Evolution, Fate, and Free Will

Explained in terms of river rafting.

Consider a river that originates in the mountain, flows through a large portion of the land, and finally merges into the ocean. You are a person on a raft that flows over the river. This flow of the river is like the movement of the collective consciousness from a less evolved state to a more advanced state until it merges into the ocean (supreme consciousness). You are a part that derives from the collective consciousness that is traversing through life (river) and your state of evolution is dependent upon your position on the river.

If you are at the origin of the river, the collective consciousness is not that evolved and you being a part of it might just be a less evolved creature. This is analogous to the expression of life in the form of single-celled organisms at the beginning of the creation of the earth.

As the river progresses the collective consciousness also evolves and the life existing on the earth took more complex forms that eventually became humans. These humans will still have to take multiple births and undergo further evolution until the time comes when they will merge with the ocean i.e. the supreme consciousness.

The river is always on the flow and so is the collective consciousness. There are few people who resist this flow. This resistance comes in the form of various attachments and resistance to change in life.

“It is like being on board on a raft but using your paddles stuck to the various rocks so that the raft does not move forward.”

If the raft does not move forward then the person does not move ahead in the evolutionary stage. One needs to understand that life events do occur so that we learn from them, change ourselves and reach a higher stage of evolution. This is analogous to moving forward in the river and coming closer to our final goal i.e. merging with the ocean.

Example: Ram is a person who works as a manager in a certain company. The collective consciousness is thus at a slightly advanced state meaning that the river over which Ram is floating is past half its distance. To reach the next level of evolution Ram needs to learn to be independent of affirmation from others. Life events thus will reflect it and might bring situations where Ram might lose his manager position. The respect that he used to get from his subordinates will no longer come. Ram would resist this change but it would lead him to not evolve. Ideally, he should just accept what life brings to him and learn from it, and evolve. The loss of his manager position would enable Ram to function irrespective of societal approval and affirmation. He thus would evolve into a better human being. This is analogous to Ram maneuvering efficiently over the raft and swiftly reaching his destination. If he were to resist bringing change in himself then it was analogous to him using his paddles to stick to rock and not let the raft move ahead in the river.

Fate versus Free Will

The river has a certain width. There may be certain rocks distributed over its width.

“The position of the raft in the river is analogous to the collective consciousness or life events presented to a person at that stage of life. This is fate.”

“Free will is the ability of the person to traverse through the various possibilities that are available across the width of the river.”

“This free will can enable a person to maneuver through the river through that part (with fewer rocks) that does not damage his raft.”

Rebirth

The evolution of life on earth may need several births. This is analogous to a person moving over a raft from the origin of the river to it getting merged in the ocean. This whole journey is generally not possible in one go. The person on the raft breaks his journey in several stages. In each stage, he enters the river in a raft (incarnates in the physical body) and flows through life events until he reaches his intermediary stopping point (death). Then he takes a rest for some time on the banks of the river. This is analogous to the time after the death of the person when he is in a non-physical plane. In this plane, evolution is not possible. Evolution is possible only when the person is flowing over a raft in the river. Thus, he incarnates again in the physical plane and traverses further in the river to reach his next stopping point (death). This process continues till the person reaches the part of the river that finally merges with the ocean. At this point, the journey is finally completed.

Conclusion

This article explained the evolution, fate, and free will in terms of river rafting. The stage of evolution is analogous to the position within the length of the river where the person is doing river rafting. Fate is analogous to the various rocks present at that point on the river while free will is the ability given to the person to maneuver through the various possibilities that exist across the width of the river at that given position. This evolution takes several lifetimes to complete and in each life, there is a specific purpose with which a person is born. But the eventual goal is to merge with the ocean i.e. individual consciousness become one with the supreme consciousness.