Free will etc

Even ordinarily we notice that our pain is related to the attitude of our mind. When we have some acute pain, and a person we like walks in, our pain is relieved to some extent. When a person we dislike walks in, our pain becomes worse. In other words, our pain increases or decreases according to the state of our mind at a particular moment. Sri Bhagavan asks us to remove the mind altogether so that we won't feel the pain at all. He says: 'Therefore turn inwards and seek the Self and there will be an end both of the world and its miseries.. When body-consciousness goes, suffering goes. Prayer is good in that it makes us lose ourselves in the contemplation of the Supreme Being. When the mind is lost in contemplation, there is considerable reduction in pain. But prayer will not remove suffering totally. The individual will feel the suffering when his mind is not at prayer. Puja, japa, and prayer are all good in that they take our mind off our suffering for a while.

While they are all good as a temporary measure, removal of suffering is possible only through elimination of body-consciousness. Sri Bhagavan says: 'If one remains free from pain thus, there won't be any pain anywhere. The trouble now is due to your seeing the world outside yourself and thinking there is pain in it. But both the world and the pain are within you; if you turn inward, there will be no pain.'

To the charge that those who eliminate suffering thus are selfish and do not worry about others, Sri Bhagavan says: 'The world is not external to you. Because you wrongly identify yourself with the body, you see the world outside you and its suffering becomes apparent to you; but the world and its sufferings are not real. Seek the reality and get rid of this unreal feeling.' The understanding of oneself is the ending of suffering. The question of selfishness doesn't arise as in that state, only the Self will be seen in everybody and everything. But Sri Bhagavan doesn't say we should be indifferent to the sufferings of others. So long as we have body-consciousness, we shall be conscious of our sufferings and those of others and would be interested in removing them. Compassion is really 'your pain in my heart'. When we remove the sufferings of others, we become less 'me'-centered. But in this way, we cannot remove all the pain in the world. As pain is dependent on the ego, Sri Bhagavan suggests the removal of the ego; pain will also disappear.

This is not just theory. Sri Bhagavan exemplified what he said. When he had cancer, he behaved as if it belonged to another. He was as serene as ever and gave darshan to all till the very end. There wasn't a trace of pain on his face. His detachment from the body was total.

Q: Is there such a thing as free will? 

A: Whose will is it ? 
So long as there is the sense of doership, there is the sense of enjoyment and of individual will. But if this sense is lost through the practice of vichara, the divine will will act and guide the course of events. Fate is overcome by jnana, Selfknowledge, 
which is beyond will and fate.

Q: I can understand that the outstanding events in a man's life, such as his country, nationality, family, career or profession, 
marriage, death, etc., are all predestined by his karma, but can it be that all the details of his life, down to the minutest, have already 
been determined? 
Now, for instance, I put this fan that is in my hand down on the floor here. Can it be that it was already decided that on such and such a day, at such and such an hour, I should move the fan like this and put it down here? 

A: Certainly. Whatever this body is to do and whatever experiences it is to pass through was already decided when it came into existence. 

Q: What becomes then of man's freedom and responsibility for his actions? 

 A: The only freedom man has is to strive for and acquire the jnana which will enable him not to identify himself with the body. The body will go through the actions rendered inevitable by prarabdha and a man is free either to identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruits of its actions, or to be detached from it and be a mere 
witness of its activities. 

Q: So free will is a myth? 

A: Free will holds the field in association with individuality. As long as individuality lasts there is free will. All the scriptures are based on this fact and they advise directing the free will in the right channel. 
Find out to whom free will or destiny matters. Find out where they come from, and abide in their source. If you do this, both of them are transcended. That is the only purpose of discussing these questions. 
To whom do these questions arise? Find out and be at peace. 

Q: If what is destined to happen will happen, is there any use in prayer or effort or should we just remain idle?

A: There are only two ways to conquer destiny or be independent of it. 
One is to enquire for whom is this destiny and discover that only the ego is bound by destiny and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent. 
The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to the Lord, by realising one's helplessness and saying all the time, `Not I but thou, O Lord', 
giving up all sense of `I' and `mine' and 
leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with you. 

Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as the devotee wants this or that from the Lord. 
True surrender is love of God for the sake of love and nothing else, not even for the sake of liberation. In other words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether you achieve this effacement through self-enquiry or through 
bhakti marga.

✅ Be as you are. 
The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi edited by David Godman.