Is there a Free will?

Reecntly I came across the following excerpts from one of the weekly mailers I receive on line.

“Is there any free will for anyone? Everything is happening and will happen eternally by God’s will. People understand this eventually. Let me give you an example: Here is a cow tied to a post with a long tether. She can walk one cubit from the post or up to the whole length of the tether. A person ties a cow with the intention of allowing her to lie down, stand, or move around as she likes within that area. Man’s free will is also like that. God has given some power to human beings and has also given them the freedom to use it as they wish. That is why people think they are free. But the rope is still fastened to the post. Let me tell you, if anyone intently prays to God, He can move that person to another place with the same stake, or extend the rope’s length, or even take the tether away completely.”
Source: Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, by Swami Saradananda, Translated by Swami Chetanananda  Vol 2, Introduction: The Necessity of Discussing Spiritual Practice p 150

Above passage provides a very good description for “Free will”, as seen from the theological perspective (i.e.) unassailable faith that anything and everything in the Universe is enabled by or governed by a Supreme Being or God.

Vedic Philosophy provides the framework for such enabler as Brahman, a singular common noun for all forces of nature, known and unknown. Human beings with our evolved mind and thinking can accept Brahman (forces of nature) as the enabler. This also requires an implicit assumption that we (human) are also part of nature, enabled by the forces of nature (Brahman). In fact, it is not an assumption at all. It is a Self-evident truth! When we fail to accept this self-evident truth or reality, we (human) think of ourselves as different from nature. Hence we invoke a creator (God), which is the origin of theology. Then we accept the God as the one who provides free will to our action with constraints as noted in the above passage. The degree of free will is seen as a measure of our faith in the Lord. Hence the inference
“Let me tell you, if anyone intently prays to God, He can move that person to another place with the same stake, or extend the rope’s length, or even take the tether away completely”.

What happens when we accept that everything is enabled by nature and its forces (Brahman). Then we (human) are no different from rocks or stone (material objects), plants and animals – all behave according to the forces of nature. Thanks to our evolved brain (mind) we relate to the world around us through our Knowledge, Bias and Ignorance and resulting Tranquility, Turbulence and Inertia (Gunathvam – under the role of connectors). If we understand that we are part of nature, all that we do will be governed by these three prevailing connectors (K, B and I). This connection itself is the force of nature unique to humans. We can comprehend any action through the lens of three connectors. We can also choose to look at the same outside of these connectors. That is our free will! 😊

Best wishes and Happy New Year to All!