The Question of Free Will - 08.25.09

This podcast is a response to the following question: What is your view on the concept of free will vs. predetermination?

The question of free will has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical discourse. Are we responsible for our actions or are they predetermined? But, as Shunyamurti, director of the Sat Yoga Institute, explains from the perspective of yoga, “A yogi is someone who desires to extricate themselves from the illusion of agency, of being a creature of will, whether free or unfree.” And that “The doing of the organism and the thinking of the mind have nothing to do with the Self. The very idea of predetermination implies time and linearity, but because that is also an illusion, you cannot speak of pre-determination.” The Eternal Presence is non-temporal and therefore cannot be thought of as either before or after. And, paradoxically, “the only freedom is through the surrender of the desire for an individual sense of power.” Recorded on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 25, 2009.