Sai Inspires - 5th March 2006 from Prasanthi Nilayam

[Guest guest]

special - 'Free Will' When will God be pleased with us? Swami tells us today.

Did you read the Cover Story"Sundaram - A Prasanthi In Chennai"?Click Here to

read now. Sai Inspires - 5th March 2006 If you feel that the person

next to you is suffering pain, needing relief, and that he is a nuisance and

decide to move on to some place where your Dhyana (meditation) will not be

disturbed, you surely are not going to get the merit of that Dhyana. It is

certainly a wrong you have committed and you do not deserve Grace. When God

himself has come to serve man He will indeed be pleased if you too serve man. -

Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. X, p. 220.

Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray. - Baba. FREE WILL

Loving Sai Ram and greetings from Prashanti Nilayam. Today, we would like

to draw your attention to some aspects of what is often described as free will.

The so-called free will has often been commented upon several times by Swami,

but few seem to be aware of what Bhagavan Baba has said. Free will, so-called,

goes hand in hand with what is perceived as

freedom, both individual and collective. These days there is not only a lot of

talk about freedom, especially freedom of expression, but also many unwanted

fallouts from them. It is therefore important to reflect at least a little, on

these critical issues. Swami says that God has hardwired all agencies in

Nature except humans. What He means is that every entity in Nature except

humans, be it inanimate like galaxies or planets, or animate living creatures

from single-cell micro organisms up to the elephant and the monkey, does

exactly what it is supposed to do – no more

or no less; this has been the case for millions of years. Thus, sharks behave

today more or less the way they did a hundred thousand years ago. In the

case of humans, there is a fundamental difference. God gave humans several

extra capabilities, the most important of which is the ability to think and

reason. Why? Because God wanted humans to realise that behind Creation there is

a Creator, to realise that humans have come from the Creator, and that humans

must use their stay on earth to prepare to go back to God. God thus said, “O

man, I have created this beautiful earth

for you and packed it with all the goodies you would want. Enjoy them but do not

misuse them. While enjoying them, share them with the rest of the living beings.

Be balanced and always think carefully before you do anything. This Mind of

yours is very powerful; therefore, use it carefully and for purposes that would

make Me happy. Good luck! Enjoy your stay on earth and get back quick to Me!!”

Unfortunately, in recent times, humans have all but forgotten the advice that

God gave; indeed, most have even forgotten God. Instead, they have gravitated

to the belief that there

is no God, that the faculties they possess are entirely theirs to control and

use, and that they have a right to do what they want. It is this libertarian

approach that has led to the concept of so-called free will.

years. Things have changed a lot since then, and these days, there is plenty of

talk about all sorts of rights – the right of the individual, the right of the

Press, the right of the Media, the right of business, the right of labour, and

so on. When there are many self-interest groups, each with its own agenda,

there inevitably is a clash between the different rights claimed; and

underlying this clash is the belief of many that their rights alone are

paramount. Here is an example. Recently, the Vice Chancellor of a leading

University in Chennai, earlier called

Madras, ruled that students should not bring cell phones to class. Promptly,

there was a big hue and cry, students claiming that they had a right to, and

preventing them from bringing cell phones interfered with their rights. The

Media, ever on the lookout for controversies, immediately fuelled this into a

big issue where there was none. There are many other such manufactured

controversies, too delicate to mention. The point simply is this: Almost

invariably, the controversies are born out of an assertion of rights. Swami

says that along with rights come responsibilities, with rights and

responsibilities being two sides of the coin. In olden times, the stress was

more on responsibilities whereas these days the focus is more on rights. Let

us now come to the question of free will. People who clamour for rights are

essentially saying, “Listen, this is a free society and we have a right to do

what we want to do.” This point needs some comments. First and foremost, the

word free means without any constraints or obstacles. The second means: no

charge. Let us take these slowly.

justify">There are some people who are addicted to smoking, and they would like

to smoke when they want and where they want. This, they believe, is their right

and want no restrictions imposed on them. Just because they believe it is their

right, can they be allowed to do so? For example, can one tolerate smoking in

hospital? Thus it is that Society places some restrictions on the so-called

rights, and this is done for common good. For example, smoking in public places

is now prohibited in most countries and with good reason.

16pt">In this context, we must not forget what Swami says. He reminds us that

when the individual focuses too much on his rights, he then tends to forget

about Society. Humans must never forget that they are the building blocks of

Society and what they do affects Society as a whole. The human body itself

provides a powerful example. If individual cells misbehave and multiply

recklessly, then the body has cancer, which ultimately decimates the body.

Thus, says Swami to His students, “You are what you are, because of Society.

The only right you really have is to serve Society. If you take care of

Society, then Society in turn will take care of you.” Here is an elementary

example of this. These days, movies in India often glorify crime and obscenity.

The producers say that they are merely reflecting what is happening in Society.

However, thanks to excessive portrayal of violence and all the rest of it, now

the movie stars are forced to have security to move about, and have to shell

out a lot of money for it. There are innumerable such negative fallouts, but we

need not go into it. The above remark brings us to our second point, which is

that though individuals and groups may claim that they are free to do this and

that, nothing is free in the sense there is always a price to pay. Sometimes

the individual directly pays and at other times, the payment is extracted via

decline in Society. In short, there is no free lunch, and in that sense, what

is done under the pretext of free will is not at all an expression of freedom.

What then is true freedom? Swami has explained that also. He says he who is

totally free from

the clutches of sensuality and base desires is alone a free person. Yes, freedom

means being free from the claims of the body and the lower Mind. One may live in

body and possess a mind. But he who is ruled by the Atma is alone free.

During the Indian freedom struggle, the word Swarajya was often used to refer

to political independence. Swami has explained that the word Swarajya which

means Rule of

the Self, actually means Rule of the Atma. In that sense, God alone has Free

Will. He can do what He wants and there is no price tag in terms of

consequences. Humans, however, do not have free will, as long as they are

body-conscious. That is because whatever is done under the influence of

body-consciousness has consequences that one cannot escape. It is only when one

feels one with the Atma that one can talk of free will. And when one achieves

emotional and spiritual union with the Atma, one no longer clamours about free

will. Do you agree? May be not! Even so, we would like to know what you

think. As always, write to: h2h (AT) radiosai (DOT) org. Jai Sai Ram With Love and

Regards, "Heart2Heart" RadioSai's e-Journal Team, In Sai Service. To

see the complete schedule of today's RadioSai programmes, click

here. Visit us at www.radiosai.org to know more about RadioSai and our e-Journal

"Heart 2 Heart".

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