Yesterday I got a quote from The New Age as a text on my phone, which left me thinking way too much. It said:

"The will is not free- it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect, but there is something behind the will which is free."

Swami Vivekananda.

I kept wondering for a very long time that WHAT is that "something" which is free? True, our will is not entirely our slave. There are many things we want to do, or wish we could do; but we cannot because of certain things that bind our will.

And then last night around 3 am, I got my answer finally! It is the soul which is free. And that affects our will in some way or the other.

Our will is governed by our destiny. We might want to do something, but we can't until we're destined to. For example, getting enlightened, or finding the right Guru. Until and unless we're destined to experience His

Grace in our life, we can't.

Next, our destiny depends on our karma. If we do all good karma, our destiny shines. And vice versa. Also there is the concept of Prarabhda karma (ie Karma of previous lives) and Sanchita karma (ie Karma of the current life). Sanchita karma's effect can be changed with spirituality, but Prarabhda karma stays.

Also, only doing the good karma isn't the only thing. It is the primary requirement for a good destiny, but it comes along with motives and thoughts behind it. So even if we're doing good karma with a shrewd motive behind it, it isn't good anymore. Or atleast the effect goes down. And vice versa.

Now, our motives and thoughts are formed by the kind of Sanskara's we have within. The good and the bad. It is only through our Sanskara's that we develop our thoughts and understand things- the worldly and the Godly.

Lastly, the Sansakara's are contained in our soul. It is the soul which holds all that it has seen through all the lives. It is a database of all events we have seen, emotions we have experienced, Sankalpa's we have made and thoughts we have had. AND it is free, in every sense of the word.

So ultimately if we try figuring out our own soul, we develop good Sanskara's, which in turn lead to good motives and thoughts, which helps us in doing good karma, which helps shaping up our destiny, AND which strenghtens our will so that we can do all that we want.

I could be wrong on this, and am really looking forward to opinions of the learned ones.

Peace. :)