The Eternal Paradox of free will and Predestination

'Free will is the greatest gift of God to man,' says Maharishi Mahesh

Yogi in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita (Bh.G. 1.39). 'Man has

freedom of action; thereby he can adopt any channel, good or bad,

through which he wants the course of his life to flow' (Bh.G.

2.27). We know that freedom is very fulfilling, we all want more and

more freedom. Freedom equates with happiness, independence and

sovereignty. And indeed, man seems to be more free than any other

life form.

Intuitively we may feel free - aren't we free to think, speak and act as

we like? However, certain kinds of behaviours are regarded as more

wise than other kinds of behaviours. Actions do call forth reactions.

Actions do have consequences. All of us are acquainted with the Law

of Nature that requires that the reaction is equal and opposite to the

action. Or, as the ancient saying goes:

'As you sow, so shall you reap.'

This is universal village knowledge, as Maharishi once put it. We can

do as we please, only we should be ready to bear the consequences of

our actions.

Is this the whole story of free will and predestination? Certainly not,

since we can ask ourselves the very important question: Why do I act

the way I act? Why do I speak the way I speak? Why do I think the

way I think? Why do I desire what I desire? One person goes for art,

another for science. Some go for philosophy, others for religion. The

one likes silence, the other is fond of action. We all have different

tastes and likings. We all have different natures.

Where do all these differences come from? The nature of one person

predisposes one for a certain profession, the nature of the other

predisposes this one for a completely different profession. All of us

act more or less on the basis of our free choice. But our free choice

definitely seems to be based on the structure of our personality, our

nature. Is it not our nature that inclines us to do certain things, and

avoid other things? There is an saying in Dutch: The character and

the fate of a person relate to each other like the key to the lock.

Obviously, free will is somehow based upon our nature.

Let us examine our own experience a bit closer. In the ordinary

waking state, we feel somehow that we are pretty free, but not

completely. On the other hand, we intuitively feel that something is

predetermined for us, in other words, we feel that, to some extent,

we are destined to have certain experiences in life, but we are not

able to determine exactly what. It is only natural, that sooner or later

we ask ourselves the question: How far does the freedom go? What

exactly is its nature? And similarly: how far does the predestination

go? What is its nature?

In the normal waking state, we shall not able to sort out the answers

to these metaphysical questions. Throughout the ages, philosophers

and wise men have tried to define the range of our freedom and the

nature of predestination. But because perception in the waking state

of consciousness is very much limited, hardly anyone has hit the

mark. Let us take up some of the generally expressed viewpoints in

this matter.

Dog on a Line

Some say our situation in life is like that of a dog, who is taken out by

its master, and is attached to a leash. The dog is allowed to frolic

around somewhat, ease its nature, and - if it is lucky in life - its

master is lenient enough to take notice of i ts wishes, and allows the

dog to lead him on somewhat. Especially recently, the freedom of

dogs is rather great, since the invention of leashes that can be

extended up to 10 meters or so. Like this, we human beings are free

to some extent, but simultaneously bound to some extent.

Fish in a river

Others compare our situation with a fish in the river. The river is

flowing downstream, and carries the fish automatically to a certain

destination.

'Certain things are meant to be, as rivers surely flow into the s ea.'

The fish can choose to swim left or right or in the middle, etc. Some

fish can even exert will to work themselves upstream.

Game of cards

Others are fond of saying that life can be likened to a game of cards.

Destiny allots a set of cards to each of us, containing some good,

some medium, and some bad cards. Then it is up to each of us to use

our Creative Intelligence to make something out of that hand of

cards. Either we focus ourselves on winning, and use all the alertness

that is in our command, or we do not exert ourselves very much and

leave many opportunities unused.

Dark labyrinth

Others say that our situation on earth is like that of many persons

trying to find their way in a dark labyrinth. The structure of the

labyrinth is so complex that hardly anyone finds the way out and is

finally liberated. The majority grope in darkness, not possessed of a

comprehensive map of the place, and are destined to die before

finding the way out.

