Free Will Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair

Free Will

Rating: 4.7


Oh Teacher, you taught me
This phenomenal of mine
Is the result of ignorance
Primal and beginningless

Then you taught
I could, I needn’t
And I could differently
Isn’t what you taught
Ignorance again
Beloved Sage
For it all is in the phenomenal?

Then, tell me, Sir
Why all these intelligent brains
Gray as well as green
In our midst do overtime
To substantiate or refute
A fallacy born of darkness absolute?

They do so every year
Like pollen fever every spring
No topic ever has attracted
So many colourful writings
So differently distracted

Phenomenal is an appearance
You did thunder
In our yearning ears
Isn’t free will seeming, Sir
May I add a rejoinder?
Don’t take me a pretender

A world seems to erupt
In all its myriad colours
Before my eyes
As I move as the Lord
Pulls the unseen strings
A puppet show
Where I am nothing
Yet I think I have something!
Ignorance of the sublimest kind!

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Penned in 2010, this poem tends to suggest that the free will we boast of is perhaps only seeming and that there is only one free will - the will of the Lord but we foolishly appropriate ownership to it.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Dave Walker 08 March 2015

A great poem, people view free will in different ways.

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Kumarmani Mahakul 08 March 2015

A world seems to erupt In all its myriad colours Before my eyes As I move as the Lord Pulls the unseen strings..........nicely envisioned. A beautiful poem really you have composed. Many thanks Nair sir.

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Rajesh Thankappan 10 March 2015

I feel density and free will go hand in hand and are interwoven into each other’s fabric. This is the belief I have stated in my poem entitled ' Divine Fate, ' too. I feel if everything is destined, controlled and programmed by God - what is the need of this creation after-all? Everything could have been fine without it. Then there comes the question of emotions. Why emotion should be assigned the role of making us happy, sad, angry, sorry etc. etc., if they have defunct of any purpose. My take is that emotions assume a role in order to guide us on our journey towards God. So, within the limitation of destiny there is room for maneuvering too. Moreover, our senses too are alive and active and they do not react in a set programmed way. For e.g. two or more people may not necessarily react to an identical situation in the same way. This should not have been so had everything been programmed beforehand. A beautiful though provoking poem.

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Rajesh Thankappan 16 March 2015

Rajendran ji, I feel very privileged for this open, free and frank, and inquisitive discussion with you. I thank you and PH for providing this wonderful opportunity and platform for free exchange of views. Coming back to the poem, I think, there is nothing called absolute truth and truth itself is relative to the standpoint we view it from. Here, by the by, I am also reminded of the poem ' The blind men and the elephant, ' by J.G. Saxe where six blind men describes the elephant differently and though they were partially right they were all wrong. I don't mean we all are wrong, but all I want to say is that there is a great opportunity before us to explore deep into our soul.

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Kelly Kurt 07 April 2015

This is an exceedingly difficult subject to expound upon, and you have done so with the grace, wisdom and intellect we have come to rely on from you. I have done much investigation and research on the topic and studied great philosophers, neuro-scientists and religious scholars. And although I have not come to any conclusion, I respect you and add your views to my total knowledge.

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Nosheen Irfan 19 July 2016

A great philosophical write. Being a fatalist, I agree with the philosophy put forward in this poem. The last verse is very significant. After all, man for all his knowledge, is still trying to find truth.

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Clarence Prince 05 July 2015

Yet I think I have something. Good thinking! As we all have something! Thanks for sharing, Madathil!

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A puppet show Where I am nothing..10 A PUPPET FIGHTING WITH FATE BUT SOON TO BE LATE WITH NO EXTENSION OF DATE

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Mehta Hasmukh Amathalal 29 April 2015

A puppet show Where I am nothing, , , nice lines...10 yes puppet show where we grow at someone's grace with smile on face

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To the concept of free will The good God bears no ill will But the law of Karma will operate And we then call it our bad fate......... A good write on a very deep and perplexing issue....

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