The human soul is said to be a triad of atma-buddhi-manas or will-wisdom-activity. The human soul is clothed in seven koshas/sheaths/bodies/principles that fall into a higher triad (atma-buddhi-manas) and a lower quartet (lower manas or kama rupa-astral body-etheric double-physical body). The higher triad atma-buddhi-manas represent the Trinity Shiva-Vishnu-Brahma (in that order) in us. Brahma creates, Vishu pervades and Shiva ensouls. In other words, Shiva is the will, Vishnu the wisdom and Brahma the activity of our souls.
Using the pot-potter analogy in a lighter vein, Shiva is the space that remains as the ultimate after the pots are broken, Vishnu is the clay and Brahma, the hoary potter!
What exactly is free-will (or volition) then? How is it related to fate? These questions are beautifully answered in the dialogue between His Holiness Shri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswami and a Disciple), which is found in this link:
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/artic...e_and_Free.htm
The analogy of an author comes to mind again. Many authors have reported that they start their work of fiction with a basic idea of the landscape and the cast, but once it gets going, the characters play their roles out themselves! A case of fictional characters using their free-will to deside their destinies!
It is also interesting to note that an author/painter/poet gets his/her inspiration and ideas supplemetned by the thoughts of other entities in the lower (rupa) mental world, and the archetypes of human thoughts in the higher (arupa) mental world according to Theosophical research.
God is love. Bhagvan Sri Sathya Sai Baba teaches us that Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa are the attributes of God, who is by Himself Sat-Chit-Ananda. God is full of love, and love is the only emotion that has the highest frequency that can tune in to God.
At the same time, God is
just, like a father to his child (
a fond father is a fond father, my English professor used to say). This is why He does not interfere with our karma and free-will, except in cases where the human soul cries out to Him for redemption. Even in such cases, where he reduces the burden of karma of a soul, he usually transfers it to a self-realized soul in human form (may be the guru) who willingly takes it, because the karmic forces need to be played out in full. We read stories of God Himself being under the influence of karmic forces. Thus, it is a loving God as well as a just God, who would not interfere with His creation, except in deserving cases.
Good and evil, like the two sides of a coin, form the duality necessary for manifestation. Understanding this concept would remove questions such as why God created evil or why He sliently lets his children go evil ways and suffer. A funny but deeply philosophical urban legend of a down-to-science professor and a faithful student who explains how evil is merely the absence of good and not a form in itself can be read, among other links, at
https://lists.cs.columbia.edu/piperm...ne/009093.html
All said and done, no one can fathom the intentions of God or the reasons for His manifesting the universe and its beings, and letting them interact and play out their karma, life after life, and silently, patiently and lovingly watch over his creations, not from the yonder skies but from within the beings themselves, like the two birds of the Svetasvatara Upanishad (4:6):
Two birds of beautiful plumage — inseparable friends — live on the same tree. Of these two one eats the sweet fruit while the other looks on without eating. (translation by Swami Sivananda).
Most appropriately, the Hindu scriptures say that it is all God's
lila.
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