Airport

Some say that the free will of today is the determinism of tomorrow.

This viewpoint is illustrated in the following analogy: At an airport,

we are faced with hundreds of options of where to go. But once we

have bought a ticket for Chicago, and entered the plane, we are

bound to end up in Chicago. We must be ready to accept the

consequences of this free choice.

Experiences in the waking state of consciousness

When we take a close look at these different analogies, however, we

will find that they do not provide the ultimate answer regarding the

nature of free will, nor do they define the ultimate nature of

predestination. It is clear that these analogies relate to the

experiences that we have in the waking state of consciousness, and it

is for this reason that they do not tell the whole story. They leave

many things unexplained.

For instance, regarding the analogy of the dog, we can ask, why did

the master at a certain point in time buy such a modern extending

line by which the freedom of the dog was increased?

Regarding the fish analogy, we can ask ourselves why it is that one

fish is so headstrong that he swims upstream while another takes it

easy and lets himself be carried on by the river. Regarding the game

of cards, we can ask the relevant question: 'What d id I do to deserve

such a lucky set of cards? If you say it is coincidence, then what

happened to that universal village knowledge: 'as you sow so shall

you reap'? Is it suddenly not applicable anymore? Regarding the

labyrinth we could ask: 'Why is the world experienced as a

labyrinth?' or 'How did we end up in this labyrinth anyway?'

Regarding the airport analogy the valid question would be: 'Why did

I prefer Chicago to San Francisco?'

Every philosophy is simply the expression of a certain level of

experiences in life. The Science of Creative Intelligence explains that

knowledge is structured in consciousness, and that knowledge is

different in different states of consciousness. The reason for the

existence of so many different philosophies is the fact that we each

experience life from our own individual viewpoint.

The waking state of consciousness covers an infinite range of

experiences, but they all have one thing in common: They do not

touch the ultimate truth of life. The waking state of consciousness is

like a house with a few windows here and there. Dwelling in the

house, we are not able to see the entire range of our environment.

When something passes in front of our window, we can see it clearly,

but we are not aware of where it came from, nor are we able to

determine where it goes to. This tempts us to believe that we are

living in a world full of coincidences. Moreover, this restricted

perception of the waking state poses an open invitation for us to

indulge in speculation.

Cosmic consciousness, mentioned earlier, is like a house made of

glass. We are able to see 360° of our environment. To the

farthest horizon, we can see certain events coming up and taking

shape, before they pass by and merge once again with the horizon.

Cosmic consciousness is characterised by 360° openness of

awareness. This makes for good scientists, and for good artists as

well. From this platform of unbounded awareness , now we are able

to distinguish both subtle causes as well as the subtle mechanics that

structure our life.

Furthermore, in this state of cosmic consciousness, we gain clear

insight into the nature of ourselves - we are possessed of self-

knowledge. We bring true fulfilment to the ancient Greek teaching:

ΓΝΩθΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ - 'Gnothi Seauton' - 'Know Thyself',

the central advice of both Socrates and Plato. We experience the

absolute, unbounded and eternal nature of our Self; we have

discovered our true identity.

From this unbounded and, therefore, unbiased viewpoint, we are

capable now to appreciate that all actions of persons, including

ourselves, are based upon their own very nature.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna:

'Sadrisham cheshtate svasyah

prakriter gyanavanapi prakritim yanti bhutani'

'Creatures follow their own nature. Even the enlightened man

acts according to his own nature' (Bh.G. 3.33).

This expression is based upon a deep appreciation of the unique

nature of every single individual. It is clear that the free will that we

as individuals exercise is determined by our very nature.

Herein lies an answer to the question why certain fishes swim

upstream, while others are happy to be carried on by the river. It

suggests that the more self-knowledge we develop, the more insight

we gain into our deepest motivations, and desires. But this is not yet

the ultimate resolution of the paradox of free will and

predetermination. For instance, what about the influence that

creatures exert on other creatures, and what of environmental

influences?

