the pleasures or pains consequent on the body's activities. '
In probability theory there is what is called as MARKOV process according to which an n-th event depends on all n-1 previous events.
So is Karma , the past events influence the future events .
Every action that you perform becomes part of the past i.e karma and will influence your next action.
Then again all( karma) of this applies only to those who are under the influence of senses and are body conscious.
If you are a stitapragna ..one who treats everything good or bad equally , one who has absolutely NO attachment to the body and worldly pleasures and pains then you are beyond Karma.
There is a trick to performing any action you want and YET be not be bound by the result of the actions.
i.e. acting in such a way as to NOT to get the result of your actions. Its given in Bhagavad Gita.
You act , you do things but you dedicate all actions and the results to GOD , some one else. So you perform actions yet you do not receive the good/bad effects outputs of it.
Thats how you evade , escape the law of karma . It was given more than 5000 years ago but very very few people know it and even try it. It all depends on what/where your mind is engaged while you perform that action.
Where your mind is …that is the result you ll get. If your mind is lost or you are in deep meditative state with no mind …
any action you do including breathing is NOT being done by you.
Example: You are going on a long drive but you have a very attractive person traveling along with you and you two are chatting along totally involved while driving.
Once you reach your destination after 5 hours you wont even know it has been
5 hours since your mind has been totally engaged in interesting conversation. You have ESCAPED the fatigue associated with driving for 5 hours SINCE your mind was not INVOLVED in driving but involved in chit chatting .
Your mind was LOST or engaged in something else hence you get the benefit/karmic result of where and how your mind is engaged.
Which would be a happy nice 5 hours of conversation and very little fatigue.
That is how you escape the law of Karma.
Free will is for those who are beyond karma.
We are all self-aware as human beings, ultimately aware of our own awareness, if you add the fact that the universe is a Conscious One, that consciousness permeates the universe (and is found even within space) it is easy to then see we as humans really are the self-aware universe, that our own consciousness is the tip of the ice berg or evolutionary wave, of a totaly Conscious and Aware Universe. We are all gods and goddess, looking out upon ourselves, born within ourselves and dying within ourselves, here to experience ourselves in total unity and containment. With Love and gratitude…by the way Deepak I choose to join you in intent for non violence. Thank-you, Namaste.