Once we agree on the basic point that the exercise of free will is a problem, the second step must be to identify the reasons for this state of affairs. We must analyse the various factors that influence our day-to-day actions as well as our long-term decisions.
Here, it must be realised that we are probably one of the few (if not the only) creatures with an ego. There is this unfathomable desire in all humans to justify whatever they think, say or do. Where we should be analysing the causes of our thoughts and actions and then beginning our efforts to liberate these from influences which are regressive, we waste our time in convincing ourselves and those around us that we already are free and that we are not controlled by these influences against our will. We want to believe that we have chosen to be controlled by them. The simple reason for such an attitude is that any other explanation casts doubts in our own minds about the veracity of our status as God’s great (if not greatest) creation and deals a tremendous blow to our self-esteem, both individually and collectively. Hence, you see all around you people explaining that they are not free and the reasoning is that they have to follow whatever customs, traditions, laws and rules that they are following. Paradoxically, we justify that we are not free because we have freely chosen not to be free. I wonder if anything could sound more absurd. Unfortunately though, since the vast majority believes in this absurdity, it does not seem that odd to the untrained eye.
Setting our egos aside for a moment, we would instantly become much better equipped to understand our position vis-à-vis all the internal and external forces that are controlling our lives, because of which we are going through the motions of life rather than living it. Though these forces and their relative influence may vary from person to person, for the sake of clarity, some of the more common ones are listed below.
(i) Our physical and physiological requirements that account for the desire for food, clothing, sex and dwelling;
(ii) Our emotional make up generates the desire to love and be loved in return;
(iii) Religion, or more importantly, what we have been taught or have learnt in the name of religion continuously pricks our conscience in the name of good and bad, right and wrong;
(iv) Society with its own peculiar sets of customs and traditions, dos and don’ts is a constant irritant as we perform a large number of acts against our wish, and sometimes, against our better sense, only to gain social approval and sometimes refrain from great deeds only to avoid social isolation;
(v) Law of the land we live in forces us to abide by it, not for any particular gain, but more so to avoid punishment, and more often than not, social degradation as a consequence;
(vi) Peer pressure exerts a greater influence than the society as a whole and exploits our inherent desire to stay a part of the group. Interestingly, this group is also mostly not of our own choice but imposed upon us by circumstances;
(i) Family is the most powerful part of the society, especially in the eastern culture. We feel obliged to continue the sort of life our families approve of, without giving much thought to whether it makes much sense;
The list could go on but the above examples give a fair idea of the point. It must be remembered here that these factors are not evil in themselves. Not only are they necessary for our survival, individually as well as collectively, they are also great fillips to our struggle for a quality existence. Hence, they do not constitute a problem in themselves. Like all other entities that humans interact with, the problem does not lie in them but in the way we deal with them. These factors are necessary and useful but only as long as we are ones using them. The moment we start becoming used by them, we falter, since none of these forces have the capability of free will. Only someone or something that has this capacity has the ability to use others. We, however, have surrendered our wills to these factors without as much as a complaining whimper. So, rather than controlling all these influences with our intellect, we have chosen to let our intellects be controlled by them. We are convinced that these factors are in fact the indisputable truth in this world and have thus created our very own golems.
It is essential that we take some time out for introspection and analyse which of these factors are controlling our decisions and acts, and to what extent. There must be a fairly accurate assessment of these issues and the only way to do that is simply, to want to do that. Egos must be left behind; we cannot fully be free unless we believe two things: one, that we are not great and two, that we can achieve greatness.