Freedom, the sweetest sounding word in the dictionary, stands for man’s free will while undertaking an action. But, there is a great question mark on the idea of free will. Are we really free? Can we exercise our free will? We often say that for man sky is the limit. It means he is free under the sky to do what he wants. Is it really so? What I am discussing today goes beyond the idea of political freedom. I am talking of freedom in existential as well as extra-terrestrial terms.
Are we really Free?
In this world where constitutions grant freedom to their citizens, can we say we have freedom to act? A woman who gets pocket money, has freedom to use it the way she likes. These are small little freedoms which give us a feeling of being free to choose. But there are larger questions also which are involved in the perception of freedom. Every person wants to be rich. He works hard for it. Sometimes he commits frauds also. Can he claim freedom to do what he likes? What restricts us from doing a hundred things although apparently there is nobody to challenge us if we do?
Again the question is: why are the poor, poor? The world gives them freedom to do what they want. But, still they remain poor. What stops them? And how much freedom they possess to undo their limiting conditions? Then, what restricts us from being happy? It does not need money. It only needs a special mind set. Still, happiness eludes us. Why? Are we not free to be happy? Can our money bring us the joys denied to us by gods? Can we coerce the cosmic phenomenon as we do with social structures? Who is controlling our freedom? Who is controlling our happiness?
An Action is a Trap
What type of a freedom we have? We are free to act most of the times, yet we are not absolutely free. Our actions trap us. If we do a wrongful action, its fall-out traps us and we lose all possibilities of joy. So far as freedom is concerned, I feel it is only a chocolate for human beings. Do you have freedom to decide when you will be born in this world? Can you choose your parents? Can you decide the time of your birth? How much will you can use in the selection of your life partner? And then, what will you beget, a son or a daughter? What will be the color of her skin? Can you decide anything? Can you have freedom to bring up your children as you wish? And finally, do you have freedom to live beyond the moment of your death?
We are helpless. We have no free will. We have no freedom. The freedom we talk of is an illusion. We are strapped by invisible chains. Our area of freedom is determined by the creative process which also possesses coercive powers. Each person has to exist and work in a predetermined environment, and perform certain jobs. These are determined partly by his own past, and partly by his responses to the situations that encounter him.
Man is not at all a free agent. At least in this world, he is closely controlled and being monitored and his progress is watched till end. Only those people are happy who are maintaining harmony with nature. Those who try to break the balance in anyway, come to grief. There is no freedom from this divine law. You are served the dishes you have prepared for yourself. And the surprise of surprises is you are required to act as a matter of duty, and then, what will happen is again controlled by gods. In other words, the fall out of your actions is not in your hands.
Invisible Pattern
Whatever we do, has an invisible pattern which we most of the times fail to discover. Every object, and every action, that happens, has behind it a pattern, and beyond it too. In this way, no action is undertaken with your free will. Moreover, gods start intervening in whatever we are doing. We can decide on doing certain things in the morning, but by the evening, we find things were not done as planned. This is the intervention of gods. They deny us certain joys. Why? This is the subject of another long talk.
The General Will
It is surprising that the world is governed by a General Will. Our individual will is free only so long as it serves the ends of that General Will. If we contravene it, there is a crash. There is so much turmoil in the world simply because people think they are free to do anything they want. They are unaware of the fact that gods take note of it, and act instantly and men come to grief for their violations. Gods do not interfere when they find men are doing their jobs with their good intentions. But once they try to be over smart, or over confident, they lose their balance and prove detrimental to the harmony of the universe and invite divine intervention. Freedom which challenges the General Will and the Harmony of the Universe is not acceptable to gods. No Ozymandias stands unassaulted by Time [Kaala]. Power is a negative virtue which impacts the body balance of the holders, and brings them to ruin faster than they had thought.
Dr Jernail Singh Anand, author of 180 books has won the Seneca Award, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky Awards. His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia.
