When people ask about free will and destiny, they often want a simple answer: Do we really have free will, or is everything already determined?

In Buddhism, the answer is more subtle. It’s not that our will is absolutely free, nor that it is completely fixed. Instead, our will can become more free as we progress on the path.

Freedom from Greed, Hatred, and Delusion

Normally, our choices are strongly influenced by greed, hatred, and delusion (and also by fear, craving, and countless subtle habits). When these forces drive us, our will is not really “ours.” But the more we free ourselves from them, the freer our will becomes. And the freer our will, the easier it is to shape our destiny in wholesome ways.

Rising Through the Heavens

Buddhist cosmology describes many heavenly realms. Traditionally, these are seen as places of great enjoyment. But they can also be understood as representing different levels of virtue and refinement of mind. The higher you go, the more freedom your will has—and the more powerful it becomes in shaping reality. (For more about that you can read ➙ This article).

The Five Niyāmas (Laws of Nature)

Another way to look at free will and destiny is through the lens of the Five Niyāmā—the five fundamental laws that govern existence.

1. Utu Niyāma (The Physical Law): This concerns the world of inanimate matter. The more we are at the mercy of physical conditions—heat, cold, natural disasters —the more constrained our will becomes.

2. Bīja Niyāma (The Biological Law): Here we are subject to organic drives. When hunger dominates the mind, or when sexual desire arises due to biological cycles, the will is less free, and more compelled by bodily conditions.

3. Citta Niyāma (The Mental Law): Our thinking itself can be bound. Memories, impressions from the past, and ingrained ideologies may confine the range of our thoughts. Social and professional frameworks can also restrict us—for example, when one must adopt a worldview that justifies one’s trade, whether in weapons, or alcohol, etc. Even the framework of a rigid religious system, can restrict our capacity to “will freely”.

4. Kamma Niyāma (The Law of Karma): This can be seen as the Law of Will as such. Hence it is the Law that is most accurately considered in relation to free will. We can shape destiny according to our knowledge and aspirations. But the results depend on refinement: wise aspirations may bear fruit quickly, while unwise or unrealistic ones may take much longer—or not ripen at all. In regard to this law it is also important to understand that it does not respond to subject, only to object. Which means if you “will” hell for someone, you are the one who will get hell first, and only if the other is near you it might overflow to him also.

5. Dhamma Niyāma (Ultimate Law): Finally, the highest freedom comes in transcending personal will altogether. At this stage, one seeks to understand and align with a greater will or a greater order—the timeless law of reality itself— which is going beyond the cycle of personal karma.

(If you want to read more about the 5 Niyāmā, you can read ➙ This post, or read my book Paramattha. Alternatively there is also a short essay for download in the Books section.)

A Gradual Liberation of Will

From this perspective, free will is not absolute but progressive. At the lowest levels we are heavily conditioned—by matter, biology, and mental habits. Yet as wisdom deepens and virtue grows, the will becomes less bound and more effective. The highest freedom lies not in endlessly shaping one’s personal destiny, but in going beyond the personal altogether, into the freedom of Dhamma.

Three Ways to Make Your Will Freer Today

1. Practice mindfulness. Notice when your choices are being driven by craving, fear, or anger. Awareness loosens their grip and frees the way for a freer will.

2. Simplify your life. Use your will to reduce unnecessary desires, and you’ll find more space for wise decisions and higher intentions.

3. Cultivate virtue. Acts of kindness, generosity, and honesty strengthen a higher, freer form of will and give it more power to shape the future.

Freedom of will is not something to wait for—it grows step by step, every time we make a wholesome choice.