I AM THE LORD OF THIS PLACE

 
We have free will to the extent that we choose to remain separated from our true being. There is no other free will besides this. You exercise your freedom either to become his slave or to remain a slave to yourself. That's the only free will you have.

You have heard of the Perfect Master, Ramakrishna, who lived in Calcutta? Ramakrishna was a Perfect Master of his age. Once he gave to his disciples the following figure on free will. A frog lives in a well: he has the freedom of all the well, and he thinks that the well is the whole world.

He says to himself, 'I am the Lord of this place, I am the possessor of all, I can do whatever I wish in this world of mine.' Inside the well the frog thinks that he has free will to do whatever he wishes and to remain as he wants to be. But he does not know that his world is only just a little hole.

So we have our free will, but Baba says our free will is to the extent and limit of that moment when we either consciously seek to realise our true Self, or continue to remain separate from our true Self. That is the important thing Baba has said — you do have your free will; but that free will is to the extent you can exercise your freedom to remain separate from me, your true Self.