Exploring the Idea of Free Will Through the Lens of Indian Philosophy
“I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” - Albert Einstein, Wisehart interview (1930)
Preface: I deliberated on whether I should share these quotes in an open platform because: a) I feel this subject might unsettle some young minds as it could easily lead to a misinterpretation of the content; b) I find this topic is highly nuanced and needs a delicate approach which may be well beyond my reach; and c) I fear I might not be able to do justice to the topic given its level of complexity and subtlety.
Nonetheless, I put this together as a write-up (long ago) in another forum out of some misguided youthful compulsion or need. The truthful answer I have to this question on freewill is that perhaps this subject can only be adequately addressed and answered by the Supreme Being himself. So this write-up here is just a modest attempt on my part to further my own understanding and explore various ideas without feeling the need to subscribe to a singular view.
To navigate this labyrinth I took the approach of stitching together the varied points of view (through a series of quotes) of those people I consider to be among the wisest who have lived in my part of the world. In my culture, we were taught that the word of the Guru is the word of God, and so it represents the highest authority I could lean upon. As with any of my articles I reserve the right to expand, revise or contract the content in the future, depending on the quality of new material I find. But to be clear: My own views on this topic are not important as I am still learning and my perspectives tend to evolve with time and with new learning material. In this article I have tried to address this topic through the words of those I consider to be Self-realised souls (Jnanis) and these are the people I look up to for their wisdom, insight and counsel.
I understand that some of the readers might not resonate with these particular teachers or their style of teaching, and there is nothing wrong in that. I am not here to impose my preference of teachers or beliefs or philosophy upon others, as I dislike the proselytising attitude of some organised religions of today. Such an attitude to ‘convert others’ seems to me like a misguided and insecure approach to sharing knowledge. I believe everyone has their own teachings, their own gurus, their own philosophies, their own experiences to draw upon, their own path to walk on, their own Gods and beliefs (or lack thereof) to consider in life. But nonetheless, since you are here, you are free to consider the words of these teachers that I am fond of, and you are also free to apply your own interpretation of their words as different from mine, which includes the right to reject them if you feel that they don’t align with your personal beliefs. My objective here is to only share some thoughts and reflections on a topic which intrigues me greatly— feel free to take what you can from it.
I do not subscribe to a fatalistic view of life as I believe man has the power to transform his own mind and correct the mistakes of his past, so if you manage to read till the end of this article, I hope you wouldn’t adopt a fatalistic view, as that isn’t the purpose behind sharing these quotes below.
In the book, “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”, Sage Ramakrishna Paramahansa is quoted as saying:
“Everything depends on the will of God. The world is His play. He has created all these different things — great and small, strong and weak, good and bad, virtuous and vicious. This is all His maya, His sport. You must have observed that all the trees in a garden are not of the same kind. As long as a man has not realized God, he thinks he is free. It is God Himself who keeps this error in man. Otherwise sin would have multiplied. Man would not have been afraid of sin, and there would have been no punishment for it. But do you know the attitude of one who has realized God? He feels: ‘I am the machine, and Thou, O Lord, art the Operator. I am the house and Thou art the In-dweller. I am the chariot and Thou art the Driver. I move as Thou movest me; I speak as Thou makest me speak.’”
In another context, sage Ramakrishna (using a metaphor) compared the results of past actions (Karma) to be like a rope tied around the neck of a calf (the calf here is a metaphor for man). What we call “Free Will,” Ramakrishna says, is restricted to the amount of freedom the rope permits us.
“Karma is like a calf with a thread tied to a york at one end and the other end to its neck, when you grow spiritually, the size of the thread becomes bigger & at one point the thread gets loosened totally & you will be free from it.” — Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna’s student, Swami Vivekananda explores this topic in his typical forthright tone. He declares that “free will” is a misnomer.
“Who is free? The free must certainly be beyond cause and effect. The will is not free — it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect — but there is something behind the will which is free. Man’s will is as rigorously bound by the law of causation as the growth of any little plant or the falling of a stone.
