There is no Free Will

​

 

 

​

​

 

 

Bhagavad Gita 3.27 

 

“All activities are carried out by the three modes of material nature. But in ignorance, the soul, deluded by false identification with the body, thinks of itself as the doer.”

 

In this article, I will address the topic of free will in great detail with support from many scriptural verses, commentary from qualified sages of the past, practical examples and experiments, insights from quantum mechanics and from my own experiences in unbroken samadhi which have led me to uncover this truth.

 

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to change anyones view on this controversial topic. It is only intended for those who truly want to grasp the essence of non-attachment and the highest practice of karma yoga which can only be done when the mind is purified enough to completely renounce doership. This culminates in the realization that there was never any doer, even while operating in the vyavarhika plane (relative reality). Renouncing doership is the only way for liberation to occur and is why I have decided to publish this article, knowing very well it may not benefit all as it is not easy for most to come to terms with the reality of having no control or of there being a controller over everything we do.  This article is not meant to promote nihilism or to encourage fatalism in any way shape or form. That would be an incomplete and premature way of viewing reality.

​

What is Free Will?

 

Free will is the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate.  It is simply the ability to act at your own discretion where destiny in this case is completely in your hands and your actions have not been decided in advance by God or by any unseen force or power. It is the ability to make choices independent of any outside influences.

 

The sastra is quite clear: Free will is not real. We simply do not possess the knowledge or the ability to think or act independently.

 

Let’s first consider a practical test:

 

Try moving any finger you'd like. 

 

What made you move that particular finger? 

 

Here are the order of events:

 

1) Brain sends signal to spinal cord

2) Spinal cord sends signal to nerve

3) Nerve sends signal to muscle

4) Muscle allows finger to move 

 

However, what happened before your brain sent the signal? Answer: brain neurons communicated via both electrical and chemical signals which transmitted the information. However, what happened before that? Well, in order for the neurons to fire off, there had to have been the *will* or the desire to move the finger. So then what came before that will or desire? Answer: a thought. Nothing can happen without a thought. If there is no thought, then what is a desire? A desire or *will* does not exist without a thought of them existing. So if all actions are ultimately driven by thoughts, and free will means being in control over actions, then that would imply one would need to be in total control over their thoughts to have full control over their actions. So then ask yourself this question: are you in control over your thoughts? If you say yes, then try predicting right now what you will think in exactly 5 minutes. Furthermore, go without having a thought for an entire minute or try controlling every thought while you dream. It's quite obvious —if you have zero control over your thoughts, and thoughts control actions, then how is it that you have free will or the ability to think or act independently on your own? The question now becomes: where exactly do thoughts come from? Well according to Vedanta, thoughts arise from the causal body. The causal body holds undifferentiated data and expresses a portion of this data through the subtle body which then causes the physical body to act. The causal body however is nothingness.  It is imaginary.  It is an un-manifested state of potentiality.  So if thoughts don't come from you but rather come to you, how is it that you have free will? 

 

Consider why you’re even thinking about this topic of free will right now. Did you choose to think about free will or was it because of someone else? Were you in control over this or did it just happen to you? You can tell yourself, “Well I’m the one who decided to google it online.” But what made you go online? Trace that back to another prior cause. If you keep going through endless causes, you’ll realize that you were never in control over any of them. The body itself was given to you along with your parents you were assigned to. You are simply a product of genetics, conditioning, the environment and the deep rooted impressions that lay dormant in the subconscious mind that carries you from body to body throughout the cycle of reincarnation. All from a mind that you never created.  Was any of this under your control? 

 

Consider the trillions of cells inside your body. Are you in control over what each and every cell is doing? Every cell is performing their own unique function in order to keep your entire system in balance and in complete harmony, yet you are not even aware of what each cell is doing. You are not even willing your heart to make a beat! 

 

Free will is not only incompatible with biology but it is incompatible with quantum mechanics.  The determinisitc laws of nature apply to you and your brain since you are fundamentally made up of subatomic particles.  In quantum mechanics, events are fundamentally random and these events are not determined by you or this idea of who "you" think you are (i.e. the body/mind).  They are not influenced by anything. In free will, there should be the will to choose what you want.  But that want is either determined, in this case, not free, or it’s not determined, in which case, not a will.  Some have tried to define free will as the ability to have done otherwise, but that’s just empty words.  If you did one thing, there's no evidence you could have done something else, because, well…you didn't! There is only the fantasy or illusion of having done otherwise. 

