Acharya Prashant addresses the common confusion between free will, karma, and predeterminism. He clarifies that no authentic scripture or teacher claims that everything in the material world is predetermined. He explains that in the domain of time and space, events are governed by an infinite net of cause and effect, making the future essentially random and impossible for the human mind to predict. While patterns can be observed to make forecasts, absolute certainty does not exist in the physical realm. He emphasizes that the only thing truly predetermined is one's destiny to realize the truth, because one is already the truth in essence. Regarding karma, Acharya Prashant explains that cause and effect are simultaneous. He refutes the idea that the results of actions are deferred to the future or subsequent lives. Instead, he asserts that the state of mind from which an action arises is its own immediate reward or punishment; for example, the state of anger is itself the punishment, not a future consequence. He warns that the belief in delayed consequences allows the ego to justify current mischief. He advises seekers to go directly to primary sources like the Upanishads rather than following uncertified teachers who propagate misleading ideas about destiny and past lives.