If there is karma and destiny, where is free will?

When we speak about karma, immediately the question of free will comes to mind. The idea of karma implies some kind of destiny. If there is destiny, then where is free will? And if there is no free will, then how could one be responsible for acts he doesn’t have control over? As you can see, this can quickly become a very complicated question, with several ramifications.

The Vedas explain that the destiny of human beings is determined by the stars. A person takes birth under a particular disposition of planets and stars that influence him or her in different ways, just like ropes pulling a puppet. The position of different celestial bodies is going to influence what kind of family one will take his birth into, what education he will receive, what kind of spouse he will have, what challenges he will face during his life, when and where he will die, and even influence how one is going to think!

These influences act according to one’s karma. The planets and stars are actually not the cause, but an indication of how karma is acting over a person. The purpose of this system is to give us the opportunity to understand where we are in the wheel of saṁsāra and thus be able to find our way to a progressive life. Nowadays astrology is often not a very useful tool because astrologers are not very learned, but in past eras people used to get details about their karmic path from Brāhmanas following the calculations given in the jyotiṣa-śāstra.

Karma, however, doesn't imply the absence of free will. Karma is just the collective result of our past actions, which puts us in a certain situation. Our past karma determines the situation we are in now, and it also limits the choices we have in the present moment, but still, some choices are available, and if we make the right decisions, we can improve our situation. If, on the other hand, we make the wrong choices, we may regret them later.

Therefore, we should be careful with what we desire, because what we desire is going to determine our actions, which in turn are going to determine our next destination.

The trick part is that our current consciousness is also determined by our past choices. What we are doing now is largely determined by our past activities and desires. If we are not actively trying to change our consciousness and desires, our next actions are going to follow the same line, leading to a continuation of the same situation. If we do like that, as most people do, then our fate is almost determined.

However, there is a possibility for real freedom. Once one starts the spiritual process, one slowly starts to transform his karma. The first result of this is that he is able to start controlling his desires. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krsna explains how one, seeing oneself as the transcendental soul, should control his mind using his intelligence:

"The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence. Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Kṛṣṇa consciousness] and thus – by spiritual strength – conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust. (Bg 3.42-43)

The mind is the center of desires and emotions. The role of the mind is to store different desires and impressions in the unconscious and bring them back to consciousness at the appropriate time. If one day we want to eat ice cream, but can’t because of forgetting the card, the mind is going to store that desire and bring it back when another opportunity arrives. The problem with the mind is that it is highly emotive, like a small child, that wants everything and wants it now. Therefore, we need to employ our intelligence to deliberate about what we really want and thus draw a path to follow. We may thus use our intelligence to check the desires of the mind that are contrary to our long-term goals.

Thus, intelligence is exactly the component that allows us to escape the endless sequence of desires created by the mind and instead find a progressive path. We usually think that to be free means to do whatever we want, but we usually don’t notice that this “what we want” is not really what we want, but simply what the mind wants! Thus, the parts of the Vedas that deal with spiritual knowledge, like the Bhagavad-Gita, give us the tools to be able to escape these dictates of the mind and thus find real freedom.

This perfectional stage is described thus in the Bhagavad-Gita (6.20-23):

“In the stage of perfection called trance, or samādhi, one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one’s ability to see the Self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the Self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.”

Thus, once we become serious in the spiritual path, we have the opportunity of a clean start, with the shackles of our past karma being loosened, allowing us more freedom than would be normally allowed by our past karma. This is the real path to freedom.