This seems to be a question that is more frequently asked in the context of Western philosophy. For example, I went through the works of my guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, and could not really find a direct reference to this subject in the more than 200 books that he has written.

In a very direct sense, of course we have free will. There are certain bodily functions, such as the beating of our heart and the flow of blood in our body which are not normally under our conscious command, but when it comes time to do many other functions, such as to select which pair of socks we are going to wear today, then it is up to us to decide what we are going to do.

All day long we go on making various decisions about what to do and what not to do. So it appears that we do indeed have free will. However, when take a look at our situation from a cosmic perspective then the issue becomes more complicated.

The yogis (and other religious and spiritual people) say that God is omniscient. God knows the past, the present and the future.  He knows what you are going to do and what will happen to you!  If that is true, then how much free will do you really have?

To find the answer to this question let’s go back to the simple task of selecting which socks you are going to wear.  You may think that you make this choice randomly, but you probably pay attention to what else you are wearing before choosing among your socks. In addition, the very reason that you bought your selection of socks depends on your likes, dislikes and which are in turn based on your physic momentum (known in yoga philosophy as samskaras).  That is, the various actions that you took in the past, the various experiences that you had in the past, shape and guide what you are going to do today, and tomorrow.

If you have ever been in a complicated situation and made a decision which turned out to be “wrong” then you probably wish that you could have acted differently. Yes, it was up to you to choose what to do and you had the “free will” to choose an alternative but you didn’t do it. The reason you chose as you did, is due to your samksaras (the collection of psychic momentum that is based on your actions in the past).

A great mind, a Cosmic mind, with the power to know your past actions, could easily predict what you would do in the pivotal moment of choice. And looking back on that moment, though you might wish that you had chosen differently, your experience up to that point guided you to make the only choice that was possible.

To sum it up, from our individual perspective we do indeed have free will. Looking at it from a Cosmic perspective then you can perhaps say that we don’t have free will. However, even from this Cosmic perspective, an individual human being still has to take responsibility for what he or she does.

If you do something that blocks the physical, mental or spiritual progress of another being, then you will suffer the consequences. If you do something that enhances the physical, mental or spiritual progress of yourself or others, then you will enjoy a different future. The choice is yours.