In order to provide answers to these deepest questions that life

poses to us, the wise, throughout the ages have advised us to

meditate - to transcend our thoughts and feelings, our memories,

desires, worries and plans - in order to obtain a complete, and all

comprehensive insight into the mechanics of life, the mechanics of

creation. In the second chapter of the Bhagavad

Gita LordKrishna advises Arjuna to transcend all phases of relative

experience, and just be:

'Nistraigunyo bhavarjuna

nirdvandvo nityasattvastho

niryogakshema atmavan'

'Be without the three Gunas, O Arjuna,

freed from duality, ever firm in purity of awareness,

possessed of the Self.' (Bh.G. 2.45)

Be without the three Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, the three

qualities of nature that are responsible for conducting all processes

of change, all transformations, and all processes of evolution in the

universe. Transcend them, Arjuna. Just be yourself, be established in

your simplest form of awareness, get out of the field of change, and

experience pure being, the source of all change.

That is to say, establish your awareness in the state of unity, beyond

diversity, beyond thoughts and feelings. In that state, the mind is

freed from boundaries. When the mind has transcended itself, and

has identified itself with pure, unbounded consciousness, it is

absolutely free. Thus we see that pure consciousness, transcendental

consciousness, is the state of real freedom. To put it even more

clearly: freedom is a quality of pure consciousness. The more our

consciousness is pure, the more we experience freedom in daily life.

Absolute freedom

The freedom that we experience in the waking state is just the

reflection of the absolute freedom which is inherent the nature of

pure consciousness. Thus it is a universal experience that we only

experience real freedom when our mind has identified itself with

pure awareness, pure consciousness, pure being. We are not the

mind, we are not the body, we have a mind and we have a body. Mind

and body are the instruments through with we are able to express

our Self.

Having established ourselves in the state of being, the singularity of

pure consciousness - we feel subjectively free. This freedom is of an

absolute nature, because now we have identified ourselves with the

Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature, the intrinsic quality of which

is absolute freedom. This experience - which is now easily available

through the technique of Transcendental Meditation - is traditionally

described as 'liberation', or 'moksha', in the language of Vedic

Science.

Having established our awareness in a state of absolute freedom,

does this mean that our thinking, speech, and behaviour becomes

lawless, or anarchistic? Rather the opposite is true. Once we have

established ourselves on the level of transcendental conscio usness,

all stresses in our nervous system which impeded and disturbed the

natural and efficient functioning of our mind-body system are

dissolved. In Transcendental Meditation, this occurs simultaneously

with the expansion of consciousness. The growth of purity in our

mind-body system automatically leads to more balanced functioning

of both the physiology and the psychology, which makes behaviour

more natural and more balanced. In other words, we begin to act

more and more in accord with all the Laws of Nature.

The Uninvolved Witness

Thus, we make the paradoxical discovery that the more we

experience real freedom the more we become open to the fact that all

our thoughts, speech and actions are conducted by the eternally fixed

Laws of Nature. What is crucial in the context of the mechanics of

creation - the mechanics of our consciousness - is that, when we have

taken our stand in our real Self, in the purity of our consciousness,

we start to be a witness, an uninvolved witness to all the activity that

goes on in our mind, body, environment and the universe at large.

This witnessing aspect of our consciousness is called 'saakshi' in

Vedic Science. This witnessing quality of consciousness is inherent in

the very nature of consciousness. In a sense, all that cons ciousness

ever does is witness. When our awareness becomes grounded in Self -

awareness, we simply become more and more aware of this

witnessing role that our consciousness has always been playing. We

no longer identify ourselves exclusively with our mind-body system.

In cosmic consciousness, we experience our real Self as pure

awareness, and we are aware that the mind-body system is simply a

part of the whole of nature which performs its actions spontaneously

and automatically.

