Question: From the highest spiritual point of view, is absolutely everything predestined?

Sri Chinmoy: From the highest spiritual point of view, everything is predestined and, again, everything is not predestined, because God Himself is not bound by any law. He is eternally free. He wants to make Himself free from all His own cosmic laws. Out of His inner Wisdom, infinite Wisdom, He has created this cosmic law. But He feels that if He does not break His cosmic law, then He is bound by His own cosmic law. From the highest point of view, if we say that everything is predestined, it will be a mistake, because then we are binding God; we are binding God to destiny. But God is infinitely higher than the destiny that He has made for humanity. He wants to enjoy His supreme freedom. He says that He will do something. But then if He feels that by not doing this thing He will be able to do much for an individual or for humanity, then why should he remain bound? So He can easily change the rules of His cosmic Game.

On the one hand, while creating the universe, God has made certain laws so that there will be some system, some order. But in His case, every rule admits of exception. If He blindly sticks to His own principles, then He is like us. We need certain disciplines, certain principles, so that we will arrive at a certain point, a certain goal. But in God’s case, He is the starting point and He Himself is also the goal. So, He does not have to adopt the human method that He has to do such and such in order to get the result. If in His Vision He sees something, then the Vision will be transformed into reality. But on the way, if He wants to change the Vision itself in order to arrive at another reality, then He can do so.

So, God is not bound by anything. Since He is not bound by anything, we cannot say that everything is predestined. It is predestined for the fatalist, for one who believes constantly in fate. But there is a superior force, an infinitely superior force, and that force is called the Grace of the infinite Supreme. So God’s infinite Grace easily can nullify, expedite and illumine fate and do anything that it wants to do in order to better the consciousness of humanity. If God wants to, He can keep His promise; then everything is predestined. Again, if He wants to change His cosmic Game, He can do that. He is all freedom; He wants to act in and through a constant, infinite freedom for Himself and for His entire creation.