Lessons - 2

[Swami Vishvarupananda]

Harih Om,

>I agree with Swami that in the realm of Brahman, nonduality, that none of
>these concepts or entities exists.  But the nonexistence of free will can
>be experienced on the vyavaharika level as well.  There are many bhaktas in
>every religion who see everything that happens as totally ordained by God.
>Even their thoughts.  Not to mention, there are the well-respected Western
>theories of determinism and compatibilism that, when  can give the
>experience of everything happening via some causal process, no freedom
>anywhere.

If there was no free will on the vyavaharika level then nobody could be made
responsible for what he is doing. Then a mass murderer cannot be blamed
or punished for his monstrosities. He is then just fulfilling his destiny,
or you could even call it his dharma.
Of course the judge who punishes the poor innocent mass murderer is again
only fulfilling his predestined dharma. What a wonderful chaos indeed. Do
you really believe in this?
Just tell me, if one believes in non-existence of free will, what is the use
of talk and practice of sadhana or any discipline? Where does practise of
dharma come into it? Why should the scriptures or teachers like Adishankara
take the pain to tell us anything on how to achieve Self-realization, when
we have no choice in practicing what they tell us?
Sure, we freedom only to choose our path, not the outcome of our actions. We
may want to help a person, but we are not able to do so. That is not in our
hands. Our free will is very limited, and every bhakta surrenders his will
before God, which is very necessary. I am not trying to emphasize the
importance of the ego or illusionary individuality. What I am trying to say
is the same thing all over again. If we say, we do not have free will, we
won't make an effort, and we will try to deny responsibility for our
actions. But the responsibility is very much there, and if we don't make an
effort there is no progress.

Om Om Om
Swami Vishvarupananda

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