Introduction
The subject of this document originated out of a discussion with my associate about the nature of human will and divine will. Due to the complex nature of the subject, we agreed to do our research independently, meditate on its implications and how best to use the research and our understanding to improve ourselves and others who express a similar wish.
For the purposes of this research, I began with formulating, what I believe, some key questions that will help me focus my enquiries. In researching this topic, I have focused on the following questions: Why did the Divine confer free-will to humans? In the course of time, why has the common man’s free-will become inconsistent with the divine will? How does man understand divine will, so his will is always in alignment with divine will? and lastly but not the least important - How to apply this understanding to your daily life and decision making process.
Accordingly, in this paper I have attempted to document my understanding of the answers to these questions, seek references from the sources I have access to and submit the paper for reviews and opinions to my peers and Guruji to ensure:
- that my line of enquiry is not entirely off-course, and
- to elicit further information that my reviewers may have that I have not considered or have considered inadequately.
In this paper the use of the word “man” and “him” is used for convenience only and is intended to be gender-neutral. The words “Divine”, “God” & “Self” re used interchangeably to emphasize spirituality as opposed to God as a persona.
Why did the Divine confer free-will to humans?
- Divine will is guided by wisdom as opposed to whim or temptation. God created man in His own image so that we may guide our will with wisdom, even as He does. (Footnote 1) .
- As God has free-will, taking away free-will will amount to mans’ permanent enslavement (as he is now following someone else’s will). So man may never achieve God-realization.
- God-realisation (Footnote 2) or self-realisation is understanding the ultimate unity between the divine and the soul. With this realisation, the distinction between man and God becomes obsolete – in a sense - man becomes God. Lack of free-will will make it impossible for man to achieve this ultimate objective – “to win or loose salvation” - Why?
- All will is able to evolve from “automatic physiological will” to “unthinking will” to “blind will” to “thinking will”. However, only Volition (Footnote 3) can convert “thinking will” into “dynamic will” necessary to achieve God-realisation. Just by its intensity alone, Volition, can be proved to be the product of free-will.
- Free-will (and hence the ability to take volative action) is the only aspect that distinguishes man from other living creatures. Other living creatures on earth function mainly through instinct and impulse (Footnote 4) - man is the only species able to delay gratification indefinitely in expectation of the ultimate reward – God-realisation.
- As tools for God-realisation, human beings are the only living creatures with highly evolved charkas, advanced cerebellum (ability to discriminate) and medulla oblongata (also known as “the mouth of God” to Yogis). Free-will is said to be the direct consequence of this (Footnote 5)
Why has the common man’s free-will become inconsistent with divine will?
- I believe, it wasn’t designed / intended to be so. In God-realised humans, I believe it is impossible for their will to be inconsistent with divine will. However, due to man’s “fall from grace” (Footnote 6) man started to mis-use his free-will. As a result man’s free-will has became inconsistent with divine will.
- With every privilege comes accountability and with every use (misuse or otherwise) of a privilege comes consequence (Footnote 7) . Free-will is a privilege of humans. We humans, however forgot that free-will “used ignorantly produces wrong or evil actions” (Footnote 8) which by definition is inconsistent with divine will.
How does man understand divine will so his will is always in alignment with divine will?
- “The only savior of man is a constantly progressive dynamic will. Human will, however powerful, is still limited by the circumference of the body and the boundaries of the physical universe. Divine will has no boundaries….When by deep meditation and by wisdom-guided, unflinching, never discouraged determination we can successfully keep our volition revolving around all our noble desires, then our will becomes divine will” (Footnote 9) .
- Achieve God-realization through which-ever means. God-realization can be achieved through Kriya Yoga and sometimes through intense religious ferver (Footnote 10) . However Kriya Yoga is the only “scientific” or “provable” method (Footnote 11) that a logical / rational man can use and achieve God-realisation.
- The practice of Kriya Yoga “quietens and re-directs” the mind so he is able to “see Him behind the sunlight” [Baba Sri Yukteshwar Giri, when explaining to Baba Yoganandaji why Baba Yogananda could not perceive Babaji when Babaji was visiting Sri Yukteshwar Giri]. Once man “sees” Him – ie he can consciously commune with his soul (which is always in constant communion with the Divine), man is able to eliminate “noise” and discern divine will. Baba Yogananda sometime referred to this “communion” as intuition (Footnote 12)
- Baba Yogananda also referred to the state of continuous and conscious communion with the soul as “Nirbhikalpa Samadhi”.
- However until man is able to “quieten” his thoughts and mind sufficiently, he must seek guidance and blessings from God-realised masters (Footnote 13) and seek the best way to serve humanity with love according to his own temperament and natural leanings.
