Free Will?

This is something that has always conufsed me:

If God knows everything. Then He must know what is going to happen and decides everything for us. If that is true then how do we have any choices of our own? Even if we do the wrong thing isnt it what God wanted us to do anyways?
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Actually, there is no need for god to know whats going to happen to us, since everything is god. We humans have free will, and we dont know ourselves what will happen as the world is not going in the divine way. But as long as we have love for god everything is ok. There is a plan and it is working well. We are hear for our souls to grow. Our souls on earth are here to grow by discovering the worst and the good. Whatever happen is a reason. But the reason has to happen with us having a free will. We will and always heal ourselves, as we are part of god.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/interfaith-dialogues/8839-free-will.html

Nothing is bad in life. Its just the way god intended it to notice. Whatever bad happens our soul learns from it. This earth planet is for us to learn from.

Versus sorry if i have misunderstood you, but i was like someone who wsa so concerned in life and didnt actually know much but was so interested to find out. I admit, i was one where confidence was lacking, and i had feared alot of things.

But as i have used the internet so much, i think god wanted me to learn something from life. The internet was my gateway to gods knowledge.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

The thing is, you are right on one hand, god knows us. We have lived before in another creation or another life somewhere. Our soul is going through different stages each time it has ended one life and goes to the enxt. Everyones soul on the planet earth is on this planet to grow with love and god realisation. We are at the moment learning from another past experience. All things that happen such as war's crime etc, is natural. Nothing is bad, of course it would be bad for us because we are not fully into god. It depends on the soul if it has to take the fear in order to strengthen. We are learning right now many different situations in life, and we will continue to do so. We will live forever in god. God loves us in different ways as there are different levels for people. As long as we reach to god the way we should be, everything is kool. But once we have passed the adventure of life, we will know the truth, and everything in the first place was perfect to begin with.

I may have some fear, and thats ok, because i am not 100% in line with god. God made us who we are, and its ok. Aslong as you love and pray to god, make the most the way you can esly, everything is ok. There is no bad religion or anything like that.

Religions occur in each part of the world for people to live the way they should and belive in god, no matter what way it is. No religion is bad, it is about how much faith you have to god, god will accept it.

And yes, fear and love are the 2 main forces in this life. Fear is the boundary between you and god. Love is what drives you towards god.

Everything works with love. Love is what holds everything together in this world. So dont feel dissapointed if your not a sikh, or your from a different religion. There is always a reason why things happen, at the end everything is in gods hand, you are in god, you are part of god. This journey is in the hands of god.

Goodluck and best of wishes~!

God is supporting all religions that belive in one god, and will help them out. The thing is, we must remember, we are not here to make an identity for a religion, we are here to make an realise god.

Sat Sri Akaal Anoop Veer ji I really enjoyed reading your brilliant thoughts on God but came up with a question in the last line.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839


"God is supporting all religions that believe in one god, and will help them out,” ........Anoop veer Ji how can one prove that God only support all religions that believe in one God and will only help them out.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

“Everything works with love. Love is what holds everything together in this world. So don’t feel disappointed if your not a Sikh, or your from a different religion. There is always a reason why things happen, at the end everything is in gods hand, you are in god, you are part of god. This journey is in the hands of god.”……….

Veer ji here and in the whole post your thoughts are just praiseworthy and commendable ji

And you also wrote

......”since everything is god”.......


Here my understanding is that God also made religion where God has many incarnations. And will support them too. We should not judge whom God is supporting and whom God is not supporting ji.

Bhull Chuk maff kerna Ji

Regards.

Sat sri akal brother humble Gursevak,

thanks for the comments, i appreciate it, to tell you the truth, half of the information i have gathered came from near death experience websites. It may sound suprising, but actually, what the people mention is about a bright light, that never can be described and is fll of love and comfort, and other things. It uses communication through thoughts. It is related alot with sikhism as the feedback the people had got from their near death ecperiences shows that god has given them information about truth, that love is what exists and shall always exists. I even sometimes thought that how could these people actually be the ones with the god experience. But come to think about it, it is possible. Because what Guru Nanak dev ji had experienced, guru ji had witnessed gods light. These people may have some good points to their experience, as it shows similar responese to the guruji's words in guru granth sahib ji.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

For example, it mentions in sikhism, that we have lived before and we are in the cycle of birth and deaths, so does the near death experiencers say that. Its linked!

Yes, everything is caused, but much better things are usually caused by our false perception of free will. This false perception gives motivation and energy to us to achieve. It takes a very strong character to continue to achieve while fully recognizing that there is neither credit nor blame in any of our actions - only cause and effect.

