How does free will interact with the modes?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
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yeah how does our free will interplay with the modes first of all the modes condition the free will in the sense that if a particular mode is prominent we will be much more inclined to act in that direction but it is always that we have free will but if we are habituated to act in a particular way we will be more inclined to act like that for example suppose there is a floor and water is flowing from here and there are three holes for the water to go now if the floor is more inclined towards one hole then it is at the other holes water will naturally flow in that direction it doesn’t have to go there it can push in other direction other hole also but because the floor is more inclined that way water is more likely to go in that direction so like that the three modes are there but depending on whatever mode we have cultivated from our past life karma whatever kind of body we have so our consciousness will more naturally flow in that direction so in a sense we have free will always but if we are not conscientious then our consciousness will almost flow automatically without our without our really deliberating on it in a particular direction so the Bhagavad Gita talks about several factors by which we can change the modes influencing us so for example the kind of books that we study the kind of people we associate with the kind of food that we eat the kind of thought that we habitually contemplate the kind of place that we habitually live in there are many factors like that which are given which basically if all these we make the sattvic then the influence of the lower modes will decrease and sattva gunas will increase so Vishwanatha Chakra Thakur in his Bhagavad Gita commentary that by repeatedly endeavouring to choose a particular mode we can make that mode stronger so we can see of course the converse happening so somebody repeatedly chooses something in the mode of ignorance they repeatedly choose to oversleep and then develop a habit of oversleeping so similarly somebody else repeatedly chooses to exercise and over a period of time they develop the habit of exercising so our free will is conditioned by the modes that means whichever mode is prominent that is the direction our consciousness will naturally flow and we will be inclined to act that way and not acting that way will require greater endeavour but it’s possible it’s possible by becoming more conscientious internally and creating a supportive environment externally we can change the way our consciousness flows or change which mode it flows according to