Freedom of choice comes only with the freedom of the chooser || Delhi University (2020)

Questioner: Sir, youngsters often rebel against rules and regulations in the name of freedom of choice, or freedom of expression. The list of complaints is long, and all have one bottomline: ‘My life, my rules’. What do ancient wisdom and Vedanta say on this issue?

Acharya Prashant: You see, when you say choice, you are referring to the options that you have in the external world, right? Whether you want to have pizza or paratha (Indian flatbread), whether you want to follow this religion or that faith, whether you want to go with that person or this person, whether you want to keep your hair long or short—that is the kind of freedom of choice we usually refer to. We say, “I am a free person, so I must have the right to do as I please. So, I will decide what I want to say, I will decide where I want to stay, I will decide what I want to read, I will decide what I want to eat.” That is the philosophy, the premise on which the entire argument is built. But let’s look at it a little deeply for a moment.

Who is making the choice? Is the chooser really free? Who is the choice-making agency? Can we look at that agency? Can we look at that point from where the choice comes? Is the decision-maker really free to make the choice? What does it mean to be really free? It means to be free of, unencumbered of prejudices, past,