That Soul is free, and it is its freedom that tells you every moment that you are free. But you mistake, and mingle that freedom every moment with intelligence and mind. You try to attribute that freedom to the intelligence, and immediately find that intelligence is not free; you attribute that freedom to the body, and immediately nature tells you that you are again mistaken. That is why there is this mingled sense of freedom and bondage at the same time.
As long as you are in the network of time, space, and causation, to say you are free is nonsense, because in that network all is under rigorous law, sequence, and consequence. Every thought that you think is caused, every feeling has been caused; to say that the will is free is sheer nonsense. It is only when the infinite existence comes, as it were, into this network of Maya that it takes the form of will. Will is a portion of that being, caught in the network of Maya, and therefore ‘free will’ is a misnomer. It means nothing — sheer nonsense.”
- Selected quotes from ‘The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda’
In the Third Chapter of the Bhagvad Gita, Verse 27, it is written:
Prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahamkaravimudhatma
karta ham iti manyate
Translation: “All actions are being performed by the modes (gunas) of Prakrti (manifested nature), but the ignorant one whose mind is bewildered by the self-sense (ahamkara or I-sense), thinks ‘I am the doer’.”
Commentary by S Radhakrishnan: Prakrti represents the power of Maya. The deluded soul attributes the acts of Prakrti to itself. The false self which is the ego attributes to itself the agency for actions forgetting the determinism of nature.
In ‘Upadesa Saram’, Sage Ramana Maharshi explores the idea of doership. He is quoted in the book as saying:
“In the vast ocean of cause and effect, actions happen and impermanent results follow. If one takes them as “my” actions the idea of having freewill gets strong. This sense of personal doership gives rise to a feeling of guilt or pride and effectively blocks the spiritual understanding that everything happens according to the will of God.”
Elsewhere, sage Ramakrishna Paramahansa writes that as long as the sense of “I” persists, one is never truly ‘free’.
He says: “You may watch a thousand tricks of magic, yet everything is under God. You cannot escape. You are not independent. Indeed, you have to do what He makes you do. One attains the knowledge of Brahman only when His Primal Power dispenses it. Then you can witness the play of the magician. Otherwise not. As long as you have even a little consciousness of ‘I’, you are under the jurisdiction of the Primal Power — and unable to set yourself free.”
In Chapter 18 of the Bhagvad Gita, Verses 59, 60 & 61, it is written:
yad ahamkaram asritya
na yotsya iti manyase
mithyai sa vyavasayas te
prakrtis tvam niyoksyati (18:59)
svabhava-jena kaunteya
nibaddhah svena karmana
kartum necchasi yan mohat
karisyasy avaso ‘pi tat (18:60)
isvarah sarva-bhutanam
hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhutani
yantrarudhani mayaya (18:61)
Translation: Krishna tells Arjuna that if taking your stand on the grounds of egotism (ahamkara or I-sense), you say to yourself, ‘I will not fight,’ vain is this resolve of yours. Your nature will compel you to act (i.e. to fight). That which, through delusion, you wish not to do, Arjuna, you shall do even against your will, bound by your own karma which is born of your very nature. Arjuna, God abides in the heart of all creatures, causing them to revolve according to their karma through his power of illusion (Maya) as though mounted on a machine.
Here is Swami Mukundananda’s commentary on these specific Gita verses: “Emphasizing the dependence of the soul upon God, Shri Krishna says, ‘Arjun, whether you choose to obey me or not, your position will always remain under my dominion. The body in which you reside is a machine made from my material energy. Based upon your past karmas, I have given you the kind of body you deserved. I too am seated in it, and am noting all your thoughts, words, and deeds. So, I will also judge whatever you do in the present, to decide your future. Do not think you are independent of Me in any condition. Hence Arjun, it is in your self-interest to surrender to Me.’”
A certain individual approached sage Ramana one day and raised the question on whether Arjuna had any freedom to act as per his will.
