Introduction
Today we’ll be discussing a very deep topic which comes up again and again, not only in spiritual circles but also in scientific circles:
Free will or destiny?
Today we’ll look at this from two angles. First, we’ll start with what science says because it throws a lot of light into how decisions are made.
Then, in the second part, we’ll talk about what teachers like Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj said about destiny and free will.
You’ll be surprised to hear — and I’ve got the exact quotes from both teachers — what they think is true, what is real, and what is not real.
What Is Free Will?
So we’ll start first with understanding free will.
What is free will?
Free will means that at this moment I am free to take a decision to do what I want.
Simply put, that is free will.
Now in science, especially if you have read Sam Harris, many of you would have heard of him and read his book on free will.
Many teachers, especially newer Advaita teachers, are hard determinists.
What is determinism?
I’ll go a little deeper.
Many of you would know these terms, but for many of you these are new terms, so I’ll explain them.
Determinism is like destiny. It’s more of a scientific term for destiny, and it means whatever is happening now has already been written. Whatever will happen in the future is also already written down, and everything will happen exactly as it is. There is no deviation from it. There is no freedom.
Determinism and the Big Bang
Now where does this idea of determinism come from?
The concept is very simple and elegant.
Imagine there is a billiard table with all these balls, and you hit all the balls with one ball. If you know the trajectory of the first hit, you can calculate where the other balls will go, right?
Similarly, when our universe began with the Big Bang, whatever state the matter was in, it was like a billiard ball hitting all the others and scattering them.
That scattering is like the universe becoming, stars being born, and eventually us being born.
Whatever I am right now — every electron and neuron in my brain — is simply a result of that original hit. And as such, I will continue along that trajectory. I have no freedom.
So this is, simply put, what determinism talks about in scientific terms.
Quantum Physics Challenges Determinism
This worked very well until quantum physics came in.
When quantum physics emerged, this entire structure became very questionable.
I remember reading a very good paper by Stephen Hawking a long time ago where he dismantled this entire concept that everything is determined and there is no free will.
Quantum physics is based on probabilities and uncertainty.
At the quantum level, there are no billiard balls moving in perfectly fixed straight lines. The direction itself is probabilistic, and since it is probabilistic, there cannot be strict determinism.
Even after quantum physics emerged, there are still many scientists and philosophers — like Daniel Dennett — who hold onto determinism.
The Libet Experiments
Another very interesting challenge to free will came from a neuroscientist named Benjamin Libet.
Many of you would have read about the famous Libet experiments from the 1960s or 70s. If you haven’t, you should read about them after this talk. They’re fascinating.
When I first read about them years ago, I was amazed.
The experiment was very simple. Participants were asked to lift their finger whenever they wanted, while being connected to EEG machines.
What they found was that half a second before the person consciously decided to lift the finger, the machines had already recorded activity in the brain. They called this “readiness potential.”
So the experiments suggested that the brain had already made the decision before conscious awareness arose.
The person then thought, “I made this decision.”
Now even these experiments have later been challenged.
In 2019 and 2024, there were several papers published arguing that readiness potential does not necessarily determine what action a person will take.
So from the scientific point of view, both neuroscience and quantum physics in recent years have moved more toward the idea that some form of freedom or agency exists.
What Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Said
Now let’s move to what the sages said.
Most people think Advaita teachers only spoke about destiny, but that’s not entirely true.
I’m going to read a few quotes from Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Ramana Maharshi said:
“Free will and destiny are ever existent. Free will and destiny last as long as the body lasts, but knowledge transcends them both.”
In another place he says:
“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.”
Now let’s look at Nisargadatta Maharaj.
One quote I absolutely love says:
“You mean to say everybody’s life is totally determined at birth? What a strange idea. Were it so, the power that determines would see to it that nobody should suffer.”
I always used to think along these lines.
If there is no free will, why are teachers teaching? Why are they asking me to meditate or inquire?
Because if everything is already written down, and I have no control, then how can I choose to meditate?
Even on closer examination, the teachings of Buddha, Nisargadatta, or J. Krishnamurti presuppose that someone has the ability to follow those teachings through volition.
Is the Truth Somewhere in Between?
Now let’s go to the third part.
What if it’s not binary?
What if the truth is somewhere in between?
This idea always made the most sense to me.
There are many things in our past, our environment, our genetics, which push us in particular directions.
There may be strong patterns of addiction, depression, anxiety, jealousy, or other tendencies. Sometimes these patterns are so strong that even though we have free will, it becomes very difficult to overcome them.
So even though we are free, we are not completely free.
When Nisargadatta or Ramana sometimes said “you are not free,” the context was different.
They were pointing toward how the ego and mind are deeply conditioned and bound by identification. In that state, life is being carried away mechanically.
So though the ego may possess a certain degree of free will, the life being lived is still deeply conditioned.
This is different from the absolute philosophical claim that everything is predetermined.
There are also physical, social, legal, and genetic limitations imposed upon us.
You may want to do something, but you might not have the freedom to do it.
So practical freedom and metaphysical free will are different discussions.
Beyond Free Will and Destiny
Now we come to the final angle which Advaita talks about.
Advaita asks:
What if both destiny and free will refer to a person — and what if that person itself is not ultimately real?
Destiny refers to an “I” that suffers, succeeds, fails, or becomes wealthy.
Free will also implies an “I” that chooses, meditates, or acts.
But if the “I” itself is an illusion, then to whom do destiny and free will apply?
Advaita deconstructs the entire problem from a completely different framework.
Ramana Maharshi said something very beautiful.
Someone asked him, “Is the world real?”
Ramana replied:
“As long as you think you are real, the world is real.”
In the same way, as long as you think you are a person, there is free will.
But both Ramana and Nisargadatta pointed beyond this individual identity to a deeper place from which the “I” itself arises.
When we go behind the ego, behind the individual self, there is this vast sea of consciousness which is always free.
It is not bound. It answers to no one. It has no structure or rules imposed upon it.
In fact, even the word “free” does not fully apply to it.
It is a state in which both destiny and free will are absent.
That is the truth toward which Advaita, Zen masters, and many other sages have always pointed.
So we started from the deterministic theory of the Big Bang, moved through neuroscience and philosophy, and finally arrived back at the simple wisdom of just being in this consciousness.