Cosmic Consciousness

Cosmic consciousness is the concrete experience when pure

consciousness, gained first in meditation, has become an established

feature of our being - pure consciousness, as the witness, is

spontaneously and naturally maintained during all activities of the

waking, dreaming and sleeping states of consciousness. In this state

of all comprehensive awareness, or cosmic consciousness, we find

the resolution of the eternal paradox of free will and predestination:

Subjectively we are absolutely free, but objectively speaking, all our

activities are carried out by all the Laws of Nature. From this cosmic

perspective, we are able to see the truth about both the subjective

and the objective sides of our existence. Subjectively, we know we

are part of the eternal and absolute silent value of consciousness;

and objectively, we know that we are part of the eternally dynamic

value of existence.

In cosmic consciousness, we directly experience that our subjectivity

belongs to absolute silence, and that our objectivity belongs to the

eternal dynamism of the 'automatic production line' of creation.

When we no longer identify ourselves with the mind or the body, we

know we are just the silent witness of all that is, was, and will be. Or,

as the Bhagavad Gita puts it,

'Naiva kincit karomiti yukto manyeta tattvavit'

'He whose awareness is united and knows the truth,

he will maintain "I do not act at all".' (Bh.G. 5.8)

Not that the mind-body system stops being active after having gained

a higher state of consciousness - we simply become aware of the fact

that we are not acting, and that in the past we have never been

acting, and that in the future our true Self will never be acting!

What is it then that makes our mind, body, intellect, and senses act?

It is nature, nothing but nature, as Lord Krishna says to Arjuna:

'Prakrityai va cha karmani kriyamanani sarvashah,

yah pashyati tathatmanam akartaram sa pashyati'

'He verily sees, who sees that all actions are done by nature alone,

and that the Self is actionless.' (Bh.G. 13.29).

The Yoga Vasishtha confirms this experience, which is the

characteristic of cosmic consciousness:

'When thus one realises the supreme, which is the only essence of

truth beyond this ocean of Samsara, one realises "I am not the doer,

but cosmic Creative Intelligence alone is the doer, not even in the

past did I do anything".' (Y.V. 6.1. 32)

The more our awareness is anchored in eternal silence and absolute

freedom, the more we become aware that it is the cosmic Creative

Intelligence that conducts all activities of mind, body, behaviour, and

environment. These mechanics of creation are also revealed by a

verse of Rik Veda

'Yatinam brahma bhavati sarathih'

'For him, whose awareness is withdrawn from the field of change,

whose awareness is established in its own unbounded nature, the

cosmic Creative Intelligence become the charioteer of all actions.'

(Rik Veda 1.158.6)

The more that we are consciously identified with our essential

nature as pure consciousness, the more we become aware of the

perfect and orderly development that characterises the 'automatic

production line' of the universe.

Absolute Freedom and Absolute Predestination

The more self-referral we are, the more we realise the mechanics of

nature's functioning. In this experience of higher states of

consciousness, we resolve the paradox of free will and

predetermination. In one and the same process of establish ing our

awareness in transcendental consciousness, we have discovered the

truth about freedom, and we have discovered the truth about

predestination! From the perspective of cosmic consciousness, we

are able to see that these two fields of life exist side by side. Both are

100% in their own right. In cosmic consciousness, we experience

absolute, eternal freedom as the essential quality of our own

consciousness, and on that basis, from that transcendental viewpoint,

we see the truth about activity - namely that it is conducted by the

Laws of Nature, by almighty Nature itself, which moves according to

a cosmic plan, outlined in the 'instruction manual of creation', the

Veda.

However new and perhaps unbelievable this may sound to people in

the world, it is exactly the experience in cosmic consciousness. Not

that the freedom becomes 100% available in cosmic consciousness,

we only become aware of the freedom that has always been there.

Likewise, not that predestination becomes 100% operable in cosmic

consciousness, we only become aware of the predestination that was

eternally there. Vedic Science is not a religion. Nobody is asked to

believe anything of this description of life. Vedic Science can verify

that it is so! And this is exactly the job that Jyotish performs for us.

