Free Will and Fate

Free will relates to our exercise of will while performing actions in the present, whereas fate is the sum total of the effect of past actions that influence our present life. Exercise of free will in the past becomes our fate in the present. In a broader sense, free will and fate are not separate; they are, in fact, one as they are both grounded on the exercise of free will.

Fate or destiny is conventionally described thus: whatever has to happen will happen and one can do nothing to change the course of predestined events. This is irrational. Many of us do take up challenges and fight our way out of situations.Once we accept that everything is dictated by fate, we will remain passive, adopting the path of least resistance. We wait for things to happen rather than make things happen. We need to look at obstacles as opportunities and overcome them.

Life would become boring for a person if he knew his future.He would be left with no imagination, no will power and an unused intellect. Free will means action guided by wisdom and intuition, not doing anything indiscriminately .

Can the effect of bad karmas be reduced or obliterated?
When a person surrenders to God, renounces the fruit of his actions and offers them to God, then no fate operates for him.When he rises towards perfection, then his free will merges with the divine will, and God works through him as he has surrendered before Him. Ramana Maharshi asks, what could fate do if you give up? Then, when a passive man proposes, God disposes.