“Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
The debate between free will and determinism has troubled me so much that I’ve mostly stopped contemplating it, not out of disinterest, but because it has left me exhausted and unresolved. This question has confused me more deeply than any other. Even the questions of religion, existence, and the universe have not troubled me as much. Strangely, I’ve made peace with those to some extent, but not this. There was a short phase in my life when I thought about this endlessly. It wasn’t long ago, but it was distressing. I still haven’t come to any conclusion. I feel I need more time, perhaps decades, before I can even begin to approach an answer. The arguments on both sides are brilliant. Great minds have confidently taken opposing stances, which only deepened my confusion. For instance, Stephen Hawking rejected the idea of destiny. Nikola Tesla, on the other hand, supported the idea that uncontrollable events subtly shaped his future. Ramana Maharshi, when asked if anything is predetermined, simply replied, “Everything is predetermined.” The questioner pressed further, was even lifting a cup and drinking tea predetermined? “Everything,” he said again. Yet, the Hindu epic Ramayana (Aranyakanda 2.23.16) states: “Only the timid and the weak leave things to destiny, but the strong and the self-confident never bank on destiny or luck.”
Every argument felt right until the next one came along, as if truth itself kept switching sides. With my current understanding, it feels as if both forces, determinism and free will, play their part. The number of beings is infinite, and nature doesn’t care for the loss of a few. She creates and destroys freely, in balance, without sentiment. At one time, I believed the universe was conscious of itself and that we were separate from it. But gradually, I began to sense that we are not apart, we are nature. We constitute her as a whole. Perhaps the collective consciousness is nothing but nature’s consciousness itself. However, what makes this vast system dance in such perfect balance still escapes me. The concept of yin and yang, or shiva and shakti, seems to describe it beautifully, two opposites living in eternal harmony, giving rhythm to existence. A similar pattern appears everywhere, in our societies, philosophies, and mythologies. Opposing forces take turns dominating, only to yield again in endless rhythm: capitalism and socialism, demand and supply, liberalism and conservatism.
This endless cycle reflects the religious concept of dualism, particularly in Zoroastrianism, which describes the constant battle between Ahura Mazda, the god of light, truth, and creation, and Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the spirit of darkness, lies, and chaos. The world, in this view, is their battlefield. Human beings, through their thoughts, words, and deeds, must choose between these two forces. Zoroastrianism, being an eschatological religion, predicts that light will ultimately triumph, a final victory of order over chaos. A similar idea exists in Hindu mythology, with its four yugas (eras), moving from golden to iron, where darkness grows until righteousness restores balance. Both Zoroastrianism and Hinduism share a reverence for fire, a symbol of purity and transformation, and perhaps, symbolically, of this eternal duality. Both traditions suggest that free will and determinism coexist, that human choice operates within a larger destined pattern. For now, this seems to make sense, that both freedom and fate share the stage. But I won’t rush to declare any conclusion. I need more experience, more years of quiet observation. What I’ve shared here is only a synthesis of what I’ve encountered so far, glimpses of ideas that, together, sketch a vast mystery. Perhaps the answer is not to choose between free will and determinism, but to learn how to live gracefully with both, to play well with the hand we are dealt.
Notice – This article is a chapter from Glimpses of My Worldview (2025). It is being republished here on my blog as part of a complete serialization of the work.