Do you believe in destiny or do you feel your life is predestined

Hi Folks,

Greetings!  Well do you believe in destiny or do you feel your life is predestined.  Many a times we say that “Oh it was destined to happen or we were destined to meet”. Yes destiny does exist! The only thing that we can control is our own decisions and actions. Destiny is actually beyond our control.

Do we have free will or is our life predestined?

This is a question which often brings about conflicting answers. On the one hand, if everything happens by God’s will, then all acts are already determined by Him, so, where is the room for free will? How can one be responsible for one’s own actions?

On the other hand, act according to what is right, just and beneficial to society. This implies that we have to exercise free will and that we are responsible for the results of our actions.

Instead of seeing these two viewpoints as contradictory, we should rather understand them as mutually complementary. How?

“Life is a game; Play it!” Undoubtedly, the game of life is predestined by God. He has set the scene and the rules, over which we have no command. Nevertheless, within this game we have been allocated the task to play our part. Not only to play, but to play it well. Here is where the exercise of free will comes in. The choice is ours. To play well means to implement Human Values in whatever we do.

Life is a drama directed by God. He has written the scenario and distributed the various roles. From this point of view everything is predetermined. However, the actors of the drama don’t have to stay inactive. Their duty is to play their roles according to the script of the play by exercising their free will. Respectful obeisance to the instructions of the Director will give them the joy of happily reaching the end of the drama when the curtain falls. At that moment, the only thing that really matters is not what the role was about, but whether it has been executed well.

The most important thing is that, while fulfilling the duties of the various roles of the drama, one should always be aware that behind the screen on which the phantasmagoria of life is projected, the Divine Truth lies hidden as the changeless foundation. The ultimate goal is not to remain trapped in the game of life, but to find the consummation of our performance in the realization of Unity with Him. In this Union the question of free will which now puzzles our minds ceases to exist, because there is not anymore an actor different than the Director or a drama in which the actor has to perform. The three become one, and the spiritual seeker experiences the supreme bliss of Oneness. “Ekam eva advitiyam Brahma”, i.e. “Brahma is only One without a second”: this is the final Goal of life.

Here a significant thing has to be added. In order to make our will free and be able to act according to the guidance of the voice of God within, one has to release himself / herself from the bonds that place a limit in his/her actions. Then only can one’s will be free and faithfully follow the instructions of the Director.

Many people say that they became successful in their life because they create their own destiny like becoming a doctor, teacher, scientist, singer, musician, etc. But remember what we have like knowledge, wisdom, skills, are God given gifts to us it is not something we had born with.

We only harnessed or invested on it by proper education, training, seminar, and experience, but if it is not meant for us to be on that path whatever we do it won't happen. like death even do you live a healthy life or you use all your intelligence finding something to prolong life but if you destined to die on that day then it will happen.

“Some students today talk about Free Will. Only the Divine has free will. Man is endowed with a will but not a free will. When the Divine free will moves, the human will also operates. There are myriad leaves in a tree but not a leaf will move in the absence of wind. The leaves have no free will, but they have a will which can be swayed when a breeze blows. In the tree of life, human beings are like leaves. When the Divine Will blows, the human will begins to move. Thus, there is need for the coming together of Divine Will and the human will. Then, there will be a blossoming  of human nature. Man can never achieve anything by his own efforts. There is something which a man accomplishes without much effort on his part. There are other things which he is unable to accomplish even with his best efforts. What is the reason? It is on account of the play of the Divine Will. How the Divine operates may be known from two examples from everyone's experience. The heart beats and the lungs breathe without any conscious human effort. These are the results of the operation of laws of nature according to the Divine Will. There is Nature on one side and human effort on the other. The two should function in unison. When there is such unity you have purity. That purity leads to divinity. These are not three different things, but three stages in the process of a tender fruit achieving ripeness.”

Destiny (Karma) is like the rope that restricts a goat tethered to it, but the goat is not static - it may be moved around a restricted area. The goat is free within certain boundaries. For example, it may decide to eat grass within its scope or starve. It may also be happy about its situation or unhappy about it (its free will).

No, everything is not predestined. There are things which are predestined like sun rises tomorrow in the morning. eclipses are predictable.

You make your own destiny. What you become or what you achieve is a combination of your efforts and the cooperation you get from the environment you live in.

Life is destined. Free will is a consequence of self awareness. The shift to a new consciousness is the understanding that we are living God’s play. The script has been written and always in love. He calls the shots, not us. We are the observers and learners of God in action. God shows us the way. If we open our eyes, we will see everything as his creation. In this perspective there is no judgement. The evolution of consciousness is the intimate walk back to God.

Everything has been destined to happen, we are not making our destiny, destiny creates the choice in our life. We have already been in pre-existing flow of Overall movement of universe. Choosing is happening but chooser is not there, controlling is happening but controller is not there.

They also say, there is no doer but it is illusion that makes us think we are doing.  We have never done anything, we were never the doers.

Supporters of Free Will say: Well, God has given each of us two arms, two eyes, a brain, a life, and the capacity to decide freely whatever we wish. There have been many who were born poor but became rich when they used their time properly. There have been many rich who lost it all on account of being flashy. Those who exercise are the ones who are healthy.  It is we who decide what do we wanna do when. We have free will.

Conclusion: Well, every sensible man, by his conscience, knows that he has free will, and his voluntary actions like 'Decision making' are not like involuntary actions like 'trembling'. On the other hand, every sensible person knows that often things do not occur as we wish. So, what we have is 'Choice'.

We only get the option to choose the best possible solution, but our options are limited. It's neither complete free will, nor complete fatalism. A physically retarded person has different options but still has choice to choose from those options. "It's a matter between two matters".

Parsan Narang

9th November 2016