Mrs PC Desai quoting the Bhagavad Gita asked Ramana, “If (as Arjuna was told) there is a certain work destined to be done by each one and we shall eventually do it however much we do not wish to do it or refuse to do it, is there any free will?”
Ramana responded by saying: “It is true that the work meant to be done by us will be done by us. But it is open to us to be free from the joys or pains, pleasant or unpleasant consequences of the work, by not identifying ourselves with the body or that which does the work. If you realise your true nature and know that it is not you that does any work, you will be unaffected by the consequences of whatever work the body may be engaged in according to destiny or past karma or divine plan, however you may call it. You are always free and there is no limitation of that freedom.”
In Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 5, Verses 8, 9 and 10, Lord Krishna says:
“The man who is united with the Divine and knows the Truth understands that “I do nothing at all” for in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, walking, sleeping, breathing; in speaking, emitting, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, he holds that only the senses are occupied with the object of senses. He who acts, having given up attachment, and resigning his actions to God, is untouched by sin, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.”
In Kish-Kindha Kanda of Valmikiya Ramayan (Slokas 4, 5, 6 & 7, Chapter 25), it is written:
“In this world destiny is the root cause of all. Destiny is the means of all our actions. Destiny employs us in various deeds. It is the guide of all our actions. No person is absolutely free to do any work himself. Nor is he capable of engaging others in some work. The world is within the command of Nature or Inclination which is dependent on Kala or Destiny. Even Kala cannot violate the Law of Kala. It is inviolable or invincible. Kala has no brother, no friend, no kith and kin, no relation, no caste and creed and all that. There is no way out to influence Kala. No force can be used against Kala. Even God, the cause of the universe, cannot influence Kala and Destiny. God perhaps does not interfere in the operation of the Law of Kala.”
When a devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi told him that he was finding it difficult to cope with mundane life, Ramana responded by explaining the real meaning of surrender. Ramana tells the devotee:
“Go along with the current. Don’t try to swim against the flow of the river. All that is happening is what a higher power has already enjoined. Human efforts to change it or alter it to one’s advantage amounts to going against His order. Acceptance of it is a natural movement and rejection of it, wholly unnatural. Surrender is nothing but total acceptance of it. Then it becomes the burden of the higher power and no more yours. Everything is perfectly all right as it is. Realize it. Go along with its natural completion.”
In one of his books, the Vedanta teacher Shri Nisargadatta explains the problem of selfhood and doership to his students. He says:
“The life force [prana] and the mind are operating [of their own accord], but the mind will tempt you to believe that it is “you” [creating a false sense of self]. Therefore understand always that you are the Timeless Spaceless Witness [Pure Consciousness]. And even if the mind tells you that you are the one who is acting, don’t believe the mind. This apparatus [i.e. mind & body] which is functioning has come upon your Original Essence, but you are not that apparatus.”
In a dialogue between Sage Ramana Maharshi and a student, Ramana talks about the nature of Doership (Karta):
Ramana: Even if you try not to do your duty you will be perforce obliged to do it. Let the body complete the task for which it came into being. Sri Krishna also says in the Gita, whether Arjuna liked it or not he would be forced to fight. When there is work to be done by you, you cannot keep away; nor can you continue to do a thing when you are not required to do it, that is to say, when the work allotted to you has been done. In short, the work will go on and you must take your share in it — the share which is allotted to you.
Student: How is it to be done?
Ramana: Like an actor playing his part in a drama — free from love or hatred.
— [Source of text: Ramana Talks, Talk 653]
In a different setting, Ramana further explains this idea of how work gets done to another person. He says:
“It is true that the work meant to be done by us will be done by us. But it is open to us to be free from the joys or sorrows, pleasant or unpleasant consequences of the work, by not identifying ourselves with the body or that which does the work. If you realise your true nature and know that it is not you [i.e. ego sense] that does any work, you will be unaffected by the consequences of whatever work the body may be engaged in according to destiny or past karma or divine plan, however you may call it. You are always free and there is no limitation of that freedom.”
