On destiny and freedom of choice
Often times I wonder:
Where do the freedom of choice in our actions and the inevitability of desitny meet? Can they be reconciled in any logical way?
I have friends who believed in destiny and would say everything is god's will. He will do whatever he wants....But even though Iam a strong believer in God I have very serious problems with this kind of thinking. I dont think being religious should mean being a fatalist or firm believer of inalterable destiny. I find this very simple that if we are responsible for our actions, then we must also be free to choose them in the first place.
In yoga Vashishta, sage Vashistha says this to Rama that ones actions and thinking alone are reponsible for what we will be in future...not the position of planets or anything like that. He gives an example of a baby who had been predicted by astrologers that he would become a great king. If left in the company of thieves, he will become a thief not a king; thereofore, what we become is in our hands not in position of planets or destiny. Our thoughts are the seeds of future action and actions are what we will be held responsible for... hence the importance of pure thought and action!
Further, I read this story in some issue of chandamama( I confess, I STILL like tinkle, chandamama and asterix) :
There was a guy who believed in shiva. He was a great devotee, and once there were floods in his village and everything was getting submerged. His neighbour comes and warns him that the village would soon be flooded, so it would be better to leave the village. To this, our friend replies, shiva will come and protect him. Soon, village is flooded and this man goes to the temple and climbs up and stays there. Few villagers who had a boat come on their way and look at this trapped man and ask him to come with them. Again, our man is supremely confident that shiva will protect him, so asks them to go away. Finally, the waters are about to submerge the temple too, and our man finds a log of wood coming his way. But still, confident that shiva will come, he lets it go. Soon, waters submerge the temple and he drowns.
After death, he goes to Shiva and questions him about his concern for his devotees. He starts of describing how devoted he was and how he trusted that shiva would protect him..and complains in the end that he died because Shiva didnt come to protect him. Shiva listens to all this patiently and says, " My son, I came to you as your neighbour, as the village folk and finally as the log of wood. You wouldn't accept my hand then what could I do? You call yourself a great devotee...but why have you forgotten that Iam there in all living and non living things and can approach you in any form I choose?"
Where do the freedom of choice in our actions and the inevitability of desitny meet? Can they be reconciled in any logical way?
I have friends who believed in destiny and would say everything is god's will. He will do whatever he wants....But even though Iam a strong believer in God I have very serious problems with this kind of thinking. I dont think being religious should mean being a fatalist or firm believer of inalterable destiny. I find this very simple that if we are responsible for our actions, then we must also be free to choose them in the first place.
In yoga Vashishta, sage Vashistha says this to Rama that ones actions and thinking alone are reponsible for what we will be in future...not the position of planets or anything like that. He gives an example of a baby who had been predicted by astrologers that he would become a great king. If left in the company of thieves, he will become a thief not a king; thereofore, what we become is in our hands not in position of planets or destiny. Our thoughts are the seeds of future action and actions are what we will be held responsible for... hence the importance of pure thought and action!
Further, I read this story in some issue of chandamama( I confess, I STILL like tinkle, chandamama and asterix) :
There was a guy who believed in shiva. He was a great devotee, and once there were floods in his village and everything was getting submerged. His neighbour comes and warns him that the village would soon be flooded, so it would be better to leave the village. To this, our friend replies, shiva will come and protect him. Soon, village is flooded and this man goes to the temple and climbs up and stays there. Few villagers who had a boat come on their way and look at this trapped man and ask him to come with them. Again, our man is supremely confident that shiva will protect him, so asks them to go away. Finally, the waters are about to submerge the temple too, and our man finds a log of wood coming his way. But still, confident that shiva will come, he lets it go. Soon, waters submerge the temple and he drowns.
After death, he goes to Shiva and questions him about his concern for his devotees. He starts of describing how devoted he was and how he trusted that shiva would protect him..and complains in the end that he died because Shiva didnt come to protect him. Shiva listens to all this patiently and says, " My son, I came to you as your neighbour, as the village folk and finally as the log of wood. You wouldn't accept my hand then what could I do? You call yourself a great devotee...but why have you forgotten that Iam there in all living and non living things and can approach you in any form I choose?"
posted by atma_tripta at 3:30 PM
2 Comments:
Good point. Now, a person can work hard, be devoted and good. Yet, God can finally change the destiny of that person and the outcome of all his work with a sleight of a hand. This is fair and will be to the advantage of the person in question under two assumptions:
1. God knows everything and hence is justified in making the change because He knows the final outcome.
2. God is always a good being.
Now, the Hindu philosophy grants both these. And so do other philosophies like the Chinese. However, there is both bad and good, darkness and light, left and right in everything we see. So, by extension, there must be the opposite of God with the same powers. Now, what is to prevent him from doing bad? Further, on absolute terms, what advantage does God have that anti-God does not and why should He win in the war between good and bad?
Yes..Infact the concept of Good and Evil does not exist in vedanta. It says its only the ignorance that creates all this confusion. Its similar concept to a Moibus strip...A 3D object with one surface. Therefore, it may surprise you, none of the upanishads talk of sin or good deeds( at least as far as I know;Though they exhaustively go over the concept of knowledge, ignorance etc etc)! Do you remember my earlier post...rope being mistaken for a snake...is there a separate rope and snake in reality?what creates those two separate entities? I will leave you with that! :)
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