A question about free will-According to the Hindus

Discussion in 'Eastern Philosophy' started by Neela-the-blue-eyed, Dec 30, 2006.

  1. Neela-the-blue-eyed Registered Member

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    I am not sure if this has already been discussd ad nauseam when I was not around. I have been told that Lord Krishna proclaims that "He is the reason for all reaosns" I cannot remember the exact sanskrit sholka, but he is supposed to be the supreme controller of all that happens on this earth as "not even a blade of grass moves without his sanction".

    If that is the case, then is there any free will at all? Should we regret anything that happens to us or for that matter even things that we do.....even if the things we do are wrong ?

    Thanks...
     
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  3. Prince_James Plutarch (Mickey's Dog) Registered Senior Member

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    I do believe Krishna claims that no action is evil, as the souls of those are unaffecetd. He tells Arjuna this to keep him from shirking his duty, if I recall properly.

    But anyway, I am not certain on the matter of free-will.
     
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  5. Turtle Guest

    I don't believe anyone on this planet have a free will. No coincidences.
     
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  7. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    could be this verse rega
    could be this verse regarding the cause of all causes

    could be this verse regarding exactly how the living entity is controlled by god

    however all of this can be taken on board with

    In other words the resources that enable us to draw a conclusion (intelligence, rememberence and forgetfulness) but not the conclusion itself (or to put in other words once more, the atmosphere we express our desire in is controlled by god, but the nature of the desire is not)

    And as a further addition the atmosphere which we have access to, to express our desire (eg - fame, intelligence, wealth, education and even species of life), is determined by our previous karma

    there is the example that a criminal may be put in maximum security jail (ie the atmosphere for the expression of his desire is greatly reduced) but he may not be repentant and still continue to harbour misanthropic sentiments for the entirety of his 30 year jail sentence

    such severe jail sentences tend to exhaust such reserves of enmity - inthe same way all living entities in material existence are gently prodded along in th eprogress of their spiritual life, sometimes is th ebody of a dog and sometimes in the body of a great philosopher or politician, by dint of experiencing the inherent limitations of the prison like conditions of material existence .

    Of course one can hold out with misanthropic ideas against the will of god for as long as they want, but given that the time factor is eternal, god tends to win out
     
  8. Ayodhya Registered Senior Member

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    Simply put, there are varying degrees of belief in classical Fate and free will among Hindus?

    If that's your stance, than I would agree with that.

    In the same regard, people harbor different sentiments as to how fatalistic karma is (as in, how much is drawn from past lives and who we can blame for certain things) even within the religion.
     
  9. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    Of course there are various degrees of understanding amongst hindus - this is hardly surprising since there are many different reasons (many of which bear no relationship to the knowledge base of hinduism - namely vedic scripture) why people identify as hindus

    http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=58826

    However even on the general front of hindus who seek their definitions of theology from scripture, the vast body of knowledge and resources that are available has the capacity to deliver a great variety of conclusions.

    But amongst all the puranas, upanisads, vedas, vedeanta sutras etc the Bhagavad-gita is the hindu 'bible"

    So any one who identifies themselves as hindu, should (ideally) be able to express and justify the essential point of their philosophical/theological outlook by quoting the BG
     
  10. Rajagopals Registered Senior Member

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    True ! As per Bhagavath Githa, freedom is given to every being to decided it’s actions (Karma) but results are decided by God. Every being has the freedom to choose or free will, including the will to regret or not regret as that also is considered as another Karma (action) which again has results.
     
  11. VitalOne Banned Banned

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    2,716
    We do have free will, as according to Krishna he himself is all-that-exists, the origin of all, and in reality we are not separate from him. Since we are not separate from him, we too have free will to some degree. By knowledge you gain the most freedom, by ignorance the least.
     
  12. imaplanck. Banned Banned

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    2,237
    Assuming that god doest indeed exist for a moment- Most physicists say that as long as dont exist you have free will(if something cant result before you have made the decision to act upon it). I personally think that given that the precise set of cicumstances will play out in the next instant, you could replay it and will make the exact same decision- you cant alter your experiences before that instant and you cant affect the chaos of that next instant, so do you really have free will? I think not.
     

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