The words quoted below is a text from an unknown source — it is not the words of any realised sage but it tries to explain the teachings of the Gita and I thought it is worth adding that to the mix as it does help clarify the subject to some extent:
“Man is born with samskaras, or tendencies, that he acquires commensurate with his activities (Karma) in previous lives. These samskaras are made up of the three gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The proportion of each guna in an individual is what makes his character. All his thoughts and actions are then dictated by his samskaras because nature compels him to act according to his character. The Gita says, ‘Not even for a moment can man remain without performing any action. Everyone is forced to act according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature or Gunas.’”
When sage Ramana was asked by a seeker: “What work should I do?” He responded with this statement: “What is destined as work to be done by you in this life will be done by you, whether you like it or not.”
In another context on the subject of Will and Destiny, Sage Ramana says:
“Destiny is the result of past action; it concerns the body. Let the body act as may suit it. Why are you concerned with it? Why do you pay attention to it? Free-will and Destiny last as long as the body lasts. But wisdom (Jnana) transcends both. The [True] Self (Atman) is beyond knowledge and ignorance. Should anything happen, it happens as the result of one’s past actions, of Divine Will and of other factors.”
In the book ‘Be As You Are,’ Sage Ramana is quoted saying: “Whatever this body is to do and whatever experiences it is to pass through was already decided when it came into existence. The only freedom man has is to strive for and acquire the jnana (wisdom) which will enable him not to identify himself with the body. The body will go through the actions rendered inevitable by prarabdha (karma) and a man is free either to identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruits of its actions, or to be detached from it and be a mere witness of its activities. Free will holds the field in association with individuality. As long as individuality lasts there is free will. All the scriptures are based on this fact and they advise directing the free will in the right channel. Find out to whom free will or destiny matters. Find out where they come from, and abide in their source. If you do this, both of them are transcended. That is the only purpose of discussing these questions. To whom do these questions arise? Find out and be at peace.”
Sri Krishna further explains how a Self-realised person is free from this false idea of doership. In the Gita, Chapter 5, Verses 8–9, Sri Krishna says:
“A person seated in the Divine Consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.”
Sage Ramana Maharshi goes on to define what self-will or exercising one’s willpower really means. He says:
“Success and failure are due to Destiny, and not to willpower or the lack of it. One should try to gain equipoise of mind under all circumstances. That is [the real meaning of] willpower.”
Going further into this topic, Ramana explains to another questioner why success is not always desirable and why failure is not always bad purely from the spiritual standpoint, and how will-power must be understood.
Ramana explains at length to a person who kept talking about will-power and falsely equating that word to success in the worldly sense. Ramana says:
“Your idea of will-power is success insured. But will-power should be understood to be the strength of mind which makes it capable for meeting success or failure with equanimity. It is not synonymous with certain success.
Why should one’s attempts be always attended with success? Success develops arrogance and the man’s spiritual progress is thus arrested. Failure on the other hand is beneficial, inasmuch as it opens the eyes of the man to his limitations and prepares him to surrender himself.
Self-surrender is synonymous with eternal happiness. Therefore one should try to gain the equipoise of mind under all circumstances. That is will-power.
Again, success and failure are the results of prarabdha karma and not of will-power. A man may be doing only good and noble actions and yet prove a failure. Another may do otherwise and yet be uniformly successful. This does not mean that the will-power is present in the one and not in the other.”
The ancient text Padma Purana says that the fate of five things in one’s life is already decided at the time of one’s conception in the womb: “the aggregate wealth one will acquire; one’s occupation; one’s education; one’s lifespan; and when, where, and how one will die. Happenings associated with these five aspects are preordained and will come to pass no matter what, and they can be termed one’s Destiny. One’s character, moulded by one’s samskaras, will then make one act in such a manner that the events play out as destined.”
Wealth and occupation are basically what Ramana was earlier referring to in his quote where he says “success and failure are due to destiny and not due to willpower or the absence of it” because the attainment of wealth and occupation are the main parameters with which society measures success in the present age and what Ramana is saying is what the Padma Purana is also saying, albeit expressed in another language.
