Determinism and Free-will
Divine Life
Society Publication: Studies in Comparative Philosophy by Swami Krishnananda
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| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will |
In the philosophy of the
Vedanta we have a blending together and a reconciliation of determinism and
free-will. According to it, the universe as the manifestation of Ishvara is
eternally determined by the Will of Ishvara. The past, present and future are
all eternally fixed by His Cosmic Will. No individual, by any stretch of
effort, can bring about the least change in this eternally determined universe
of Ishvara's Will. But there is free-will. Free-will is the
consciousness of independent individual agency which is given rise to by the
Will of Ishvara when it manifests itself and works through the egoism of the
individual. As long as this appearance of free-will is the sole director of the
life of the individual, so long will the latter be responsible for its actions.
The moment universal knowledge dawns in the individual, it rises above its
notion of independent free-will and gets identified with the Will of Ishvara.
In this universal identification consists the real freedom of the individual.
The greater the approximation of the knowledge of the individual to the
universal knowledge of the fact of the absolute supremacy of the Will of
Ishvara, the greater is the freedom that the individual enjoys.
Nature is no respecter of
persons or things; it is strictly impartial, and its love consists in law. God
is both a kind mother and a stern father. This higher determinism is to be seen
brilliantly expounded in the Vedanta. With such knowledge one becomes fit for
the contemplation of the essence of things. This divine contemplation requires
as its pre-condition a knowledge of the greatness of God and the perfection of
His Nature, which is manifest as the laws of the universe.
Determinism, however, is not a
license for idleness or fatalistic surrender; on the other hand, it is the
understanding of the great law that God alone is real and that He alone is
capable of doing anything at all. Determinism is the higher phase of things,
while an amount of free-will which makes itself apparent in man's life, though
it may ultimately be discovered to be a chimera, rules the ways of man, and is
indispensable for a well-governed and sensible life. Here we have to bring
about a reconciliation between determinism and free-will. Studies in
Comparative Philosophy – Benedict Spinoza
Our steps in evolution are not
completely free movements. We seem to have freedom because we work with our
personal egos. If Reality is the Absolute, freedom can be only in a gradual
approximation to it of the consciousness with which we work. Free-will is not
opposed to determinism; it is the eternal universal law operating through a
conscious individual ego that is called free-will. We are determined as
individuals working independently with our personalities, but free as
participators in the scheme of a cosmic consciousness. Our freedom is in
proportion to our nearness to the Absolute. We are not really free until our
consciousness is installed in the Absolute. Studies in
Comparative Philosophy – Henri Bergson
Excerpts from:
Studies in
Comparative Philosophy – Benedict Spinoza by Swami Krishnananda
Studies in
Comparative Philosophy – Henri Bergson by Swami Krishnananda
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