Free Will

The problem of free will is the most intriguing aspects of philosophy. I seem to have free will. I can choose whatever action i want to perform. For e.g, if you ask me to raise my hand , i would do so willfully . I can also choose not to raise my hand if i felt so. On the first glance it seems as if i do have free will to choose whatever thoughts and actions i want to perform under any circumstance. Is this really true?.

But even modern science has shown that the illusion of " free will" seemingly gives us a sense of doership. So what then is the origin of our thoughts. Do the thoughts come on their own into our mind?. Or are there any cause as to why a particular thought comes up?. you can easily see that sometimes a thought comes up without you even having the faintest idea of why it came up now. You may even wonder why am i thinking about it now. Once the thought does arise you can follow the train and end somewhere else and even compelled to do actions that you would not have wanted . So do we willfully think? .

Here is an interesting imaginary conversation between Socrates and Aeschines

A. But surely Socrates, man is responsible for his own thoughts and actions, and has the freedom to decide his acts?

S. Dear boy, I hope you will not be shocked when I tell you that man has no freedom of will, and is not responsible for his actions.

A. But surely Socrates, this goes against the 'consensus gentium' of educated people and their commonsense. I feel and I know that I am responsible for my acts. When I think to do something, I carry it out.

S. Are you so sure, my dear fellow? Let us examine this matter more closely. Sit down a while. You say you think; where does the thought that you have, come from, in the first instance? Where does it arise?

A. From me, of course.

S. From Me. Tell me, who is this Me? Can you find him inside? Now watch closely. Where do thoughts actually come from? Be very honest.

A. Well, surprisingly they seem to arrive from nowhere, out of the blue. From the Gods, perhaps.

S. Now you see that you did not create the initial thought. It arrives from you know not where. Then what happens?

A. It commences the faculty of reasoning.

S. Yes. It touches your mind, and either the thought is rejected as unworthy or accepted as useful, according to needs, standards of upbringing and so forth; and it starts a process called thinking.

A. But surely I start the process of reasoning.

S. Are you sure? Look closely now. See what actually happens. A thought arrives from nowhere, touches the mind which reacts according to its patterns of education and what it believes to be the right response, and some more thought weighs the matter up.

A. But surely in the weighing I choose from the alternatives offered by commonsense and reason?

S. I mistrust your commonsense and conventional opinion, the so-called reason of the masses. Only the philosophers understand the nature of choice, and not too many of them, I suspect.

A. Do you mean I didn't choose?

S. What happens if you watch, dear sausage maker, is that the mind or thoughts present alternatives, and according to your disposition you choose what you consider to be the most practical, pleasurable and in the best interest for you. But there is no daemon inside to choose. The choice happens mechanically, like an abacus, and then the mind foolishly ascribes it to itself as "a free agent", boasting arrogantly "I CHOOSE."

A. Please continue, Socrates. This is most illuminating.

S. Truly the choice was inevitable. The so-called act of choosing was part of the structure of predetermination. The choice was inevitable, because it appealed to your hidden tendencies of pleasure, and what you believe to be appropriate. In fact there was never any freedom to choose anything other than that which was chosen.

This is the state of affairs. The thought that comes up now is not a result of your own willful thinking. It is part of lot of things like your samskara conditioned by your previous actions, your genetics and your education etc. It is not just because of some inputs now, it is a result of lot of factors out of which you have control only limited things. But once the choice is made from a set of thoughts by the brain automatically , you become conscious of the choice.. This gives you a feeling of having made some decision and having willfully acted. There is a process of automatic choosing that happens inside your brain. If this is the case, how can you do any action?. All things are ordained already. isnt it ?.

No. the thing is we can make our samskara more and more pure. By being in touch with good company , adopting spiritual practice , the choices that appear can be purified. It so happens after a while , whatever be the choice you take all of them are equally good. This can come from a purified mind where there are no residual negativity. This is the reason why we say, you need not worry if you are deeply spiritual, the good action automatically appears in you. Buddhists often say "If you are spiritual , then there is no need of the eight fold way, as only the correct actions appear in you. All the rules are redundant". It is only when we are under the ego, the rules are required. 

The sense of doership is the side effect of free will. This is the cause of so many issues in life. You often think "I have done so many things for him. But he does not have any gratitude."  Did you really do things ?. Or is it that you things were done through you and you become conscious of them. You can see it is the later. So abandon the clinging to the results of your actions. This is the true meaning of karma. Once you loose the clinging to the results of your actions and yet do actions by enjoying them then you are peaceful. As krishna says " Wise are one who see inaction in action and action in inaction".