Speaking on the topic of destiny and surrender, Sage Anandamayi Ma clarifies how destiny shapes our reality. She writes:
“What is destined to happen will happen is a perfectly true saying. If you look back on your own life and on the lives of others, you will come to realize how little man himself can do to shape events and how most things depend on the inscrutable law of a hidden power. The universe runs its course in a perfect way according to the Will of the Supreme Father of all. Therefore your maxim of life should be to welcome whatever circumstances God provides for you. The firmer you become established in this spirit, the more complete will be your resignation in God’s Will , and by your devotion and faith in the Divine Power the scales will fall from your eyes.”
My own (unimportant) thoughts on this topic: What I infer from reflecting on these words is that external events in our life may be (or rather are) predestined, brought about by our own karmic actions of the past, but how we react to these events and situations mentally (psychologically) in the present, how we approach these events with our mind is entirely part of the mechanism of what we may refer to as Freewill or self-will (in this aspect alone we are perhaps free). If we develop fears, attachments, aversion, desires, craving, hatred, jealousy, etc (i.e. reactions) to whatever situations that Destiny has charted for us in this lifetime as part of our lessons then these reactions become a part of our inherent vasanas (mental imprints), which then form the basis of the layers of new Karma. I see karma as not just external actions but as internal reactions — every thought, intention, deed, word, inclination, desire, etc is adding into the stockpile of our Karma. A situation is only good or bad depending on how our mind perceives it, and so how our mind reacts to situations is our own doing and that is how we create the seeds of new karma, which then become the building-blocks for what we describe as our Destiny in another lifetime, which is then played out through another vessel (body). We take new bodies like new clothes in different lifetimes to experience these accumulated (and ever-accumulating) karmas, until we get tired and long to return to our original Source (the Supreme Consciousness or the True Self).
If a person is a total prisoner of Arishadvargas (the six internal enemies), then his life is completely governed by the forces of Destiny. As a person moves ahead on the road of Self-Realization, the grip of Destiny loosens a bit and he gets a little leverage to alter some aspects of his Fate. This is illustrated in our ancient texts with different stories (like that of Valmiki who turned from a Dacoit to a Sage, or that of Angulimala who turned from a Murderer to a Monk upon meeting Gautama Buddha). When a person realises his unity with the Real Self (Universal Consciousness), then he becomes an expression of that Power which writes the course of our Destiny — although at this stage the soul understands that there is no individual self (jeeva) to cling to as it is progressing now towards losing that false individuated identity and is moving towards achieving the union with the Supreme Consciousness (Shiva). This journey of life — from manifesting individuality to reaching the end of the journey where we experience the dissolution of this false ego-identity is explored in the symbolic language of Rasis (astro signs) — Aries to Pisces.
To further understand this journey of the soul, we should look at sage Anandamayi Ma’s words. She writes:
“When in spite of all efforts one fails to catch a train, does this not make it clear from where all one’s movements are being directed? Whatever is to happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time, is all fixed by Him; His arrangements are perfect.”
In another context, but on a related note, Anandamayi Ma writes:
“Always bear this in mind: Everything is in God’s hands, and you are His tool to be used by Him as He pleases. Try to grasp the significance of “All is His”, and you will immediately feel free from all burdens. What will be the result of your surrender to Him? None will seem alien, all will be your very own Self.”
Going further into this topic, sage Ramana Maharshi explains:
“Questions of fate and free will arise only to those who fail to look into the root of both. To know the cause is never to entertain thoughts of either fate or free will.
Everything in this universe is run by one Supreme Power, but if people will not keep to the destined path appointed for them, but stray beyond its limits, then God punishes them and through that they turn towards the Self.
But when the punishment finishes, they stop worshipping and sin again, thereby inviting an increased punishment. Agitation or anxiety is a sign of having strayed from destiny, whereas on the appointed path they will remain peaceful and content. They should abide in the Self and not seek to stray into desires and ambitions beyond what God gives, but be egoless.”