 

When decisions are made, prior to decision making, the brain is doing a calculation.  While it’s doing that, you don’t know what the outcome of the calculation will be. If you did, you wouldn't have to do the calculation in the first place! Therefore, the impression of free will simply comes from our self-awareness that we think about what to do COMBINED with our inability to predict the result of what we're thinking before it is automatically done on its own. In other words, the illusion lies in the middle between the cause and effect.

 

[Hold on, it gets DEEPER] Yoga Vasistha goes even further to call into question the nature of cause and effects. An example famously given is that of a crow descending on a coconut tree and a coconut falling from the tree at the exact same time. The two events, the text says, are unrelated. The happening is coincidental. This breaks the backbone of the mechanism of causation. Yet, in our minds, we’re in the habit of linking events in a cause-effect timeline that then enables us to create a story or narrative. When this story-making begins to be taken personally, the play begins to feel real and you begin to feel as if you are the doer of both the cause and effect. All actions though are actually happening without any desire, motive or intention behind them. Instead, it is happening as a natural expression. It is ignorance or delusion that makes us believe that desire and motive are essential for actions and that we are the ones causing them to happen. The analogy of the sun being reflected in water is also given where neither the sun nor the water have any intention of being reflected or reflecting respectively. In Yoga Vasistha all of creation is thus described as a motiveless pastime.

 

This provides more legitamacy to the principle of determinism, where all actions are simply determined by an unbreakable chain of cause and effects. According to Ramana, he believed in determinism as well. He says: “…everything is predetermined.” “…The whole programme is chalked out. Not an atom moves except by god's will.”

 

Some people find it hard to believe that there is no free will.  For others, it may be difficult to take in as it seems that when people stop believing they are free agents, they stop seeing themselves as blameworthy for their actions. Consequently, they act less responsibly and give in to their baser instincts. Funny enough, this line of thinking is not in your control either and you are still giving in to delusion. This type of delusion however is worse and no different than the ignorance of animals who run on pure instinct alone. Humans have been endowed with an intellect for decision making capabilities. Though decision making is ultimately not ours, it is still a function that needs to be utilized for us to act in a virtuous manner and to progress on our spiritual journey towards liberation. Even though moksha is everyone’s destiny, it will not come by rejecting responsibilities nor by sitting alone inactively like a three year old child in time-out. Therefore, it is urged that one should not subscribe to a fatalist view.

 

Per Yoga Vasistha 3.62.24/27:

 

"A person who relies on predestination, sitting idly and quietly under the belief that he is being fed by his fixed lot, is said to depend on his destiny alone (a fatalist)." “…he is also a slave to destiny and no better than a beast.”

 

This means one should not throw in the towel on acting in life.  It is important to understand the context of these teachings and to not take them on literally or as dogmas or philosophies to follow such as nihilism. Actions should continue the way they should be done in a prescribed and moral manner as they do in fact matter.  It is only the identification with these actions that should be changed if one seeks freedom. This eternal freedom can only come to those who are qualified and whose actions are aligned with the divine laws. 

 

Yoga Vasistha 3.62.28:

 

“The man of a noble mind and one employed in acts of goodness, breaks off from the errors of the world as a lion from its cage.”

 

Only when one becomes selfless in all of their actions can they truly have the power to be unattached completely and realize directly that there never was any will. A selfish person however is still strongly identified with their ego and still perceives a high degree of separation which you can clearly tell by the way they perform actions and react in situations. So it would make zero difference for such a person to understand this truth at this point in their life. However, the more your actions are aligned with selflessness and unconditional love, the stronger the indicator of one being ready and prepared to renounce the world and embodying the truth of having no will (the end of Karma Yoga). Therefore, this person should be calm of mind, equable, non-attached, devoid of egoism, beyond the pairs of opposites, and free from the craving after worldly possessions. A pure mind is the cause of liberation, but an impure mind is the cause of bondage. Revealing the truth behind free will to those who are still firmly grounded in body-mind identification and thus egoic is useless and may cause more harm than good. [This is why there needs to be a complete and thorough understanding of this topic with many caveats behind this message.]

