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00:00My question is that is there a free will or everything is free destined and what is actually meaning of that as the Bhagavad Gita said that
00:06karma karo but falki chinta mat karo
00:09Bhagavad Gita says karma karo falki chinta nahi karo. Where exactly? Which shlok?
00:15You remember the scientific etiquette, then why do we think all those things are negotiable when it comes to the scriptures?
00:24Science we dare not mess with it and when it comes to self-knowledge
00:28Anything goes free for all anything
00:31Why do we forget the scientific method and the scientific rigor when it comes to dealing with bully books?
00:38About the free will let's say I have two options one thing I can do it other thing I can do it
00:47So I choose one of the options so is it my free will or totally depends on whether you realize where the options are coming from
00:54One great mark of true free will
00:57Free will without the chooser or the doer is that there will be
01:01Is that there will be
01:08Namaste Acharya I am Prashant
01:16My question is that is there a free will or everything is predestined?
01:20As you said there is suffering but where I am born will change my way of suffering so but where I am born is not in my control
01:29But just let me have some water
01:39Human condition you see
01:41Fellow doesn't even have water to drink
01:43Suffering?
01:45Thank you so much
01:48Sir can I pose this question better?
01:50I am a neuroscience student
01:56Yes and I will respond better
01:58The question is is there a free will or everything is predestined?
02:00And what is actually meaning of that as the Bhagavad Gita said that
02:04Karma Karo but Falki Chinta Mat Karo
02:06Bhagavad Gita wasn't written in Hindi was it?
02:08Bhagavad Gita wasn't written in Hindi was it?
02:10Okay
02:11Why do we forget
02:13The scientific method and the scientific rigor
02:17When it comes to dealing with holy books
02:19When it comes to dealing with holy books
02:21If you quote a journal
02:23If you quote a journal
02:25If you quote a journal
02:27If you write a whole number
02:29If you file a journal
02:31If you quote a journal
02:33If you quote a journal
02:35You remember the scientific etiquette
02:38Then why do we
02:40Think all those things are negotiable
02:42When it comes to the scriptures
02:44Bhagavad Gita says
02:46Karma Karo, Falki Chinta Nain Karo
02:48Where exactly?
02:50Which shlok?
02:52Where exactly?
02:54That's like saying
02:56Newton has said
02:58When and where exactly?
03:01That's not what Bhagavad Gita says
03:05I don't mean to offend you
03:07I just want to sensitize all of us
03:09That what we take
03:11As the scriptural wisdom
03:13Coming to us
03:15The folk wisdom
03:17Has become highly corrupted and diluted
03:19Kindly do not think
03:21Take anything on face value
03:23All this WhatsApp wisdom
03:25And the Instagram reels
03:27Is that the scientific way?
03:50But we take these two worlds as poles apart
03:52Science we dare not mess with it
03:56And when it comes to self knowledge
03:58Anything goes
04:00Free for all
04:02Anything
04:04One should be tried for doing this
04:06No?
04:08If I miscourt you
04:10You will sue me
04:11You will drag me to the courts
04:12For defaming you
04:14Krishna should be filing so many cases
04:18Defamation
04:20Defamation
04:21So much is being done
04:22Is his name
04:23He will say
04:28So now
04:29Back to the question of free will versus destiny
04:31Yeah, so I am a student and scholar of neuroscience
04:34And sort of life of neuroscientist I would say was
04:37Made a little difficult
04:39When a series of experiments
04:40Libet et al. 1983 and 1987
04:42They basically demonstrated that
04:44Our sort of choices
04:46Can be predicted by a computer algorithm
04:50Which has access to your neural activity
04:52Yes, yes
04:53Even so
04:54A few milliseconds ahead of
04:56You are even aware of the decision
04:58So for example
04:59Me lifting my left hand versus right hand
05:01The algorithm can predict it
05:02Love it
05:03So
05:04Then
05:05Then these concepts like
05:06Decision
05:07Choice
05:08Intents
05:09And
05:10Sort of don't seem to make sense
05:11Then
05:12What will be your
05:13Words of advice for
05:14Confusing neuroscientist
05:15No it's not just a few milliseconds sir
05:16Before I came here
05:17I had a cup of coffee
05:19You see me consuming
05:21Glass after glass of water
05:23This action of mine
05:25Got pre-decided
05:26That very hour
05:27It's not even a gap
05:29A phase lag
05:30Of just a few nanoseconds
05:32Or milliseconds
05:33No
05:34What I did
05:35At 4 pm
05:37Is making me ask for
05:38More and more water
05:39At 5.30 or 6
05:41Whatever is the time
05:426.30
05:437
05:44We are entering timelessness
05:47Are you getting it?
