This is a topic that has always intrigued me. My friend and I have had a lot of discussions on whether or not there is something called Fate. Well, here are my thoughts..
My belief is somewhere in between "Fate" and "Choice".
I refuse to believe in a world that is entirely predetermined - then what is the purpose of living? Are we just programmed robots? Without choices to make, there is no freedom, no purpose and no sense to life. I like to believe that we have with us the power to decide where our own life goes. If something good happens, it would be because I put in the work or did the right things that made it possible. And at the same time if something bad happens, its because I have not done something right. Fate, destiny, god's will, etc are terms that are quite often used by people who do not want to take responsibility for their own actions.
On the other hand, how many choices we make are open-ended? Truly in our own control? We are not the only variable in every situation. Every choice we make has a lot of external factors. Even our thoughts aren't truly our own!
We are in a way programmed by the kind of psychology we have - which is a combination of our inherent nature (or genes if you like) and partly our experiences/environment. This in turn is dependent on the history of those who raised us and all those who ever interacted with us.
Extending this net from human interaction to human interaction, from generation to generation, my psychology is a product of the history of the whole universe! And so is the case for every individual on this earth, and little green men floating around in space out there.
Now, extending this concept to future, every situation, every personality and every thought would be driven by the same force of history. The choices we made and the people around us made in the past determines what happens now, and that determines what happens in the future. So in a way everything is pre-determined!
This makes me extremely uncomfortable, and squirm in my own seat.
Am I a programmed robot, designed and developed by the phenomenol force of history? Is it the same programming making me write this article? Scary..!!!
Yet, my indominable will and optimism surface. I refuse to hand over my destiny to anybody or anything, however abstract it is. So I found a loophole in history's control over my fate! With a tremendous force of will, I can change myself so drastically that none of my previous life has any relevance to me now.. so then I'll break the chain and start changing my destiny, make it what I want.. and changing my destiny, I can alter the destiny of the world..!!!
4 comments:
Well written- I don't think there's something to be uncomfortable about. I have also seen the whole spectrum of belief systems out there, and experienced them- right from 'things meaning to happen' by default to making things happen...
One thing I do know- everything we experience in our reality is a manifestation of the individual's choice; at a metaphysical, physical, conscious and subconscious levels..and hence, we are responsible for what we choose.
However, as souls (esoterically) when we choose to be born on earth, we prepare a plan or a 'blueprint' which has a gamut of experiences that gives THE opportunity to find out highest potential. But, when we are born eventually, there's a new wildcard-freewill. The experiences that the blueprint has (which you planned out for yourself) will present themselves whenever they need to be, how you choose to react to them, learn from them, live through them is the individual's choice; FREEWILL... :)... so, there's always a HIGHEST POTENTIAL to live to..and there IS Destiny. :)
It is uncomfortable to a person who believes in holding his own reins to his life... and I am that person.. :)
My concern was about how free the so-called FEEWILL actually is..
And don't start with souls.. :) that brings in a whole new realm of dependencies and complications.. :P
@ Ani : Guess ur recent post on helping out the physically challenged anwers ur questions on freewill and birth. Why did you decide to help out? And if it was for your resume, then why did u plan to change the habit of having birthday parties for your friends? Why did the post card arrive at that point of time when you were going thru a cold phase? Why did y pay attention to it? Because at that point you felt empty? So wasn't your action prompted and pre determined? how many of us do what you have done? To be honest, i never have! That means you have pre-determined this action to happen in your life. Or is it because of your upbringing that made you take this action?
The best solution for your question is to seek answers within (more complicated than the soul angle brought in by your friend :). We can endlessly debate on this, a 1000 people will have 1000 view points, but unless you are prepared to seek the true answer, it shall never knock on your door. And if you do seek and answer it, we would never have this discussion :) the path is not easy to track for no one ever goes in to it. People skim on the surface. Like your profile write up. Very profound. Ocean is lovely from the surface, we love the waves and the peace but inside there is a lot more. We all are on the ocean surface, debating, arguing and sharing. I am trying to dive deep, it is a lonely sojourn. and i am asking you to do the same, only if you believe in it. If you have questioned this much and written this much, i am sure you believe in something. Pursue it. be it materialistic, free will or spiritualistic, the answer will beckon, you will hear the knock just as you did sometime back.
We are programmed in a sense ;-) if you see at the end of it all. We go about our lives thinking that we are in control. yet we are agening, why? We at times meet with accident, lose something, why? Everything seems going fine - dollar is poweful all of a sudden crisis happens, why? nothing is stable and permanent, then how can freewill be? Even this rambling of mine is not mine, i just had to share with you at this point in time, for something u asked. But why now? it is pre-determined not this birth, not this time. I have met you long before but we never had any discussion or exchanged anything. But why at this point of time? guess i am very good at digressing ;-)
Ultimately, don;t put the question out to the world, rather travel within, for all the answers are within. Seems like i am ccing from a spiritual text ;-) but then i guess tht is the only solution or way forward.
i was contemplating about the conversation we had with regard to freewill. And you had put up a quite powerful reply :
It is uncomfortable to a person who believes in holding his own reins to his life... and I am that person.. :)
But then, do u have a freewill with regard to death and old age? We accept it as a process of evolution but then do u really want to die and age? In the same manner we were lucky not to be born in poverty so that means we made a predetermined choice. But when and where did we make it? so the soul angle has to come into picture, right?
Going by the above then what do we actually hold in our hands? Yet we think we make the choices because the reins have being given to us for a while. Ultimately somebody comes over and takes control. That's why they say "Let go" ;-) But it ain't easy. Everything you hold on to gets washed away like the story where narada tries to hold on to his earthly possession of family. Similarly in this human birth of ours everything is being washed away, yet we seldom realize that and carry on living. As wine matures with age, wisdom dawns with pursuit. Keep hunting ;-)
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