 

These truths were traditionally imparted under the close guidance of a guru who could also provide context for students. This is why some of the most pinnacle of all spiritual texts such as the Ashtavakra Gita were forbidden to read as they were only meant for those on the very brink of liberation who can handle and accept such mind shattering truths. These were students who were already living with extreme levels of non-attachment. Though many still read these texts when they have yet to master their emotions and senses and still have karmic contracts to burn in their current life. Purification of the mind is therefore needed before one can jump into such teachings to swallow this truth.

 

There are also teachers who know the truth of free will but will advocate that you must use it to get where you need to be. This doesn’t necessarily mean your will is free, it simply means actions must be performed in order for one to achieve results. Rejecting actions and succumbing to fatalism will only cause inertia, lethargy and bondage.  It also annihilates faith and destroys ethics. Compassion is your moral compass to God. Going the opposite direction will only destroy your well-being. Why? Because those who forcefully dismiss their actions as if they do not matter are still egoic and attached to the body-mind while they reject them (whether they believe it or not). This means they will ultimately suffer by facing the consequences from denying their responsibilities. 

 

Even though the concept of “well-being” is not real, that truth is irrelevant and useless for the jiva who believes it to be real since they strongly identify with the body-mind. This also applies to those who believe it is not real but are powerless victims because they too are attached to the false mind. Therefore, an intellectual understanding of this truth does not mean you are free from suffering. This is why fatalism and nihilism are incomplete ways of viewing reality. A person is better off believing in free will and doing good than not believing in free will and doing bad. The former will eventually lead one to a more mature understanding of doership, rather than believing in a truth prematurely with an incorrect understanding that may give rise to further delusion. 

 

[Keep all of this in mind as you progress further with this post since the truth of free will is mostly useful for those who are already deeply unattached to their moral actions. In other words, we should still act as if we have free will before we gradually come to the pure understanding that we never had free will]. 

 

This begs the question, if we know that there is no free will, can we somehow act against it or deliberately intervene it by neutralizing it someway so we can momentarily have free will? The short and direct answer is no. That in itself is also not free.  Thinking or acting in any way is still not in our control. This is expressed by Brahma in Srimad Bhagavata Purana, V.1.12-15. 

 

“No embodied being can counteract his will by austerity, meditation, yogic power, intellectual skill, or worldly power. Neither with the help of others nor by oneself alone can one do so."

 

So don’t think for a second that you can somehow momentarily feel as if you have the will to avoid all of this by dodging your actions either, because even that is not free. All actions are being done according to one’s innate habits.  No one can restrain their actions by forcefully withholding them.

 

Bhagavad Gita 3.33:

 

"Even wise people act according to their natures, for all living beings are propelled by their natural tendencies. What will one gain by repression?"

 

Irrespective of looking at reality from a fatalist or nihilistic lense, that will still not stop one from engaging in action. That person will continue to breathe, continue to sleep, continue to eat and continue to weap.  Similarly, even if achieving liberation is not in one’s control, one should still act towards that goal as it cannot happen without action. 

 

Yoga Vasishta 3.62.26:

 

“It is quite certain that whatever is destined must surely come to pass of its own accord, and that it is impossible to prevent it by the foresight of gods and men. Yet the intelligent ought not cease to exert their activity and only rely on their fates. They must know that it is our effort that brings destiny into action.”

 

This means effort is needed even if one holds agency or not.  Actions will be carried out regardless by the three gunas. So rather than resisting the natural law, it is recommended that one flows with it. 

 

So how does the law of karma play into all of this? Does having no free will contradict the law of karma?

 

There is no contradiction.  The law of karma still holds. The law of Karma is the unfoldment of cause and effects. It is an autonomous process. Whatever karma (action) is done, only you will be its enjoyer because you are claiming ownership of the body-mind that enjoys the result. God only works though us and is non-separate. This means everything you think and perform is governed by God only. If you do feel as if you are the one making choices, you are simply under a spell and so you will reap its fruits as per the law of karma since you believe you are the one who is committing the actions and thus receiving the results. Note: You are also under a spell even when you understand that free will is not real at an intellectual level.

