Free will.9/-

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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA

APPAN THIRUVADIGALE SARANAM

 

Free will (9)

 

Dear Bhagavathas, accept my pranam. This is in continuation of earlier posting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incidentally let me quote some excerpts from the book ”Origin of Universe”

by the eminent British scientist of the current century Stephen Hawking.

 

Chapter Twelve: IS EVERYTHING DETERMINED? *

 

*( a lecture given at the Sugma club seminar at the university of Cambridge

April 1990.

 

“In the play Julius Caesar, Cassius tells Brutus, “Men at some times are masters

of their fate. But, are we really masters of our fate? Or is everything we do

determined and preordained? The argument for preordination used to be that God

was omnipotent and outside time, so God would know what was going to happen. But

how then could we have any free will? And if we don’t have free will, how can we

be responsible for our actions? It can hardly be one’s fault if one has been

preordained to rob a bank. So why should one be punished for it?

In recent times, the argument for determinism has been based on science. It

seems that there are well- defined laws that govern the universe and everything

in it develops in time. Although we have not yet found the exact form of all

these laws, we already know enough to determine what happens in all but the most

extreme situations. Whether we will find the remaining laws in the fairly near

future is matter of opinion. I am an optimist. I think there is a fifty-fifty

chance that we will find them in the next twenty years. But, even if we don’t,

it won’t really make any difference to the argument. The important point is that

there should exit a set of laws that completely determines the evolution of the

universe from its initial state. These laws may have been ordained by God; but

it seems that He (or She) does not intervene in the universe to break the laws.”

…………………….

“These problems of determinism have been discussed over the centuries. The

discussion was somewhat academic, however, as we are far from a complete

knowledge of the laws of science, and we didn’t know how the initial state of

the universe was determined. The problems are more urgent now because there is a

possibility that we may find a complete unified theory in a little twenty years.

And we realize that the initial state may itself have been determined by the

laws of science. What follows is my personal attempt to come to terms with these

problems. I don’t claim any great originality or depth, but it is the best I can

do at the moment.”

……………

“ I now turn to the third problem, the question of free will and responsibility

of our actions. We feel subjectively that we have the ability to choose who we

are and what we do. But this may just be an illusion. Some people think they are

Jesus Christ or Napoleon, but they can’t all be right What we need is an

objective test that we can apply from the outside to distinguish whether an

organism has free will. For example, suppose we are visited by a “little green

person” from another star. How could we decide whether it had free will or was

just a robot, programmed to respond to if it were like us. The ultimate

objective test of free will would seem to be Can we predict the behavior of

organism?

If one can, then clearly does not have free will, but predetermined. On the

other hand , if one cannot predict the behavior, one could take that as an

operational condition that organism has free will.”

……

………

 

“The concept of free will belongs to a different arena from that of fundamental

laws of science. If one tries to deduce human behavior from the laws of science,

one gets caught in the logical paradox of self –referencing systems. If what one

does could predict from the fundamental laws, then the fact of making the

prediction could change what happens. It is like the problems one would get into

if time travel were possible, which I don’t think it ever will be.”

…….

…”To recapitulate: I have discussed some of the problems that arise if one

believes that everything in the universe is determined. It does not make much

difference whether this determinism is due to an omnipotent God or to the laws

of science. Indeed, one could always say that the laws of science are the

expression of the will of God.”

……….

“ The third question was: If everything is determined, what becomes of free

will and responsibility to our actions? But the only objective test of whether

an organism has free will is whether its behavior can be predicted. “

 

“ In summary, the title of this essay was a question: Is every thing determined?

The answer is yes, it is But, it might as well not be because we can never know

what is determined.”

 

NOTE; The above excerpts are presented to show the mind of the eminent

scientist. According to him, the universe functions by predetermined laws.

Regarding free will,

it is not possible to predict the human behavior due to the enormous number of

particles to be considered for approximation. So it is up to the human being to

act according to his(her) circumstances and knowledge and enjoy the result.

The scientists are engaged in investigating material aspect (Achethana) of the

universe.

But, our elders considered this aspect as inferior. They concentrated on Athma

swaroopam and Paramathmaswaroopam and the relation between them. So, should we

worry about free will?

 

 

Instead is it not worth to be the followers of Emperumanar’s dharsanam?

Whether you are after material benefits or for Moksha, it depends on your

choice.

In both the cases Emperuman will help you, if you are honest and sincere.

 

The’ free’ will and effort to obtain results for material benefits are

understandable.

That too has got limitations.

 

The question of superiority arises when more than one is involved in any action.

One in the topmost of the power will be all-powerful and his power and

responsibilities will be delegated to his subordinates. The next one to him

however capable he may be, he is subordinate to the topmost one. He may try to

impress the top most by his merits. But, it is up to the highest to get

convinced. When such is the case for material benefits, it is needless to say

that our actions need not bind Emperuman to grant Moksha. He is all in all and

can do as he pleases and no body can question him. That does not mean Emperuman

can be cruel. He has all ‘kalyana gunas and power to do anything. He loves

those who love him sincerely. He is the embodiment of compassion and will take

care of them.

 

Followers of Emperumanar dharsanam will understand that their swaroopam is

‘parathantharyam’ and ‘bhogyathai’to Emperuman. They need not worry about ‘free

will’. They can rest assured that everything is ‘Emperuman’s will”.

 

 

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan, T.Parthasarathy.