Guru-disciple-enlightenment topic

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

On Thu, 31 Oct 1996, Cameron Reilly wrote:

[....]

> First, Ramana Maharshi:
>
>         I asked him "Are only the important events in a man's life, such as
 his
> main    occupation or profession predetermined, or are trifling acts also,
> such as         taking a cup of water or moving from one part of the room to
> another?"
>
>         Bhagavan replied "Everything is predetermined. So long as the concept
> of      individuality exists, the concept of free will exists also. In truth
> the ego         has no free will because there is no ego."

To begin with, quoting masters of the tradition is helpful, because of the
respect their opinions carry. Coming to conclusions by oneself is good,
but the process of enquiry can be helped along its way by the words of the
gurus. And a statement like, "put it in the fire if they tell you such and
such" only hurts people's sensibilities, which prevents understanding.
There is usually a time and place for everything, and this has to be
taken into account, if the teaching is to be effective.

I was mystified earlier on, when you said there is no such thing as free
will, and I was waiting for a further elaboration of the topic. Here it
comes.

Maharishi is quite clear that the concept of free will exists so long as
there is an individuality, and not otherwise. Herein lies the catch. The
problem with using this as a pedagogic tool is that if one says this to
someone who is not even prepared to let go of the notion of individuality,
the effect is one of blind fatalism. Such a person only carries back the
message that "everything is predetermined", and does not pay attention to
the rest of the statement, because he does not understand it.

I haven't read much of Maharishi's teachings, but there are other revered
teachers in the advaita tradition who touch upon the concept of free will
also. The traditional way of the guru has been to gauge the level of the
student and teach him according to his capability to understand. And here,
many gurus tell their students that there can be no karma or rebirth
without the notion of free will, and that by the fruitful exercise of the
same free will, they can find a way out of the cycle of karma. It would be
helpful to the list-members if you could also quote what Maharishi said
about karma, because the concept of free will is intimately tied to the
questions of karma, and the notion of human agency (kartr.tvam).


Regards,

S. Vidyasankar