 

It is like watching a movie and seeing a character in the movie cry from going through a break-up. You can either watch the movie as a witness and be free from the drama, or you can be a part of it by being identified as the character. The movie script is the law of karma and is already complete. You cannot watch a movie or be a part of it unless the script is already done (all timelines of reality already exist at once by virtue of there being no such thing as time and causation).  By identifying as the character, you become subjected to karma by being intimately involved with the character’s role and the plot of the script. However, if you realize it’s only God working through you as an instrument by being detached from the character, you will be free from the script of karma because you are no longer the character playing the role and never did anything in the first place. The law of Karma therefore has significance only if one considers themselves as the doer since they are attached/identified with the character that is bounded by the autonomous laws of karma that unfolds on its own.

 

Bhagavad Gita 5.15: 

 

“The omnipresent neither accepts anybody's sin nor even virtue. Knowledge remains covered by ignorance. Thus the creatures become deluded.”

 

When those are more established in the ego (deluded), it will seem as if God is accepting their virtue or sin as they believe they are separate from God and are the committer of such actions and thus being rewarded or punished by God. But by being less established in the ego and more established in the self (samadhi), you will realize that God isn’t accepting anything, he is actually carrying out everything since there is only non-separation. Lord Krishna says what ever that is happening with us is the result of our past actions. Krishna is referring to sanchita karma or the unmanifested karma that reside in the concentrated potentiality of the causal body.  A portion of this karma will fructify into destiny karma (prarabdha).  Our present actions is under the influence of sanchita karma and the vasanas or unmanifested thoughts (note: this already contradicts free will). Some say the actions you make in the present is under your control and therefore you can change your destiny, but this is false. The present actions are only influenced by our past karmas and the lord certainly knows our agami karma being generated in the present. In addition, if your destiny is changed, it wouldn't have been your destiny in the first place! All actions are influenced by the deep rooted impressions (samskaras) which there was never a beginning to since ignorance is beginning-less (anadi).  Thus, if there was never a beginning to past actions, and these past actions are what influences us in the present, then our innate qualities were never ours to begin with.  

 

Krishna also elaborates that you should never think that you are the one who causes the effects.

 

Bhagavad Gita 2.47:

 

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities."

 

This means every result is not caused by you. If you are not the cause of them, then the results are not yours.  Since cause and effects are interlinked, the entire chain of cause and effects does not belong to you at all. This essentially means all actions that you are performing in the present that result in the outcomes for the future, i.e. agami karma, are not in your control. The law of karma still operates at the vyavarhika level and is a natural expression just like a dream. Jivas will continue to get the good or bad results from this self-governing process so long as they believe they are the agents of such actions. Though you falsely believe yourself to be the committer of good or bad deeds, those good or bad deeds were never made by you. 

 

Per Kausitaki Upanishad 3.8:

 

“The Lord makes whomsoever he wishes to lead up from these worlds do good deeds and makes him whom he wishes to lead down from these worlds do bad deeds.”

 

So neither good nor bad actions are made by you since the past is what decides for you. The past and the future are not yours since time is beginingless. If it was yours, you would have had a say from the very beginning. But since there is no beginning, how are you in control over how things are playing out in the present?

 

Nisargadatta also agrees. He says: "In Hinduism, the very idea of free will is non-existent, so there is no word for it. Will is commitment, fixation, bondage. You must be free first. To be free in the world you must be free of the world." "Otherwise your past decides for you and your future."

 

Therefore one should not think that they are the ones in control of the actions being made in the present moment. This is also reiterated in Yoga Vasistha 7.1.9:

 

"It requires no design or desire on the part of an actor to act his part, whereto he is led by the tenor of his prior propensities (of past lives); as a potter’s wheel is propelled by the pristine momentum, without requiring the application of continued force for its whirling motion. So O sinless Rama! mind our actions to be under the direction of our previous impressions, and not under the exertion of our present efforts.”

 

Again, this doesn’t mean one should not act in the present moment. It means being unattached to the body-mind that performs actions in the present. This verse is only directed to those whose minds are prepared to practice non-attachment. Yoga Vasistha is a dialogue between a Sage and God incarnate Sri Rama. This is not just some dialogue being spoken to a mere mortal who is still controlled by selfish desires. These teachings are meant for highly qualified beings who are on the final stretch of putting a complete end to doership.

