From Ramana Maharishi
"The ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabda karma. Whatever is destined not to happen, will not happen. Try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen, will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent."
http://arunachala.blogspot.com/
here's the wiki page.
The wiki page also has a set of links to the salient schools of Hindu thought. Definitely worth reading for anyone interested.
5 comments:
Destiny is a broad concept, no? Many people take destiny as a fallback when things go wrong in life.
Destiny does exist. It exists in the experiences that are presented to us. However what you do about that experience is in your hands.
We shape our own destiny. Our future is shaped by our actions in the present.
“Being silent” - I think should only apply to taking the decision to deal with the experiences in our life at any point.
Having hope for the future, having dreams and working towards them is still a must.
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you . ... my 2 cents/paise in response ..... based both on enquiry and observation
"Destiny is a broad concept, no? Many people take destiny as a fallback when things go wrong in life. "
-- one man's excuse may be anothers insight :-), but excuses abound, and insights are silent.
"We shape our own destiny. Our future is shaped by our actions in the present. "
-- May be presumptuous, n'est ce pas? Most things we experience are contingent to external factors aligning or misaligning - and that includes our own actions at any point. Makes one wonder - how much control do we have anyway. Think about this - your actions at any point in time function within bands of probability - probability that is created and defined by stimulus which is beyond you.
"
Having hope for the future, having dreams and working towards them is still a must."
-- Your hopes, dreams etc are a function of inspiration. Inspiration and the motivation that follow are both variable. Motivation can either be reinforced or be destroyed by circumstances.
"May be presumptuous, n'est ce pas? Most things we experience are contingent to external factors aligning or misaligning - and that includes our own actions at any point. Makes one wonder - how much control do we have anyway. Think about this - your actions at any point in time function within bands of probability - probability that is created and defined by stimulus which is beyond you."
But....your actions and attitudes are always in your contol no matter what the stimulus. I believe that we always have a choice in any situation - maybe just a few options but there is always a choice. What we choose defines where our life is headed towards. AND hence we create our own destiny.
I think ones hopes and dreams are always independent of the reality we are living in. Our reality does shade our dreams but even then our hearts and minds have a way of hoping and dreaming that is seperate from our reality.
I think every indivijual should have this capability to dream BIG - no matter what the circumstance at the present moment.
"But....your actions and attitudes are always in your contol no matter what the stimulus."
--- That my friend, is the first delusion. If that were the case, you would demonstrate great consistency in your reactions.
"I believe that we always have a choice in any situation - maybe just a few options but there is always a choice."
--- Yes, there is always a choice that leads you to a path. But the point simply is that what you consider the most compelling option is so clearly based on the sum of your past experiences learnings, which have predecessors. And so the option-choice progression carries on.
Finally I am not trying to convince you of anything. Thank you for responding. However, as an aside, let me draw your attention to something in the realm of physics. First when Newtons laws were verified, people understood that the chain of action-reaction must imply a big bang - which must imply creation. Then, Quantum Mechanics emerged to demonstrate uncertainty and intelligent design went out the window - surely, God could not be playing dice. Then, finally, it was discovered that within the bounds of uncertainty, there was predictability on account of probability - i.e. you could be reasonably certain where a photon would strike the screen in a classical pin-hole experiment.
In effect, scientists and philosophers agreed upon a level of determinism, bringing the discussion full circle. The moment you observe that you have a finite set of choices, you acknowledge determinism. And one of the flavours of determinism is destiny.
Agreed, philosophy is not something anyone can convince anyone else of. Either you feel it or you dont. It is all in the perspective.
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