Exploring the meaning of freedom, Anandamayi Ma says:
“Are you [the] master even of a single breath? To whatever small degree He makes you feel that you have freedom of action, if you understand that this freedom has to be used to aspire after the realization of Him, it will be for your good.”
Shri Neem Karoli Baba (another revered saint) says: “You can plan for a Hundred years. But you don’t know what will happen the next moment.”
Shri Nisargadatta says: “Whether you plan or don’t, life goes on. But in life itself a little whorl arises in the mind, which indulges in fantasies and imagines itself dominating and controlling life. Life itself is desireless. But the false self wants to continue — pleasantly. Therefore it is always engaged in ensuring one’s continuity. Life is unafraid and free. As long as you have the idea of influencing events, liberation is not for you: The very notion of doership, of being a cause, is bondage.”
Nisargadatta adds: “Behave as best you know, do what you think you should. Don’t be afraid of mistakes; you can always correct them, only intentions matter. The shape things take is not within your power; the motives of your actions are.”
In ‘Upadesa Saram’, sage Ramana Maharshi is quoted as saying:
“It is by the will of God that actions happen and also the fruits thereof. The sense of doership is not superior. It is ineffective. Every action is impersonal.”
Vijayananda (one of the students of Anandamayi Ma) eloquently explains Karma. He is not a sage by any stretch of the word, but I liked his words and wanted to include them.
He writes: “Karma does not signify fatalism. On the contrary, the notion of Karma means that one is fully responsible for whatever befalls one. The supreme lesson is to accept what is, without reacting. But it is a very delicate lesson to teach: If one says this to the ordinary man, he will become lazy, and will only aggravate his state. By ‘action’; Hindus often mean action for a result either religious, social, or for the physical well-being. Action which is completely disinterested, unselfish, does not create Karma. Free-will exists in the ‘bhava’ or the mental attitude with which an act is accomplished. It is the ‘bhava’ which created future Karma — that is the karma which we are obliged to undergo; but if we can undergo this Karma with an indifferent mind [i.e. ego-less mind], we do not create new Karma.”
When an individual came to Anandamayi Ma and asked her about free-will and destiny, she gave a hint on how a person may alter their destiny:
Questioner: Man’s life is conditioned by his prarabhda karma. Where does free-will (puruskara) come in?
Anandamayi Ma: You must use your free will to find the Supreme. The practice (kriya) by which you advance towards Him (Purusottama) that exactly is called puruskara (free-will or the power to decide for oneself). By God’s grace even your destiny may be modified. If a devotee has firm faith that his prarabdha karma can be changed by God’s grace, then this may become possible. There certainly are laws in God’s creation, yet nothing is impossible for Him. If you think that God’s grace is also within destiny, this is so for you. If on the other hand you are convinced that God is more powerful than destiny, then He may do anything at all for you. He provides for the worldly as well as the spiritual needs of His devotees.
To bring about a concluding note, I am sharing the words of Sri Aurobindo (another Vedanta teacher I admire) and I feel his words succinctly sum up the complex topic of Free Will and Destiny. He writes:
“The only free will in the world is the one Divine Will of which Nature is the executrix; for she is the master and creator of all other wills. Human free will can be real in a sense, but, like all things that belong to the modes of Nature, it is only relatively real. The mind rides on a swirl of natural forces, balances on a poise between several possibilities, inclines to one side or another, settles and has the sense of choosing: but it does not see, it is not even dimly aware of the Force behind that has determined its choice. It cannot see it, because that Force is something total and to our eyes indeterminate. At most [the] mind can only distinguish with an approach to clarity and precision some out of the complex variety of particular determinations by which this Force works out her incalculable purposes. Partial itself, the mind rides on a part of the machine, unaware of nine-tenths of its motor agencies in Time and environment, unaware of its past preparation and future drift; but because it rides, it thinks that it is directing the machine.”
