Determination and Free Choice

"For the Jews, God creates an imperfect world; it is up to man to perfect it, hence the idea of progress and free choice. There is no determined archetype." I wrote this reflection while reading a book on the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. That was his thought. He developed his philosophy in opposition to this way of seeing things. Man is absolutely determined. Since God is perfect, Nature is perfect. Nature = God. Spinoza believes that good speculation explains everything. Later, scientists will also fall into this trap, starting with Auguste Comte. 

Vaishnavas defend two approaches to action: that of the kitten, which the mother carries in her mouth, and that of the baby monkey, which clings to its mother's body. One depends entirely on its protector; the other must make an effort to hold on.

Animals do not change their way of thinking and living because they are governed by instinct. Their instincts do not allow them to act as they please. They do not wear masks.* They cannot change their identity—if they have one.

Although we are not as free as God, we possess a small degree of independence, very small. At a certain point in our evolution, if a man or woman is fortunate enough, they may begin to think for themselves.

Srila Prabhupada said many things. Each of us can choose what to accept and what to reject from his instructions, depending on how much we have been shaped by authorities. I learned some important lessons from him: Krishna consciousness is not a sect, and the process is scientific. Now, if you are a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and you tell me it is a sect or a religion, I will challenge your stance. This is the conclusion I have drawn from his teachings.

You should know that Prabhupada said everything—and its opposite. Nevertheless, by carefully studying his books, lectures, conversations, and correspondence, one can grasp the true essence of his thought. From experience, I know that this is not given to everyone, even though all his disciples have been initiated into the brahmana order.

Some devotees call others "liberal" as if it were an insult, but Srila Prabhupada himself said:

"That poet Allen Ginsberg, he said: 'Swamiji, you are very conservative.' No, I am most liberal." (Delhi, 16 Nov 1973)■

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* "At the beginning of August, on a beautiful sunny day, he went into town with Artshchikov. Since their conversation after the officers' meeting, nothing had happened to ease the awkwardness that had arisen between them that day. Artshchikov remained withdrawn, harboring hidden thoughts; to all Listnitsky’s attempts to provoke an open explanation, he presented the opaque screen behind which most people hide their faces from outside scrutiny. Listnitsky always felt that this man, in his relations with others, kept another persona concealed beneath his outward appearance, one that sometimes remained permanently invisible. He was convinced that by scratching the outer layer, one would find a heart free of any false polish. And that is why he always felt a painful yearning for what lay behind people's facades, whether coarse, severe, fearless, insolent, happy, or cheerful. Now, thinking of Artshchikov, he realized only one thing: that this man was painfully searching for a way out of the contradictions in which he found himself, trying to reconcile his Cossack identity with his Bolshevik beliefs." “And Quiet Flows The Don”, by Mikhail Sholokhov.

 (I read the book in French. This is a AI translation. After reading the passage, I thought it appropriate to be published here, to add some colors to my avatar.)

One more word on Spinoza, whom I identify as an atheist and a materialist, yet moved by a certain nostalgia for the Universal Mystery.

One of the lessons we should take from the Covid epidemic is that man necessarily acts in coordination with his fellow beings. The effectiveness of his endeavors depends on it. One needs the other. The pursuit of freedom, even spiritual freedom, is not a selfish option that allows one to embark alone in a canoe to the other shore. We journey to the other world in company, I imagine, and with a captain who is sure of himself.

Spinoza understood this: free will is an illusion. In any case, an individualistic society is just as potentially flawed as a communist one.

As I write these lines, Krishna’s words in the Bhagavad-gita come to mind: “In this world, men are influenced by the three gunas, inherent in material nature: Goodness, Passion, and Ignorance. No one can escape them, except a yogi.”

But he adds, not without first explaining to Arjuna: “Such a soul is rare in this world.” Thus, believing ourselves free to act as we please, thinking we are the authors of our deeds when they are largely governed by the gunas, by Nature, is to maintain an illusion that leads the soul—meaning oneself—astray for ages to come, with dire consequences for our future incarnations, as if trapped in an endless cycle. ■

Remark: Srila Prabhupada had a discussion regarding Spinoza’s philosophy with his disciples. You can read my comments here: Spinoza and Prabhupada on God. The preceeding article also deals with the subject: "Being prisoners of words and translation" is my pet project.*.

Regarding the title, "Being Prisoners of Words and Translation," a theme that is close to my heart and one I have been exploring for some time, though I have not yet dedicated an article to it specifically, I present here, to move the discussion forward, a passage from Alfred Korzybski's (1879–1950) book The Role of Language in Perceptual Processes:

‘Is all thought verbal?’ Some say ‘yes,’ others say ‘no.’ However, if we limit ourselves to ‘thinking’ verbally, we fall back into the old linguistic ruts of previous generations, which were socio-culturally formed and neurologically channeled into the representational forms inherited from the past. Under such conditions, we are inept or ill-adapted to see the inner or outer world with fresh eyes and, as a result, we hinder scientific and other creative activities. We speak of ‘freedom’ with such fervor without ever considering the degrees of freedom of Willard Gibbs, on which all our progress depends. A non-Aristotelian system understands this new orientation, which ultimately leads to ‘thinking’ in a creative way. Thus, an automobile has infinitely more degrees of freedom than a streetcar, which is ‘channeled’ on its tracks. Unfortunately, perhaps tragically, most of us ‘think’ verbally, which is particularly characteristic of the Aristotelian subject-predicate orientation, and this limits or blocks our possibilities for creative ‘thought.’ The physico-mathematical, and thus scientific, way of ‘thinking’ has allowed us to overcome these limitations; it lies at the foundation of creative scientific activity, which has brought humanity so many benefits."