Questions and Answers about Free Will, Tantra, Prostitutes

Free Will

Question:  Is free will an illusion?

Answer:  Yes, more or less. Unless one has spiritual knowledge, it is an illusion only.

Question:  Sometimes in shastra there are references to free will and that human life is the only with free will, but it seems also that many times in shastra there are statements that indicate that KRSNA is really the only actor. It seems that the concept of free will is only useful to get one to realize that there is no free will.  Does that even make any sense?

Answer:  I would say that it is not free will, but conditioned will. Conditioned by ignorance.

Question:  I think if one believes there is no free will, then it creates an excuse to follow one’s desires, but at the same time, if one submits to the fact that there is no free will under the pretense that it is God’s will, then most assuredly this is not detrimental.

Answer:  In the field of spirituality or reality things are never black or white, like light which is both wave as well as particle. Our mind likes things to be black or white. So it is wrong to say that there is free will or there is no free will.

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Tantra and Bhakti

Question:  What is the difference between Tantra and Bhakti? Could you give in a nutshell and explain a little bit?

Answer:  Difficult to explain in a nutshell. Bhakti means devotion, surrender to Supreme God. It could be for some motive, to achieve some boon from God or without any motive, just out love.

Tantra is a vast field. For those people who do not want to surrender to God, many processes were prescribed to keep them busy in some kind of discipline. The idea is that one day they may wake up realize that they want to surrender to God.

This as brief as I could be.

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Prostitutes in Dwaraka

Question: In Lord Krsna´s time there were prostitutes in Dwaraka who came forth to receive the Lord. How it is possible that such prostitutes, who are considered to be sinful, live there?

Answer: These were not prostitutes like what you know now. Some Sanskrit words have no English equivalents. In Varnasrama system there are all kinds of people, not just the four main ones. There are also blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, washermen, barbers and a class of people who engaged in entertainment, veshyas. These were educated in various arts such as singing and dancing and were called into service on festivals. They were also allowed to engage in sexual relations, but it was very different from now. There were rules or dharma for them also.