A very common question that most people ask is, “if God really is our true well wisher why did He create us souls and bring us into the world, where there is so much of suffering and misery?”
To answer this question Swami Mukundanada tells a story of a fifteen year old boy who was the son of a very rich man. One day, the boy was alone in his father’s office, when he saw a fifteen-year old newspaper. It had an article titled, “Billionaire adopts orphan child.” The boy was stunned to see his father’s name mentioned there. When his father returned, the son accosted him, “Father is this article true?”
The father replied, “My son! It is true.”
“Does that mean I am not your child?”
“That is right, you are not my child.”
The son was shocked. “Then why did you adopt me?”
The father explained, “Son, I am a billionaire. I had no shortage of money, and everything that money could buy. However, I did not have anyone with whom I could share my wealth. I adopted you so that I could give you everything that I possess.”
Similarly, God is perfect and complete in Himself and the possessor of unlimited opulence. He creates us so that He may be able to share all that He possesses with us. However, He can only do so when we truly love Him.
Those souls who have learnt to love God are with Him in His eternal abode. We conditioned souls are here in the material realm because we have turned our backs towards Him. God hopes and waits for the day when we too will perfect our love for Him and attain Him for the rest of eternity.
It for us to realize that the Supreme Lord has given this human birth as an opportunity to love Him and attain divine bliss forever. But in mundane life we forget this goal and are often confused about how to perform our actions. Most often people wonder if God is our creator.
He is also responsible for the actions we perform, they may even use this as an excuse to perform wrong actions. Here it is important for spiritual aspirants to understand how God gives us the ability to perform actions but also how every individual possesses free will to use that ability to perform their actions.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions on the topic of ‘free will vs. God is doer’ to dispel any doubts or confusion spiritual aspirants may face.
Question: Is God who is seated in our hearts the doer of all actions? What is our responsibility as souls if He is not the doer of our actions?
Swami Mukundananda: Many people diminish the need for self-effort in their minds by saying, “Nothing is in our hands. God is seated within us. He is the doer of all our actions, and we act as He inspires us.” However, this philosophy is not really true, as the following points will illustrate:
1. If God were the doer of all our actions, we would never have committed any mistakes. All of our actions would have been perfect, since God can never make a blunder. The fact that we make innumerable mistakes implies that we are performing actions with our own free will.
2. If God were the doer of our actions, we would not have to bear the karmic reactions. Why would we suffer for actions that God did through us? He would either bear the karmic reactions on His own, or forgive Himself. But there is the Law of Karma, “As you do, so you shall reap.” This implies that we ourselves are the doers of our actions.
3. God is impartial towards all souls and perfectly just. If He was the doer of our actions, He would either have made everyone do good works and become saints; or He would have made everyone do bad actions and become demons. But there is so much of variety in the world. One is a saint, like Prahalad, while the other is a demon, like Hiranyakashipu. This variety implies that we have the freedom to choose our own actions, and we are responsible for them, not God.
4. If God were the inspirer of our actions, there would have been no need for Him to reveal the Vedas or any other scriptures. There would be no need for Him to explain to us the path to perfection. He would simply have to say two sentences: “O souls, I am the doer of everything. So there is no need for you to understand what proper and improper action is.”
It is true that God is seated within us, and He gives us the power to act. However, what we do with that power is decided by our own free will. This is just as the powerhouse supplies electricity to your house. If it did not give the power, you would not have been able to use any electric appliances in your home. However, once you do have that power, what you do with it, is your own choice. You could operate the fan, light the lamp, or heat/cool the house, as you wish.
Similarly, God gives our eyes the power to see. If He did not give us this power, we would not have been able to see anything. But once we do have this power, what we see is in our own hands. You could go to the temple and see the Deities, or you could see dirty pictures on the internet. God is merely giving you the power to see. What you decide to see is your own choice, decided by your free will.
Hence, we must not blame God for our mistakes. If we do something wrong, we should take responsibility for the error and strive to correct it as we are the doer of our actions.
Q: If we souls are the doers of our actions. Then why have the Bhakti Saints written padas (devotional songs), saying that they are only instruments in the hands of God, and that He is a real doer of their karmas?
SM: The concepts karm (action) and karm phal (fruit of those actions) need to be understood separately for two categories – before surrender to God and after surrender to God.
Consider the first category – those souls who have not surrendered to God. They are under the grip of the unforgiving ego that makes them feel that they are the doers. Also, they harbor personal desires independent of the will of God. In this state, God does not inspire their actions. He gives them the power to act, notes their karmas, and gives the fruits at the appropriate time. This has been explained in detail in the previous answer.
Now consider the second category – those souls who are surrendered to the Almighty. They are free from the pride of doership. Also, they make God’s desire as their own desire. In this state, the soul becomes the non-doer, and God becomes the Director for that surrendered soul. Hence, the God- realized souls are able to say:
Na mai kiya na kari sakon, sahib karta mor.
Karata karavata aapa hai, Tulasi Tulasi shor.
Saint Tulsidas says: “I neither wrote the Ramayan, nor do I have the ability to write it. Shree Ram was himself the writer, yet people say that Tulsidas has done it.” We must bear in mind that this statement applies only to the second category, i.e. the God-realized saints.
The path for moving from the first category to the second category is to perform actions as if they are dependent upon us, and at the same time, to internally practice to think that God is the doer. Sage Vasishtha has expressed this very beautifully, in his advice to Lord Ram:
Karta bahirkartantr vihar raghav (Yog Vasishtha)
“O Ram! Act carefully, as if the results are dependent upon you. But from within, practice to think that God is the real doer.” So at present, we will have to keep both principles in mind, as we journey from the materially bound state to the God-realized state.
Q: If God had not given us any free will, He could have forced us all to love Him. Then there would be no scope for bondage in the world of Maya. Why did He create Maya and let us have other options?
SM: Love is only possible where there is an option to choose from. A machine cannot love; a template cannot love. They have no choice. The emotion of love is only possible for someone who possesses a free will.
The presence of Maya gives us souls various options. When we reject Maya in favor of God, we express our love for Him. In fact, the more difficult the choice, the higher is the quality of love possible. Similarly, the more attractive the temptation of Maya, the more is the opportunity for us to express our love for God, by rejecting the temptations and choosing Him. Ramana Maharishi was asked, “Why did God create Maya?” He answered, “To thicken the plot.”
The presence of Maya is thus essential for the soul to learn love for God.
Q: Does Maya encourage us to do all bad karmas? If yes why?
SM: The material energy Maya definitely presents an option for the soul to act in forgetfulness of God. But at the same time, Maya plays another role as well. When we are lured by its temptations and endeavor to embrace it, Maya punishes us and gives us distress. In this manner, it teaches us to love God and nothing else.
Although Maya does offer temptations for us to indulge in, it is not an enemy of God. The Ramayan says:
So dasi raghubir…
“Maya is a servant of God, and its service is to torment souls who are forgetful of Him. Hence, Maya will only release us when we surrender to its Master, Shree Krishna.”
Swami Mukundananda is a world renowned spiritual teacher from India, and is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj and founder of JK Yog. He has received his degrees in engineering from world renowned institutes in India, IIT and IIM. He has inspired people all over the world on the path of spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, service to society and God realization. This year, Swamiji will be conducting weeklong programs in 30+ cities of USA from April onwards. For more information visit: http://www.jkyog.org/events
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