 

Nevertheless, the truth of free will is simply not real. Even the actions made in the present moment are not free. It is mithya. Mithya means borrowed existence. This means everything that makes up “you” as an entity (jiva) is borrowed and only appears to be real under your functional ownership from the given frame of reference in which you operate. This does not mean it is real from your vantage point. It only appears to be real from your vantage point. The reason it appears this way is due to ignorance or the delusion of believing it is real. But just because something appears to be real doesn't mean it IS.  

 

This concept of mithya can be totally grasped with the use of kundalini energy. When I used to bring the awakened pool of potential energy up towards the higher chakras (concentrated in both ajna and sahasrara), it would come in contact with highly intelligent fields that pervaded and governed the functions of lower realities or the lower chakras (since each chakra corresponds to a different loka/realm). These intelligent fields contain within it encoded information in which we borrow from as they serve as the blueprint for lower levels of creation (just like the sun allows human beings to thrive). This blueprint allows jivas to leverage a harder illusion of ego, free will and separation in lower realms strictly for their own enjoyment. The higher fields however, are truly selfless in nature and have virtually zero ego as they are self-governing. Similar to a tree providing shade for others without knowing it is doing so or expecting anything in return. It is a pure unconditional service. Since everything is really one, it cannot be designed any other way. Everything is borrowed from something else and it all leads back to pure awareness which lends everything its existence. The jiva however is the only entity in all of creation that can leverage the illusion of doership for their own false enjoyment. 

 

There is a common misconception of people believing in free will because they think that just because *will* is possible for the jiva at the vyavarhika level (relative) and not the paramarthika (absolute), it is therefore real in the relative plane. Unfortunately, this doesn’t imply free will is real. It simply means the illusion of free will exists at the vyavarhika level along with other illusions such as space, time and separation. This means it only feels as if you have free will, but that doesn’t mean it’s true even while operating as the body-mind. In other words, you are not moving the body at the vyavaharika level. The body is being moved by God.

 

Proponents of free will strongly support their point of view because of 3 main reasons:

 

1. They operate and identify with their false identity so they want to secure it by every means necessary (this only proves ignorance due to attachment which is the primary function of the ego). Note: There is nothing wrong with this. The ego is a tool for enjoyment. We will all continue to use it until divine will says otherwise. 

2. They haven’t experienced deep qualified samadhi enough to know that there was never any free will for the jiva. This acknowledgement can only be known directly by those who have been in samadhi stable enough to understand the mechanics of how the law of nature operates. This is why many sages have said there is no free will because they have been in samadhi long enough to know. One should therefore remain open to this truth until they can verify this themselves directly or they will continue to be led by false identification.

3. They continue to be led by teachers/swamis who preach otherwise since these teachers themselves have not experienced stable samadhi to know this truth clearly.  If they did, their teachings would be different and aligned with the words from qualified sages of the past. But instead, the teachings become aligned to what they “believe” in from their own limited egoic perspective. This leads to commentaries deviating from the hard truth especially around scriptural verses that hold much room for misinterpretation.  Not all swamis are realized. But many still serve as great teachers and leaders for the general public who resonate with their teachings (since it aligns to their spiritual maturity). It is important to note that all teachings serve a unique purpose for their own dedicated audience that fits their level of spiritual maturity. This plays a part in maintaining harmony for all of creation even if it’s not the absolute truth. After all, none of it is under our control! In addition, this doesn’t mean that those who do not believe in free will are closer to liberation than those who do. Again, there are many people who believe in this truth prematurely. This is a truth that should be embodied with non-attachment from body-mind and not just a truth that should only be understood with the body-mind (though this knowledge itself can be a great purifier if one chooses to use it correctly as a sadhana). 