- God has given man an exquisite instrument – the brain. Depending upon the state of man’s spiritual advancement and his humility - brain is both a curse and a gift. Brain is a gift when it is used to eternally search for “truth” for the sole purpose of realising Him and benefiting His creation through love. Brain is a curse when NOT used for the above purpose and consequently serve maya or duality. I personally consider the use of this gift for personal material benefit alone or NO use at all to be sinful – as both do not benefit and / or respect His creation.
How to apply this understanding to my daily life and day-to-day decisions – some suggestions.
- Begin by formulating my question or decision that you have to make.
- Examine your motivation for the decision to ensure that your motivation is NOT self-serving, NOT entirely for personal gain and IS capable of benefiting society at large or at least a section of it.
- In taking the decision, meditate deeply in an attempt to “contact Him” to validate the decision. Examine yourself for any “intuitive feelings” you may have about the decision. Positive, peaceful feelings tend to validate the decision and act as an assurance that you have not missed any important aspect of the decision. Being conscious of your motivation, it is not usually hard to see if a particular course of action will be “approved” by the divine will.
- Depending upon your state of advancement – ie most of us are in very much “work-in-progress” state, you cannot assume to know the divine will every time. There are times when you will receive no positive, peaceful feelings. In this case, as long as there is no “negative feedback”, set about making a decision and going for it (as I do not want to be mentally lazy blaming God for my inaction) (Footnote 14) .
- A lot of times, take the following approach – thinking from your head - what is logically the right decision; thinking from your heart – what decision you want it to be, and ; thinking from my gut / instinct – what decision feels right to me. If answers to ALL these questions point to the same decision – go with that. Usually, you’d be pointed in the same direction in all three cases. However if there is a conflict, the for business decisions – usually put more weight / emphasis on the “Head” and “Gut” and for personal decisions, “Heart” and “Gut”.
- Once the decision is made, make every attempt to complete a task at hand. Never leave a task unfinished and not rest until it is completed – always. Truly believe that as “He is the doer of all things” no knowledge or experience is ever wasted if you learn something from it.
- On completion, attempt to benefit at least 1 other person to start with. Pray that the divine will will attract other people needing your skills or experience to you for help and that you will earnestly attempt to help them to the best of your abilities accordance with His wishes.
Conclusion
This paper details my current understanding of this subject which by no means is comprehensive. I apologise for any errors of omission or commission.
Very recently, a peer has suggested that free-will does not really exist – your decisions are governed by past karma. Although I have not investigated this to any depth, my initial reaction is that free-will may probably be “influenced” by past karma but not “governed” – if it was, it might mean that we are pre-destined to do what we do and not consciously accountable for any decision we make. Clearly more thought on this is necessary.
As can been seen, this subject is very complex and must be interpreted in accordance with the readers own research, knowledge and experience. Should your understanding be different or contradictory to mine, I would love to hear from you and discuss / debate the issue for the sole purpose to imbibing the significance of free-will and divine will.
(Footnote 1) [ Self-Realisation Fellowship Lesson S1-P2, page 4].
(Footnote 2) [ Imbibing the significance of the belief that God exists and is omnipotent and omnipresent with every fibre of your being. As all active beliefs demand expression and ALWAYS keep working at all levels of consciousness (Mark Young – Trading in the Zone), this belief becomes so strong that for a man to act inconsistent with this belief becomes impossible.]
(Footnote 3) [ “Volition consists of a series of continuous, undiscourageable, unceasing determinations and acts revolving around a desire, until it becomes dynamic enough to achieve much-craved result” Self-Realisation Fellowship Lesson S1-P2, page2 ]
(Footnote 4) [ Baba Paramahansa Yogananda – “Mans’ Eternal Quest” ]
(Footnote 5) [ Baba Paramahansa Yogananda – “Mans’ Eternal Quest” ]
(Footnote 6) [ Forgeting his identity and relationship with God and considering himself as a entity separate from God ]
(Footnote 7) [ The Law of Karma – Bhagawat Gita]
(Footnote 8) [ Self-Realisation Fellowship Lesson S1-P2, page 5 ]
(Footnote 9) [ Self-Realisation Fellowship Lesson S1-P2, page 5]
(Footnote 10) [ Baba Paramhansa Yogananda – “Autobiography of a Yogi” ]
(Footnote 11) [ Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya ]
(Footnote 12) [ Baba Paramahansa Yogananda – “Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda” ]
(Footnote 13) [ Like Baba Paramahamsa Prajananda ]
(Footnote 14) [ Self-Realisation Fellowship Lessons S1-P2, page 5 ]
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