Saturday, June 25, 2022

Do we have free will?

Do we have free will? Religions try to answer this question.

If the omniscient divine has already known & planned everything, we are just executing it, thinking we are doing it. So, there is no real free will. Everything is just divine will.

If we do have free will, then we can make changes. Maybe the divine doesn't have a plan after all.

Some religions think that free will is a test from G-d. If we use our free will to surrender to the one true G-d, G-d will be happy & give us a chance at heaven. If not, he will roast us forever in an everlasting fiery hell.

Swami Vivekanda explained the Hindu concept as limited free will. Everyone is a Pashu (cattle) who is bound by a rope. We can wander as far and wide as the rope allows us, but not beyond. Shaiva Siddhantha expounds on this Pashu (cattle or us), Pathi (master) & Pasham (the thing that ties).

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