May this post be a cause for someone to be able to recognize the truth without becoming disheartened by it, and can be caused to continue to achieve, and to "choose" happiness.

Hi

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839
I am not Sikh and I am knew here. Basically, I am looking for answers to better understand your faith. I find it very interesting. There are certain things that at first view I disagree with, but I am supposed to inform myself before I make choices , that comes from the Ethical Perception I hold. So I am here to find answers to my questions from you guys.

However, it seems to me, that the question of free will cannot be disputed. If there is no free will there cannot be right or wrong. But, bedsides that, experientially we have mountains of proof that there is free will. For example, I have chosen to join these boards. I have chosen to write on this subject, etc. No one else determined that I do so, but me.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

This is common sense and, while, there are obvious limits to free will and some things like inheritance may be partially determined, there cannot be denied that, experientially we all know free will exists. The arguments against the existence of Free Will, with all due respect and without intending offense, amount, IMO, to sophistry.

But what I really want to know is what, if anything, do your scriptures say about Free Will and predetermination. For example, does the Wonderful Teacher (a great and Beautiful name for God, by the way) give us free will or has he predetermined all or part of our lives and to what extent?

Radiant light and happiness for All

Curious

curious seeker ji

In my own view The Great and Wonderful Teacher is just that: a great and wonderful teacher. So how does a wonderful teacher respond to his students. As a puppet master? Or he one who sets before students a goal, path, and a map? One who permits his students to make mistakes, but who never punishes. One who persists with the most limited minds, and never leaves the room before the class is over? One who only responds to the best and the brightest, or one who stays after class to clear doubts and confusion?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

In Sikhism there is a phrase "hukam" which is mistaken to mean "God's Will." Hukam refers to His governance of all creation, not to His need to micromanage and control. He has written the script, and He delights in His play. He never makes demands or requires proof of our loyalty and love, so there is never a chance that commands not followed will be followed with his enmity, vengeance or spite.

Your question is a big question. So I will stop here. But only with this last thought. There are no modern philosophical systems to speak of that that support the notion of unconditional free will. Yes, without free will, ethical action makes no sense whatsoever. That is another long story.

The philosophy of Guru Nanak is based on the idea that there is free will, that free will is conditional, and is not based on blind faith (blind following). Nonetheless the parameters of our freedom are known only to Him.He is after all the Doer of Everything. Without Him we are nothing.

Hah :P I dealt with this in one my first posts a long long time ago (glad to see the problem is still kicking strong). Evantually the thread came to the conclusion that we have no free will and everything runs according to gods plan. (not a fan of that position but since the Sikh god does not punish like the Christian god, I have no problem with it, although it does make the "cycle of death and rebirth" seem like a rather arbitrary event for God's viewing pleasure?)
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

In real life though (if you take out God from the picture) our free will is not absolute. We are more likely to do one thing as opposed to other things :P. If given the choice between 5 dollars and 500 dollars, almost anyone would choose the 500 dollars and if repeated another time, they will probably choose the 500 dollars again. Does this mean they lack the free will to choose the 5 dollar bill :P? Well, no, not really... but the probability of choosing the 5 dollar bill is lower then the probability of choosing the 500 dollars. Probabilistic Free Will (I like to call it :P) but the important thing is, without God in the picture... there is some sort of Free Will.

The problem of Free Will (along with other logical problems) is only a problem for Abrahamic Religions that give their God such impossibly perfect characteristics as All powerful and All knowing. Does the Sikh religion attribute this same "impossible perfection" that the Abrahmic religions attribute to their God?

If not, then their is no problem but god cannot see into the future or create a plan that everyone must abide by. Moreover, god must abide by the laws of logic, math, and some scientific assertions (like the law of conservation of energy for example but not the theory of gravity :P). So on so fourth. But this god is ultimately pointless.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

If yes, then free will is the least of your problems. Apparntly a "perfect god" can make 2+2=5 if he wanted to. This god is illogical at best. Consequently, a belief in this god is as illogical.

Caspian ji

This is a common view

"Evantually the thread came to the conclusion that we have no free will and everything runs according to gods plan."
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

And in my opinion it is not a correct view in Sikhi. But I too have read it over and over here and elsewhere on Sikh web sites.

Scholar and theologian, Daljeet Singh, does not agree that we have no free will in Sikhism, and his article, which I have attached had an enormous influence on my thinking at the beginning of my journey. Before I took that step I hardly ever thought about free will at all.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=8839

Dharam - we choose to walk there or we ignore it.