 

Doubts of free will also come to those who do not understand karma yoga correctly. Karma yoga is expressed differently according to how purified one’s mind is. It is not just about performing good and righteous actions. This is only a beginners way of performing karma yoga. This beginners level is necessary for purification before one can be promoted to an advanced level where all actions are finally given back up to God. What does this mean? It means you no longer claim ownership of actions because you no longer identify with the body-mind that performs them. Instead, you give that ownership back to God who was governing them the entire time. This can only happen when there is complete renunciation in doership by going into samadhi continuously and being established in it (something that cannot be done easily unless the mind is purified enough to hold that higher steam of knowledge without being broken). Moksha cannot be redeemed otherwise. The ultimate goal of karma yoga is to remove identification with the false identity so you no longer delude yourself into thinking that it is you who are performing actions. Because this you (who you think you are), isn’t even real. If it’s not real, how can you assume that you are in control over anything? This is similar to a dream character who believes they are in full control over everything they do inside the dream. 

 

Renouncing doership is what true non-attachment means. This isn’t about being unattached to objects while operating in the vyavarhika plane. This is about being unattached from the body-mind that operates in the vyavarhika plane. See the crucial difference? This is the pinnacle of karma yoga and also the pinnacle of all yogas as they all converge into one at the very end. This can only happen once you identify as witness principle. It is at this very moment one realizes that he was never the doer. Only Iswara’s three gunas were controlling the doing. 

 

Bhagavad Gita 14.19:

 

“When wise persons see that in all work there is no agent of action other than the three gunas, and they know Me to be transcendental to these guṇas, they attain My divine nature.”

 

Karma yoga is therefore that yoga in which the person does not arrogate to himself the function of being the actor. The actions go on automatically. When you perceive the world from this perspective, you will realize that there is no individual will. What you considered individual will is only a reflection of Isvara’s will. This goes back to the concept of mithya which says that everything is borrowed. In this case, you have borrowed God’s will and made it your own. 

 

As RamaKrishna once said: “People who have realized God are aware that free will is a mere appearance. In reality man is the machine and God is the Operator, man is the carriage and God its Driver."

 

My Experience

 

I have been in unbroken wakeful samadhi to know this truth clearly. It would be a disservice to not share this truth with others, even though at times I have felt it was unnecessary to do so, especially since many are not willing to accept it at this point in their journey nor are many prepared to use this truth correctly. However, after careful deliberation, I have decided to share this post since we must plant the seeds for now and for the future and be more aligned with what the great sages have all said in the past. 

 

The bottom line is, when one is in deep wakeful samadhi and is firmly identified as witness principle to observe the actions of the body move on its own accord without any volitional effort done on its part, can one truly acknowledge the jiva never had any will on its own. It was only through delusion that the jiva felt all actions were being done under their full control. This is simply because witness principle (Turiya) was immersed with the identification of the jiva. When one is totally localized in this false identification, it will feel as if they are doing everything because of the illusion of awareness being inside the body. But if this witness principle becomes isolated and you hold this primordial identity in an unbroken self-experience, you will no longer feel as if you are inside the body, but rather as a separate and distinct personality.  Your identity will transition from body-mind to Turiya while being non-separate from the movement of the appearance since everything is now happening within your screen of awareness. In other words, things now happen inside of you, not outside of you. You stand aloof as an observer of all material activities. 

 

The understanding of free will might not come for those who have experienced samadhi once or twice or even the momentum build-up before yogic nirvikalpa samadhi, but only for those who been established in unbroken samadhi to understand this higher knowledge with complete clarity. This clarity is necessary before one can attain moksha since moksha can only happen when one renounces complete doership of their false identity (while being completely awake) until it’s fully locked in. If doership isn’t renounced completely, you will be sucked right back in the body-mind and hence glued to samsara.  Higher knowledge derived from samadhi will remove you from it. 

 

So ask yourself, who is it that’s moving the body right now?

 

It is none other than Iswara who is the ultimate controller and the all-knowing omniscient God whose divine will carries out all activities. If everything exists already in the divine foreknowledge of an omniscient god, then it cannot be changed by man’s free will. If not, then God does not know what is going to happen next and is therefore not omniscient.

 

This is highlighted in Bhagavad Gita 11.33 & 11.34. 

 

Krishna new the outcome of the Kurukshetra war before a single arrow was fired…

 

“Therefore, arise and attain honor! Conquer your foes and enjoy prosperous rulership. These warriors stand already slain by Me, and you will only be an instrument of My work, O expert archer. Dronacharya, Bheeshma, Jayadratha, Karn, and other brave warriors have already been killed by me. Therefore, slay them without being disturbed.“

 

Krishna is saying that the warriors are already destined to die by Arjuna in battle. Arjuna is a mere instrument performing the actions he is destined to perform. Krishna is telling Arjuna to do so without a sense of ego/superiority, but rather out of a sense of performing his duty with non-attachment as a karma yogi. If he does his duty with non-attachment, all actions become inactions. This is how one goes to Krishna (i.e. attains moksha). This only happens when one removes identification with the body-mind and remains established as the witness principle (free from all miseries). 

