Is all of life completely pre-determined, and what role (if any) does an individual's free will have to play in sAdhanA and life? The law of karma, the concepts of prakRti and the three guNas, and some of the verses in the Bhagavad GIta can leave an aspirant confused regarding this important question. Some may adopt the viewpoint that everything is determined by karma and so effort towards sAdhanA is pointless. Indeed, it is not uncommon to come across someone from an earlier generation in India who believes that the position of planets at birth determines our entire destiny and to despair of what human effort can achieve. As a result, even many Hindus brought up in this milieu can be turned off from the philosophy of the VedAs because they may misinterpret it as too fatalistic. The viewpoint of the West is attractive because it is empowering to believe that one's effort counts for something.
In the dual-conditioned state there is some truth in both viewpoints, but neither is completely accurate. The non-dual insight will also be discussed. Let us first examine the question of free will or determinism by considering the role of the guNas and the law of karma.
Role of the guNas: All actions we take fall into one of the threefold guNa categories, and so they are either sAttvic, rAjasic or tAmasic. Insofar as PrakRti is composed of the three guNas, it then makes sense that PrakRti is the doer or actor. However, the true meaning of this point is only realized when in meditation the meaning of the following Yoga SUtra verse is directly experienced and becomes intuitively clear:
prakAsha kriyA sthiti shIlam bhUtendriyAtmakam bhoga-apavargArtham dRshyam (YS II.18)
Characterized by illumination (sattva), activity (rajas) and stasis (tamas), and constituting the very essence of the bhUtas (pRthvI, apah, agni, vAyu, AkAsha) and the indriyas (the senses that appercept the bhUtas), for the purpose of enjoyment (experience) and liberation is the Seen (consisting of the external world, body and mind).
Once this verse becomes clear in meditation, then can be grasped the import of the verse in the Bhagavad GIta that says:
prakRteh kriyamANAni guNaih karmANi sarvashah
ahamkAra vimUDhAtma kartAraham iti manyate (Gita III.27)
Actions are done in all cases by the guNas of PrakRti.
He whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks, 'I am the doer'.
But there is one subtle point here, which is associated with the very notion of "I". When we say 'I act' or 'I do', we have already made a crucial mis-identification according to Yoga and VedAnta, in that we have mis-identified ourselves with our mind and our body. But Yoga and VedAnta go to great lengths to point out that our true Self is of the nature of pure Consciousness and that is always only a Witness. Many statements in the Upanishads can be found that reiterate this point. Therein lies the answer to the myth of agency. So to answer the question "Do I have free will?", it all depends on what "I" one identifies one's notion of self with. The perspective of someone who is permanently in the non-dual state and become one with Brahman, such as Lord KRshna in the Bhagavad GItA, is as follows:
na kartRtvam na karmANi lokasya sRjati prabhuh
na karmaphalasangatvam svabhAvastu pravartate
The Lord neither creates agency nor actions of the world(s),
Nor does he create the conjunction of actions and their fruits, but svabhAva (born of prakRti) prevails.
Although this is true, and can be directly experienced in the advanced stages of sAdhanA when the buddhi has been made sAttvic, it is not an easy concept to assimilate and know intuitively in the early stages of practice. Therefore, in the rest of this article both viewpoints---the dual-conditioned viewpoint from that of the mere self that is identified with body and mind, and the non-dual perspective that is gained through samAdhi---will be presented.
In the dual-conditioned viewpoint, the self is still thought of as an actor because the faculty of buddhi in the antahkaraNa is not entirely purified to be pure sattva. Such buddhi is said to be composed of 'malina sattvam' in SrI Adi ShankarAcArya's tattva bodha and what this means is that the buddhi is still under the delusive (from tamas) and projective (from rajas) power of mAyA. Depending on the level of purification of buddhi, a person may ascribe different proportions of agency to their self. From this viewpoint the action-less Self is not yet known, and at best prakRTi is implicated as the cause of factors that lie outside one's control and influence one's life. These can be called Fate, Providence or ascribed to planetary arrangements. Since prakRti in Yoga and SAmkhya (or mAyA in vedAnta) is the cause of the macrocosmic world, the planets are also the product of prakRti. Now the planets definitely influence an individual's life because in deep meditation it becomes clear that the macrocosm (Universe) is reflected in the microcosm (human body). Through prANAyAma, especially after kuNdalini awakening, the sun and the moon inside the yogi's body can be united, and then great joy ensues. In time the inner guru (BRhaspati, or Jupiter) is also known through meditation at the guru chakra. As the yogi becomes more attuned to the rhythm of the physical and subtle bodies, it becomes clear that they respond strongly to the diurnal and lunar cycle. Even the science of chronobiology tells us that while the circadian rhythm is endogenous, it is influenced by external cues, the primary one being sunlight. Therefore, the notion that planets influence our life is not wrong, and yet this is not a reality that is directly experienced by many, although many believe in it out of tradition. But to despair of human effort in sAdhanA on this account is definitely misguided. This is actually succumbing to tAmas-ic delusion. Whether one wants to then believe and consult astrologers is another matter. True knowers of the system of astrology are very few, and many greedy charlatans exploit the gullible man's desire to know the future. Even if for the sake of argument one had access to perfect knowledge of events that might play out, that does not help in attaining liberation because now the aspirant will be worried or excited about the unfolding of negative or positive events that are predicted. Therefore, the true aspirant does not concern herself or himself unduly about what events may lie in store, but rather takes direct steps towards reaching the state where the Light of Self-knowledge has dawned. The sincere aspirant exercises discrimination and does not rely on astrology to know the Self, even if he knows that the fruits of previous karma will play out.
