Momo and I have been chatting about free will, and whether there is any such thing. It’s an interesting thing, arguing with someone you have seen grow since birth. After spending time with my own father this past weekend, I can see the parallels even more clearly. It’s also fascinating what a 15 year old like Momo thinks about this stuff.
Something that drew me to studying the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata was the idea included within those stories that relates to fate and free will. I interpret it thus: destiny is supreme, but we are responsible for our actions. At other times it is described as: the outcome of our efforts is ordained, but our actions are not.
I’m not a religious scholar, nor have I studied philosophy extensively, and so my interpretation of this and the limitations of my knowledge may be clear to even the most casual student of these concepts. But I hope that when I discuss this with my kid, I can make my perspective understandable. Based on our first few conversations, I still have some work to do.