Many believe that our paths are laid out long before we are born and continue to another after we perish.
Is it true that our lives are predetermined? Is it right to say that we are puppets of a higher order?
In the world of Artificial Intelligence and robotics, the brain is coded to perform certain predetermined tasks. This system never deters from it’s command when it is left to perform since it doesn’t have conscience.
But with humans this may or May not be true. Let’s try to understand this.
There are 2 things predetermined for us- Life itself and death, the beginning and the end. There is no free will to control that. But everything in between is quite bewildering. We come across so many people throughout our lives, live in different surroundings and are influenced by these elements in some or the other way. These influences affect us to take different paths as per our motivations.
In a way we constantly deter from our usual course and work or behave under the influence of something throughout our lives. This cannot be coded by someone before our lives. Here we can say that free will exists in the form of collective consciousness.
But does free will means we can bounce back and fourth in time as per our freedom?
Some scientists will say we can, we just need to grow with our knowledge. But for now we think that time is linear, it proceeds uniformly, Eternally into infinity.
There is no beginning and end in the never ending circle of time. Past, present and future are just illusions in that circle where you can’t differentiate which is which.
If we know our fate in the future would it force us to take decisions to change that?
Well in absolute or broader terms we at least know that we are going to die one day. So all our decisions may take different paths but all those paths would lead to the same point, death. The Circle of time will continue, life to death, death to life, past to future and future to past. But there are some hard questions to answer.
If life and death are inevitable and the end result is death then what we do in between may not be significant .
What’s our purpose then? Our existential crisis?
Here’s my opinion-
When you look at the celestial bodies like Sun and Earth, when you look at nature, trees and plants, you will see that irrespective of their fate they carry on to do their job that is to create light and sustain life .They live in the present and fulfil their purpose that is to Give.
A life has no meaning if it doesn’t touches another life positively. Love, Compassion, empathy, humility, kindness and respect give meaning to a life, give purpose to our lives. The happiness which we feel when we do something for others.
If we live in the hearts of the generation to come then we live forever, this is our free will. The contentment which it brings is too great to express in terms of science.
Our existence depends on both science and philosophy, both are significant. Science shows us the path, Philosophy teaches us how to live that path. This is our absolute purpose even if there is nothing absolute in the universe.
So free will exists in between life and death, it is our present which gives us the ultimate boon of free will.
We may not be present in the form of matter in the future but our existence may survive in time through our Karma in the hearts of others. And maybe that Karma is the God we question so often!
Live in the present, stay blessed!
The Perceptions Square 
Woow this is something I have been thinking about too. Like at what point does free will and the higher power’s will meet in the middle. Are we even in control of anything? But this is a discussion that would never end.
Yes, this is a very broad topic.. We can talk forever on this.. But for now we can at least focus on our true purpose in the present. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
Thoughtful ! Somehow I believe in destiny … especially when “ why me ?” Question comes up …
but yes, in life we need to touch atleast another life positively …
and one needs to find out his own sense of purpose ..
Yes, knowing our true purpose is the most important thing in life. The real reason people suffer most of the times is the fact that they hardly think beyond themselves.. This should change.. Thank you for sharing your wonderful thoughts!
Rightly said .. 👍
Beautifully said: “our existence may survive in time through our Karma in the hearts of others.” All our lives are tied to one another. Life takes many forms, one is in the memory of others. Fantastic words you left here!
Thank you Benjamin for your wonderful words.. Tried my best to give thoughts on this difficult subject!
Amazing post 👌
Thank you Era!
You’re welcome 😊
Interesting post !
Thank you so much Ranjini!
Most welcome !
Wonderful thoughts sir.
Thank you Ishan..
You’re welcome 🙂🙏
Deep, insightful, words excellently marshalled.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
A thoughtful post. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kritika for your valuable feedback!
My pleasure 🙂
Reblogged this on Momentary Lapse Of Sanity.
A Catholic theological perspective is that God gives us free will but being omniscient knows how we will choose! God for Catholics is a creator that creates a creation (including us). This differs from natural pantheism, which I personally find limiting.
At any rate, this is something I too think about… but a concern with doing the right thing now trumps theological speculation… something I did a lot more in my youth.
Let’s hope we all make the right choices and end up in the best possible place… with grace! 🙂
Yeah, actually Lord Krishna in Bhagwat Geeta says that he is time, he is creation of everything… He is present in everything.. He actually meant that God is time and the entire creation…so God is within us.. If we pray idols, nature or any other thing, he is there too… A soul has free will and when we show kindness then that soul, that God connects with other beings… Well i have been too long… This is really a huge topic to spend our lifetime.. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I did a double credit course on Gita at Visva Bharati. But I have respectfully moved away from that perspective. Holy killing doesn’t seem too Holy to me! 🙂
Haha.. We all have our own interpretations.. And we should always listen to our inner voices to find peace.. And of course we should embrace that with which we can relate to.. Nothing wrong in that.. Thank you for your valuable thoughts
Yes there is a ‘psychological’ or perhaps ‘alchemical’ interpretation which can be valuable to sincere seekers and, moroever, most Christians – certainly Catholics – embrace the concept of the ‘Just War’ (as we saw with both World Wars) so the discussion can get complicated! IMO we should reflect on the familiar and stay open to the new, regardless of its origins. 😉
Haha.. This has turned out to be quite a deep conversation and a nice one too….this is the pleasure of such topics.. Our eternal quest for the meaning of life..
Or perhaps we could say, our meaningful quest for eternal life! 🙂
Haha… Exactly!
Pleasure to ‘converse’ with you. Keep up the intospective speculation! 🙂
NOW is the ONLY time we know for sure…to be kind, compassionate, forgiving, tolerant and warm….
Wonderful thought process and articulation!!
https://ruparaoruminates.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much for your encouraging words.. Really mean a lot
https://philosophical-theology.com/
Free will is bounded I guess. Free to a certain extent. We are autonomous agents but not totally! Nice how you said purpose in life is to give 👍
Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts…
A wonderful post. So much to tell and so much to learn . We have a short and marked period on this earth it has to be meaningful and fruitful . To live for oneself is not our goal . Sound perception and empathy should always guide us . Great 👍
Thank you Veena for sharing your wonderful thoughts…