How does God know the future when He has granted us free will?

[Śrī Ganesh asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmiji, Q1) How does God know the future when He has granted us free will? I was thinking about this and I understood it in this manner. As an engineer, when I look at temperature readings of a pump at various points taken at regular intervals, I can predict if the pump is going to malfunction in the near future. Since You are the engineer who created, maintains and destroys us, You can easily predict what will happen. But You have also given us intelligence which is an inherent part of free will to correct problems that we face ourselves. For example, I (the pump) realise that I'm overheating because I am taking too much liquid than I am supposed to, I can choose to either take less liquid or continue to take the same amount of liquid. Since You know my choice You know the consequences of those choices and hence the future. Is this the right way to understand?]

Swāmi Replied:- The knowledge of future mentioned by you that can be known by scientific analysis is within the boundaries of imaginable domain. In this imaginable domain, containing our human lives there are many directions which can’t be predicted by the scientific analysis. There is a subject called Astrology composed by Sages through which future can be known to certain more extent than scientific analysis. By God’s grace a devotee can know more extent of future. This is the reason that why an Astrologer worships God to get more precise knowledge of the future. The main background of the knowledge of the future is that we can worship God to overcome difficulties whenever they are known to come. For a devotee, who worships God always, all this is not necessary. More than this, a devotee worshipping God not aspiring anything in return is the best because God will always protect such devotee since his devotion is true love. Moreover, the real enjoyment of life exists in enjoying both happiness and misery alternatively like sweet and hot dishes in the meals. Such a devotee never aspires anything from God in return except to love God theoretically and practically to please God. The real enjoyment of life exists in not knowing the future and also to have the full freedom given by God within certain limits of human efficiency. This is the reason that why God coming down as human incarnation will also have the same human ignorance in not knowing the future and possessing the same human limited free will.

God enjoys really on the earth under these limitations. Whenever He does a miracle, He breaks His own superimposed layer of ignorance getting self-realisation since the miracle is necessary in carrying His divine programme. Once, the miracle is over, He covers Himself with the same layer of ignorance. It is like wearing helmet whenever necessary. Nobody wears helmet while staying in the home! A police officer wears uniform outside the house to control the public, but, a police officer unable to control his family members wears uniform inside his house also! Such police officer wearing uniform always inside and outside the house will never enjoy the free atmosphere. The false incarnation or a devilish devotee exposes miraculous power continuously to get respect and fear from others. God coming in true incarnation is bored with such respect and fear in the upper world and comes here to enjoy the friendship from devotees in which real love is expressed without any aspiration in return. Friendship-devotion is said to be last but one step in the steps of devotion (Sakhyamātmanivedanam…). Arjuna was an example for this stage of friendship. The last step is total surrender (Ātmanivedanam).

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