 

If Arjuna forces himself not to fight, it will not work as it goes against his destiny to fight. He will be obliged to fight either way due to his past impressions. 

 

This is clarified in Bhagavad Gita 18.59 and 18.60:

 

“If, motivated by pride, you think, “I shall not fight,” your decision will be in vain. Your own nature will compel you to fight. O Arjun, that action which out of delusion you do not wish to do, you will be driven to do it by your own inclination, born of your own material nature."

 

As you can see, our innate qualities have always been governed and controlled by Iswara (God), not you. It is Iswara and his three gunas that runs the show since Iswara and his three gunas make up the entire show including this idea of “you”.  Even though Iswara is the one who is doing everything, this doesn’t mean Iswara is some entity who is carrying out activities out of desire or playing favoritism. That would be similar to you as the human body telling your white blood cell to do “this” instead of “that”. The cells in your body run on its own as it is already programmed and orchestrated to run a certain way. Similarly and metaphorically, we are all the cells of Iswara’s body. Iswara is simply an autonomous, impersonal and self-governing process. Upon further inquiry and clarity, it is known that Iswara isn’t doing anything because Iswara isn’t even real! Furthermore, Maya isn’t real because it’s fully negated in nirvikalpa samadhi. There is only Brahman.

 

As you move up the hierarchal lokas of duality towards nirguna brahman, things become less egoic, less dualistic with more nothingness and inactivity (motiveless). If you move down the hierarchy, things become more egoic, more dualistic with more everythingness and activity. The more you go down, the more the illusion of duality pervades with entities leveraging the knowledge from higher above. It is all an illusion, nonetheless.

 

Though free will is not real, this doesn’t mean one should dismiss their actions as if they do not matter. Because in truth, there isn’t really a “you” either. So who is it that is dismissing actions? Not only are actions borrowed, but your identity as a jiva itself is borrowed. So this “you” isn’t even “yours”.  Vedanta says: you are not the body-mind,  you are pure awareness. This doesn’t mean that you are first the body-mind and then you become pure awareness with moksha. It means you never were the body-mind, you were always pure awareness. This is the truth as it stands right now. You just don’t see it that way due to your true nature being seemingly entangled with the false body-mind. This is what we refer to as delusion. Iswara works through us to remove this entanglement so we can rest as our supreme self void of any false notions and the appearance of duality.

 

So why do you believe you own this false identity and are the one controlling it? Does pure awareness control anything? Or is it an unattached witness principle? If this is the real you right now as we speak, then who does this powerless and inert body-mind belong to? If it is inert, how can it belong to anyone? Ask yourself these questions every minute of the day until it finally clicks. I’m going to repeat it once more: YOU ARE NOT THE BODY-MIND, YOU ARE PURE AWARENESS. This is one of those statements that should be taken literally. If one truly understands the knowledge of Vedanta and its technical concepts, it is quite clear that free will is not real. However, going into the teachings with a strong sense of separation will impact the way one interprets the texts. The ego will have no choice but to project its false notions as its only job is to protect itself at all costs. This is why the mind needs to realize oneness or become purified enough to fully grasp the true depth behind the non-dual wisdom of Vedanta. 

 

Only when you are ready under God's own grace, will all the truths of God’s ontological presence and control in your lives gradually be revealed to you. At which point, you will understand with total clarity that you never needed freedom for free will, you only needed freedom from free will. 

 

Yoga Vasistha

 

“You are not the doer of any action here, O Rama, so why do you assume doership? When one alone exists, who does what and how? Do not become inactive, either, for what is gained by doing nothing? What has to be done has to be done. Therefore rest in the self. Even while doing all the actions natural to you, if you are unattached to those actions you are truly the non-doer; if you are doing nothing and are attached to that, you become the doer! When all this world is like the juggler’s trick, what is to be given up and what is to be sought?”