Fate vs free will - is an eternal conflict that affects people in general, especially spiritual students. Most people do accept the play of both — fate and free will in one's life. There is also a tendency to take an absolute stance with people saying that everything is preordained or everything is fate and the grand design of the Lord. So, there is nothing like free will. On the other extreme we have people emphasising that life is all free will. There is nothing like fate.
Looking at it dispassionately with the help of the scriptures, one cannot rule out the role of fate or karma in our lives. This is the only theory that can explain away many of our experiences that seem unfair. All fate or destiny is the result of our own past actions. At the same time, one cannot refute the idea of free will. In many situations, we can make conscious choices exercising our freedom of choice. Unless there is reason and freedom of choice, one cannot be karmically held responsible for our consequences. The problem is when we become absolutist about it. We have free will which is limited by the situations, our creativity, our background/samskaaras that we come with.
What we call destiny is nothing but a cumulative bunch of choices made. Therefore, one needs to harmonise our understanding of both, without forgetting that we are not an island. We are living in an interconnected world. Karma is a matrix. What I do affects others and becomes their fate, what others do affects me and becomes my fate. The more I understand the matrix, the better is my understanding of free will and karma. How to know what to focus on? What is in my hands? My choices. Therefore, when living our life, we focus on what we can do in line with our priorities. When things don't go our way in spite of everything, we accept it as karma that comes from Bhagavan. We respond to new situations with the God given freedom that we have all been given.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