Role of karma: Even in the dual-conditioned viewpoint where the true action-less Self is not known, the law of karma and the useful misconception of individual free will that we think we exercise are not contrary to each other. It is true that our actions have consequences in the physical world as well as the subtle and causal worlds, but that does not contradict the choice we make at every instant in how we react to our circumstances and that choice informs the next action we take. This choice is based on our current state of Self-knowledge. Since sattva guNa is the reflection of the true Self in one's buddhi, when we make choices that are informed by sattva guNa, we end up performing actions that purify us and do not accumulate our karma stock (karmAshaya). Now since this choice depends on the state of Self-knowledge, one can see that it is jnAna or Self-knowledge that alone liberates. Although every human being will perform actions, those actions that are grounded in sattva guNa that is the reflection of Self-knowledge will not endlessly continue the cycle of karma. At every instant we have a choice to exercise our free will, but the Western notion that we completely determine our destiny is not true because we do not know our true Self. When the buddhi is completely purified, then its difference from Purusha (who is beyond the three guNas) is known.
sattva purusha anyatA khyati mAtrasya sarva-bhAva adhisThAtRtvam sarva-jnAtRtvam ca (YS III.50)
To one well established in the knowledge of the distinction between sAttvic buddhi and Purusha itself, there comes supremacy over all forms or states of existence, as well as over all forms of knowing.
In that state, the sAttvic buddhi being a reflection (pratibimba) of Purusha, all action is definitely seen as originating from prakRti alone, although this is still not complete liberation. A yogi who attains this omniscience, could in principle determine his or her destiny, but even for the yogi in this state, the Yoga SUtra cautions that such a route would not lead to Liberation or kaivalyam. For it says in the verse immediately following,
tad vairagya api dosha bIja kshaya kaivalyam (YS III.51)
With non-attachment or desirelessness even for that supremacy over forms and states of existence and the omniscience (in YS III.50), the seeds at the root of those bondages are destroyed, and absolute liberation (kaivalyam) is attained.
In that state of liberation the yogi would have no desire to act because of continuous and complete identification with the true Self that is pure Witnessing Consciousness.
Returning to the dual-conditioned viewpoint, it is best to form some provisional opinion regarding the balance of free will and determinism. As long as the aspirant is not deluded that he or she completely determines his or her destiny through the actions of the self, and commits to increasing sattva and thereby reducing future karma stock, then that is sufficient to advance along the path of sAdhanA. However, even if one provisionally accepts the coexistence of the law of karma and free will, one may still wonder whether all our life events are deterministic, or if there is some element of randomness in it. If we were omniscient by identifying with Brahman (Purusha), then indeed all events are deterministic. This is why it is said that some yogis can see the future and the past in the present. And yet, as just discussed, the Yoga SUtra in verse III.51 notes that this omniscience is itself an impediment to liberation. The same point is found in SrI Adi ShankarAcArya's writings where he notes that one should cultivate vairAgyam (non-attachment) to objects seen and heard from here (bhUlokam- physical world) to the powers of an all-powerful deity such as BrahmA.
However, incomplete knowledge results in ascribing the unknown dynamics of life to randomness. There is a close parallel with the scientific simulation methods of molecular dynamics and Brownian dynamics, and ascribing randomness to unknown dynamics through a mathematical technique called a projection operator. In the molecular dynamics approach one can simulate the motion of heavy solute molecules in a bath of solvent molecules, but these simulations are very computationally demanding. The Brownian dynamics approach consists of considering only the motion of the heavy solute molecules and ascribing the interaction of a heavy solute molecule with the neglected solvent molecules through a random term. There also a system with incomplete information models the unknown dynamics as a random process.
Returning to the matter of free will in the dual-conditioned world, it is acceptable to provisionally accept that at every instant we do have free will to exercise our Self-knowledge and thus choose how to act, even though our prArabdha karma (the karma stock that has set this life into motion) plays out and places us in situations beyond our control. Progressing along the path it will eventually be seen that all action is through the guNas, because action does not bind to the Eternal Self. Although action is effected through the guNas and our true Self is never the true Actor, through the mis-identification of avidyA (spiritual ignorance) we think we act. And we all do have to act. Desireless or selfless action puts us in the place of acting freely. Even from daily life we know that the most objective and mediatory role that we play in practical situations arises when we have no vested self interest. When free will is exercised to gain freedom from this ignorance, then free will is exercised to its maximum. Otherwise we play into the same habit patterns that lead to predictable outcomes. When this free will leads us to act from our sAttva guNa, then we take steps that lead us closer to true knowledge.
The Vedic philosophy is not fatalistic but it takes effort on the part of the aspirant to gain a deep understanding of these matters through meditation. Mere contemplation in the waking state will not lead to Gnosis of the points that are discussed here. However, if this contemplation in the waking state is accompanied by sincere meditation, then insights dawn from the infinite library of wisdom in the prajnA state.