05:50So right now
05:51I will say
05:52I want water
05:53I want water
05:55I want water
05:57I want water
05:58As if
05:59At this moment
06:00I have decided
06:01Out of my free will
06:02To ask for water
06:04But is that so?
06:05Aren't my actions
06:07This moment
06:08Being determined
06:09By what happened
06:10A couple of hours back?
06:11So obviously
06:13When it comes
06:14To mechanical systems
06:15Everything
06:17Everything
06:18Is strung together
06:19In a cause and effect relationship
06:21And the cause of one thing
06:24Is just the effect of another preceding thing
06:28Do you see this?
06:29It's not as if
06:30The water is a result
06:32The water is an effect of coffee
06:33And coffee is the fundamental cause
06:35No
06:36The coffee is an effect of
06:37Something else
06:38I don't even know
06:39I don't even remember
06:40And if I take it
06:41To its logical initiation
06:42Everything is the result of my birth
06:44And if I take that
06:47Further
06:48Backwards
06:49Then
06:50Then my parents come into the picture
06:51And then their parents
06:52And their parents
06:53And the great apes
06:54And then the monkeys
06:55And then the single cell creatures
06:56And then God knows what
06:57Big bang
06:58Some people say
07:09That who is the creator
07:11Is nobody else but the big bang
07:13But the big bang
07:15Is a singularity
07:17I will not get into that
07:19Fine
07:20So
07:21When we talk of
07:22The normal kind of actions
07:25Obviously it's a cause effect relationship
07:27right in which there is no role of any kind of realization things will happen
07:35on their own like birth like like growing a beard like puberty like falling
07:44in love like getting married mechanical actions you think you are falling in
07:49love it's hormonal you think you are fathering kids it had to happen not that
07:55it's a result of your independent volition it's not coming from there then
08:00death it had to happen not that you can choose to be immortal you have no choice
08:06there what can we do then can we break this cause-effect the link this entire
08:14chain can we cause some kind of disruption in the stream no we can know we
08:21can know no you can know how it is happening and when you know how it is
08:29happening hmm something changes something changes when you know how it is happening
08:37then what is it that changes your claim over doership you do not say I am doing
08:45this you realize it is happening not being done it is happening it is not
08:52being done and if it is happening and I'm not the doer then I'm not I am only when
09:02I am the doer if it is just happening then I am not because I'm not doing it and if
09:09I'm not doing it who am I am nobody whenever I am have you seen whenever you
09:13are you are always the one in command one in control I'm doing this I'm reacting
09:17I'm acting I'm deciding I'm not deciding I'm retreating I'm forwarding something
09:21if I realize I'm not doing anything then I'm not and if I'm not then whose free
09:28will are we talking of so in either case there is no free will but in the
09:32latter case there is no suffering either in the first case there is no free will
09:38but an assumption that there is free will and who is the free one there you go there
09:47is free will I am the one asking for water it is my free will and who am I there you go
09:53the ignorant ego who does not know that you are not asking for water it is the
09:57coffee doing the talking you're not getting it in the first case we said two cases and in
10:04neither of the cases there is free will but in the first case there is an
10:08assumption that there is a doer and that doer is the sufferer in the second case
10:14you realize that there is no free will and if there is really no free will then
10:18there is no doer and if there is no doer there's no suffering either so there is no
10:23free will yet there is a difference between realizing that and not realizing
10:27that
10:29but choosing to realize itself is an action that has to be so how so how so how is
10:34not a choice so how is not a choice but you are very right you can choose not to
10:41realize as I said we can impede realization we cannot cause it but we have
10:49nuisance value for example here you are you might find my words irritable now
10:58this this this man is just just blabbering there nothing you can keep
11:02elbowing your neighbor so so there's nothing that you are understanding but
11:07you can impede the understanding of your neighbor that's what we are adept at
11:13are you getting it you cannot choose to realize when realization happens it is an
11:18expression of who you really are but you can always decide or realization is
11:24frightful the consequences will be devastating I choose to live in
11:28ignorance I want to live in no don't tell me don't tell me have you not
11:31encountered situation by the way practically you want to talk on
11:35something real authentic really truthful to somebody and they say change the topic
11:39change the topic truth is horrible most people don't want to take it yes yes it's
11:52limited it's limited see wait Vedanta is in wait wait wait wait please understand
11:57with mm-hmm Vedanta is inanimate there is a semantic problem here inanimate things
12:06don't have limitations Vedanta is greatly limited if the one approaching Vedanta is
12:12coming to it with limited intentions it depends on you it depends on you Vedanta
12:18has no claim to being limitless it depends on you if you want the depths of
12:23oceans you will get it there if you just want to skim the surface that too you can do
