For millennia, a deep philosophical discussion and debate over the subject “Free Will vs Determinism” has continued to grow.
The Vedic worldview neutralises “versus”, by demonstrating that it is a false notion that there are as many as two things in the universe.
Most arguments of “ Determinism vs Free Will” revel in the assumption that there exist two or more entities with separate capabilities:
- Conscious individual wills that think freely and commit actions freely, as opposed to – or in combination with –
- Other, more influential, unconscious forces or conscious entity or entities which determine, control, or affect the experiences of the conscious individual wills.
In point of actual scientific fact, especially in the realm of determinism psychology, it is axiomatic that everything that exists is simply an aspect of solely one, indivisible, whole, conscious thing.
Everything, therefore, is oneself, including all the laws of nature. Free will and determinism are two behaviours within the same one, indivisible, whole, conscious thing.
The Veda’s insistence (and the recently-echoed insistence of quantum physics) that the laws of nature are not separate to the self, neutralises all questions of “other influences” that cause or affect thinking, desires, and action.
Do humans have free will? From this perspective, yes. Sources, causes, and all experiences and interactions exist solely within the self.
All forms and phenomena witnessed by the self emerge from within the self, having been stimulated by the self to become manifest.
The notion that, “Laws of nature cause thinking phenomena to occur in the brain, so one is not responsible for manifesting every thought”, is an argument which assumes that the laws of nature are “other” than oneself. But there is no evidence for that notion.
The free will of the one, indivisible, whole conscious self determines the experience of the one, indivisible, whole conscious self. There is only unity, since the self is the source and very being of the laws of nature, and cannot become separate to them. This ties into the debate on determinism and free will. It shows that the self’s free will is inherent and not controlled by external deterministic laws.
In the highest state of consciousness – unity consciousness – this oneness is not only self-evident, it is the only evident, tangible-to-the-senses reality. Regular daily practise of Vedic Meditation brings about unity consciousness systematically.
In states of consciousness still growing to become full unity consciousness (for example, 10% unity, 50% unity, 95% unity, etc.), the appearance of “other” (that is, something – or anything – ‘other’ than the self) becomes less and less convincing and then dissolves, proportionate to the remaining percentage of unity one has yet to realise.
A life of unity is a life with no fear, no anger, no confusion. Everything is an extension of the self; there is no such thing as “other”.
Love and Jai Guru Deva, Thom