In Chapter Three, we mentioned the Vimshottari Dasha system,

which allots different Grahas to different periods of our life. With the

help of this timetable, we have an overview over the entire

'production process' of our life. When we combine this system with

the study of the actual position of the Grahas at any given time (the

so-called Gochar or transit system), we are in a position to gauge the

actual mechanics of our life on a day to day basis!

Having performed this experiment hundreds of times, we have

become absolutely convinced that everything develops according to

the cosmic plan. All processes of thinking, speaking and acting are

the expression of the cosmic mechanics of creation. Having observed

this to be true, over and over again, we develop an intuition, a feeling

for the perfect and orderly set up of creation - even when our

subjective experience is still limited to the waking state of

consciousness.

In this way, the study of Jyotish is helpful in expanding our

consciousness into cosmic dimensions. In the event that we are

meditating, the study of Jyotish becomes supportive to the

development of our consciousness that results from regular

experience of the absolute level of awareness in meditation.

Maharishi emphasises that knowledge and experience always go

hand in hand. Combining the intellectual study of Jyotish with the

experiential development brought about by the regular practice of

TM, we soon begin to experience glimpses of the cosmic reality, and,

in due time, this most natural, blissful, and most exalted state of

consciousness becomes a permanent feature of our daily life.

Mere coincidence?

Having secured our subjective existence in absolute bliss

consciousness, we begin to recognise that everything big or small,

important or non-important is organised by the Creative Intelligence

of nature. We start to cognize that all actions and all events are

products of the Laws of Nature. In the normal waking state, we were

not able to figure out reasons for many events in our lives, and,

indeed for many events that were happening in the world at large.

But now, when the comprehension of the mind has reached a cosmic

perspective, everything begins to make sense to us.

Wise men throughout the ages have had insight in the perfect, just

and mathematically precise functioning of Nature. In his Essay on

Man, dated 1774, Alexander Pope in England wrote:

'All nature is but art, unknown to thee;

all chance, direction which thou canst not see;

all discord, harmony, not understood;

all partial evil, universal good;

all chaos, reason which thou canst not see;

One truth we know there is - whatever is, is right'.

These poetical expressions do not come from what we can call the

'normal' waking state. These enlightening words come from an

experience of a higher state of consciousness, where an intimate

unity is experienced with Nature. This experience enabled him to see

that 'all is well and wisely put' as another great poet once said. The

Laws of Nature operate with absolute precision. There is no 'mere

coincidence' in creation. Every single event, big or small, important

or unimportant, good or bad, perfect or imperfect, future or past, is

part of an all-embracing, cosmic evolutionary process, in which

consciousness is manifesting itself.

God is Not Playing Dice

Is 'normal' waking state, we may not comprehend the truth, but that

does not mean that it isn't there. Experiencing the enriched,

enlightened state of consciousness, wise men have always tried to

awaken us to this cosmic truth. For instance, there is a popular song

in India, that says:

'Dane dane pe lika hai, khane wale ka naam.'

'On every grain (of rice), the name of the eater is written.'

Here we are also reminded of the great Albert Einstein, who is known

to have said:

'God does not play dice.'

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Einstein of consciousness, once said:

'Everything is fixed, all the transformations are fixed ...

The exact moment of gaining enlightenment is forever fixed.'

Fatalism?

Must these expressions of wise and enlightened men lead the

mentality of the world to a kind of fatalism? No, not at all. This would

be a wrong conclusion, drawn from perfect knowledge. Admittedly,

these wrong conclusions do exist, and they form part of the wide -

spread misunderstanding in which the world is today engulfed. But

of course, these misunderstandings also form part of the cosmic plan.

They must serve some purpose. But the fact that all processes are

fixed, does not mean that we are forced to accept the situation as it

is, without trying to do something about it. The tendency to help

fellowmen who are in distress is just natural.