12:28the limits are set by you so you can do that yes about the free will let's say I
12:34have two options one thing I can do it other thing I can do it so I choose one of
12:38the options so is it my free will or it totally depends on whether you realize
12:44where the options are coming from one great mark of true free will illumined free
12:51will free will free will without the chooser or the doer is that there will never be two
12:58options or five options or 25 options even if there are 25 roads in front of you you will
13:07see just one realization that realization the other options stop mattering to the extent
13:15that you stop seeing them so when will this realization will come like so then it's great
13:26that we are being brought back again and again to the same point that comes from
13:31where you are we don't have to go anywhere else our own life this question that you asked
13:36the fact that you wanted the mic for yourself the fact that you chose to be here it is this
13:43daily life see
13:45it's not about some other world it's about this life here that we are doing every day
13:50that's the field of true spirituality adhyatma my life my my pains my sorrows my griefs my hookups
14:01my breakups that's what true spirituality deals with it does not deal with this and that
14:06jumbo jumbo booth preta swarg narak aglajanam reading somebody's mind you take this special fruit
14:14and this will energize your house or you know there are these disembodied bodies floating here
14:21and if you can please them then they will bring you good luck all that is nonsense this this is my life
14:28what do you do you get up in the morning and don't want to get up you don't want to take a bath
14:33you don't want to rush to the office you care so much about grades you care more about somebody else's grades
14:40you care so much about money you care more about somebody else's package that's your life and going into that is what realization is all about
14:50and it's so simple and so direct that we miss it my point is that where I born is not in my hand
14:57it is not in my freeway where is where I born like if I don't live in my house it becomes different
15:03so suffering will change right so that is not in my hand it's the concept that's the beauty of that
15:08it questions all your concepts why do you think that being born with a silver spoon is actually better than
15:18being born in an underprivileged economically underprivileged family isn't that a concept isn't that a belief
15:26how do you know that's a very fundamental question how do I know how do I know and when you investigate deeply
15:35when you see what it means to be born in a very rich family and you look at the skies of those families
15:41you actually begin to wonder am I not better off not being born there look at what they are doing
15:48and there surely must be a great hollow within that they have to resort to these kinds of very very slimy means
15:57to please themselves and to project an image of happiness else why would I need to spend a fortune on my wedding
16:04why is that needed if I am already alright why do I need to be so ostentatious
16:10it's a concept that being born rich is better even better is a concept please understand
16:17better is a concept better is not absolute how do you know something is better than the other
16:23these are all man-made definitions and whatsoever is man-made can be questioned by man
16:28why should not be questioned by man betterness is a concept is it not and what is the concept that by
16:35definition depends on another concept if you will begin to define betterness you will have you'll find
16:42that betterness depends on some other word and that word again is a concept so then you finally realize that
16:48it is all a doing of the ego hence I need not give any great respect to all these things in that sense
16:57Vedanta turns you into something very disrespectful disrespectful not in the sense of lacking etiquette or something
17:06in the sense of not according sacredness to every every little thing every Tom Dick Harry not bowing down in front of the world
17:18not considering something so massive that you must submit and surrender and shiver
17:25Vedanta turns you into a real man in terms of human being not man as a gender
17:32yeah yeah that's what that's that's the word you do you don't give a shit yes if we unlearn all the concepts
17:40you don't have to unlearn you have to question you have to realize concepts are concepts see what's happening with you
17:46you operating in a dualistic framework so the moment I say question something you think I'm advising you to reject it
17:53I'm not asking you to jump from one extreme to other dualistic extreme I'm saying realize that
18:00it is a mere concept not something God sent it is just a concept that realization might sort of
18:08make us unable to operate upset the apple cart in the life so I think it's a problem so if you sort of
18:18I'll try
18:25there's a problem here
18:27there's a problem
18:29if he realizes it might happen
18:33if he realizes it might happen
18:36you have the free will to impede realization all this discussion is so that the impedance starts looking stupid
18:48realization can never be something that you do who are you to realize God Almighty are you so big that you will cause realization
18:59no you can only not become the obstacle in your own realization you can withdraw
19:08it's all about negation withdrawal neti neti nakar don't do anything great
19:15probably you are already great if you refuse to keep clutching your littlenesses your pettinesses
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