--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "emptybill" <emptyb...@...> wrote:
>
> Balsekar made statements most Westerners cannot accept, such as
> everything that happens is the the will of Ishvara. If you accept
> the declaration that the three gunas interact among themselves and that there
> is no doer then we must accept the logic of his assertion.
>
> If you declare that Ishvara/Ishvari (the cosmic ruler and lord of the gunas)
> is the sole doer then the same conclusion applies.
>
> Read it and weep.
++++ Fortunately, with our free will, we can believe it or not.
> **********************************************
>
> Balsekar:
>
> (...)Chapter 4: God's Will and Man's Free Will.
>
> My experience has been that most visitors are able to accept the concept of
> God's will prevailing most of the time because they not only see the logic of
> it but, more importantly, they experience a feeling of tremendous relief and
> freedom: freedom from guilt and responsibility. But the problem arises
> because the concept of personal doership and the corresponding responsibility
> for their
> actions is so deeply ingrained that they feel that the spirit of relief and
> freedom which they have felt may not be practical.
>
> What the problem boils down to is this: 'Thy will be done is a very fine
> concept, but I have to live my life in a society which in practice does not
> accept this concept and holds me responsible for my actions. How do I live my
> life? What do I do every moment that I have to make a decision?'
>
> This is a very valid argument. My answer to this problem is simple: do
> whatever you feel like doing; do whatever you think you should do according
> to your own standards of what is right and wrong. In other words, you have
> the free will to do whatever you choose to decide. Having decided to do
> whatever you choose to do, thereafter what is your own personal experience?
> Have all your decisions turned into actual actions? Supposing some of your
> decisions have indeed turned
> into actions, have all those actions always produced the results that you
> have anticipated and for which you have held yourself responsible? The answer
> is obvious: some of your decisions have turned into actions, some have not;
> some of your actions have produced the anticipated results, some have not;
> indeed quite
> a few of 'your' actions have produced results quite contrary to your
> expectations. Therefore, it is your own experience that your free will
> extends merely to making a decision. What happens thereafter is, from your
> own experience, not in your control because various other factors come into
> play over which you have no control.
>
> Now, let us investigate the supposed free will you have to make a decision.
> What is 'your' decision based on? If you investigate this point you will find
> out that you always base your decision on your 'programming', i.e. the genes
> or DNA and your conditioning which includes your education and practical
> experience, over which you truly have had no control. Recent research has
> brought out the
> fact that many of your actions - both good and bad, positive and negative -
> can be traced to your genes. So consider for yourself: how genuine is my
> 'free will'?! (...)
>
> (...) The final question that remains at this stage is: How does one acquire
> this total unconditional acceptance that all action is a divine happening and
> not the action of any individual person? The obvious answer is that no one
> can acquire or achieve this kind of acceptance about God's Will unless that
> itself is God's will! But one can take considerable solace from the fact that
> seeking this peace of mind has already happened in one's case through God's
> grace and it
> is truly God's responsibility to further promote the process. In the words of
> Ramana Maharshi, 'Your head is already in the tiger's mouth, and there is no
> escape.' But, as has been said before, this fact that nothing can happen
> unless it is God's will does not prevent you from doing whatever you think
> you should do. You do have that apparent free will.
>
> The only spiritual practice I usually recommend for the intellectual
> acceptance to go deeper into its finality is to experience the truth of this
> concept from personal experience. The ego may accept this concept of God's
> will intellectually, but the acceptance cannot reach the stage of finality
> unless the ego finds from its own investigation of its own personal
> experience that this concept is the truth as far as he or she is concerned.
> If only one thinks of one's own past experience, one is bound to come to the
> conclusion that all of
> the more significant events in one's life were not one's own actions, but
> happenings over which one had hardly any control and which were the result of
> circumstances over which one had no control. But that is not enough to
> convert the concept into actual fact. This must be proved from personal
> experience from day to day.
>
> There must be an honest and thorough investigation into what you think are
> 'your' actions from day to day. This investigation is really one step further
> from Ramana Maharshi's famous 'Who am I?'. This investigation that I suggest
> is based on theory: 'Am I the doer of what I think are my actions?' (...)
>
> For those interested in more text about free will see the books by Ramesh
> Balsekar, especially SIN & GUILT (monstrosity of mind) with answers by
> Ramesh,(ZEN Publications).
>
> Hereunder a choice of chapter 4:
>
> Actions happen - there's no individual doer thereof. Actions happen
> because it is God's will; the relevant consequences affect those concerned
> also according to God's will. 'God's will' can be substituted by the words
> 'Cosmic Law' or 'Universal Law'.
>