To give food to the hungry is just human. To give shelter and

affection to the needy is just an expression of human nature. To help

others to enlightenment, and to experience freedom and success in

life, is only natural. To strive for happiness, health, wealth and

enlightenment is just natural, embedded in the structure of life itself.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Brahman, the wholeness of consciousness, the wholeness of all that

exists - contains all: knowledge and ignorance, light and darkness,

birth and death, freedom and predestination, creation and

destruction, good and evil, positive and negative, yin and yang, past

and future, perfection and imperfection. To say that everything is

ordained and organised by nature should not bewilder the wise. To

say that everything is fixed does not mean that we cannot improve

anything. To say that everything is fixed does note mean that we are

not absolutely free! Our freedom is absolutely fixed. We are all

destined to be free. We have the total freedom to create our destiny.

Freedom and predestination are two sides of the same coin, the coin

of life. Maharishi once said: 'Life is a composite of a 100% freedom

within a 100% determinism.

Master of Our Own Creation

Miraculously, all of us are essentially and totally one with cosmic

intelligence, which makes each one of us our own predestinator,

whether we are aware of this fact or not. Man is born to be the

master of his destiny - we have heard this saying many times. It

means that all of us are bound to realise that we are essentially one

with the cosmic Creative Intelligence. The more our life evolves in

the direction of this realisation, the more intelligent and creative our

thinking, speaking and acting will be.

Once we start to experience that we are the masters of our own

creation, we automatically start to behave in a more and more

evolutionary way. We no longer obstruct - as it were - the cosmic

force of evolution working in each and every one of us. In this way

we start to make use of our full mental potential.

The only reason that we are not making full use of our Creative

Intelligence is because of certain stresses that are inhibiting the

normal and natural flow of energy and intelligence in our mind -body

system. Stress gives rise to frustration, and even to destructive

behaviour. Crime is the natural expression of stress. It is stress that

restricts our awareness and makes us feel bound, makes us feel

forced to a certain type of negative behaviour. When the stresses are

gone, we feel free and unrestricted, and automatically we start to

think, speak and act more in accord with the evolutionary Laws of

Nature; we feel more supported by the almighty forces of evolution.

This results in more positivity, and in health, wealth and wisdom in

life.

It is in this light that Maharishi once said:

'Human life is all divine.'

We are all the creators of our destiny - whether we know it or not!

Our mind, the human mind is so infinitely powerful that it creates

whatever it contemplates - whether we know what is going on in our

mind or not! When the nervous system is free from stress, we have a

clear mind, and we naturally create a life that is pleasant for all of us.

When stress no longer obstructs our mind-body system - as is the

case in cosmic consciousness - we are more and more aware of our

infinite free choice in life. Naturally, we choose for progress and

happiness. In the state of enlightenment, we naturally desire 'all

good to everyone, and non-good to no-one'.

Becoming enlightened just means that we claim our birthright, and

that we start to make use of our inborn potential, which, according to

Vedic Science, is unlimited in its scope and power.

When we become dedicated to the idea of creating a heaven on earth,

it is bound to happen. And in fact, the study of Jyotish is an excellent

aid to that: we study the wonderful orderliness and harmony of the

celestial mechanics, and apply this knowledge here on earth. This is

the whole purpose of Jyotish and, in fact, the whole purpose of each

and every branch of Vedic Science. Each of those branches of 'Brahma

vidya' - knowledge of the totality - gives a complete insight, each

from its own vantage point, into the mechanics of creation. Each

branch of Vedic Science offers the potential to raise life to its full

dignity - enlightenment to the individual and a disease-free,

problem-free society for every nation.

As It Should Be

The whole truth about life - the whole truth about freedom and

predestination - is summarised in a little interaction of Maharishi. A

few years ago Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was interviewed by a French

journalist, who asked: 'Maharishi, how does the world look like in the

highest state of consciousness?' Then Maharishi said: 'Then you see

that everything is exactly as it should be'. The man, not realising the

depth of this expression, asked: 'But why then, are you working so

hard to improve the situation?' Whereupon Maharishi smilingly

answered: 'Because that is exactly as it should be'.

In this little anecdote, the whole wisdom of the Vedas and the Vedic

literature is contained. Thus, it forms a beautiful conclusion to this

essay on the mechanics of creation, seen in the light of Maharishi's

Vedic Science.