Is life free will or destiny?

Are we all bound by our own fate or destiny? Can we change things by our will and self-effort? What is the secret of going beyond destiny without fighting it? To what extent do we have control over it?

Destiny vs free will or self-effort is an interesting quandary that has befuddled humanity for generations. Is everything predetermined or do we have a role to play? There are an equal number of proponents on both sides and there is also an in-between view that holds that both destiny and individual effort play a role. There are several different permutations and combinations in this absorbing debate.

One view opines that everything depends on fate, everything is predetermined. Brahma is the fate-giver or the creator who writes the destiny of each one and the future is predetermined. It cannot be changed. Everything we do is also prearranged. Interestingly, those who believe in destiny also believe in astrology.

The exponents of free will believe that with the effort we can bring about change. Everything is not predetermined and we can strive to make a difference in our lives and surroundings.

If you have ever been confused by such questions the teachings of sage Vasistha to Lord Rama will clear all your doubts. Here is a brief recount of it:

In this world whatever is gained is gained only by self-effort. Where Failure is encountered it is seen that there has been slackness in the effort. This is obvious, but what is called fate is fictitious, and is not seen. Self-effort is that mental, verbal, and physical action that is in accordance with the instruction of a holy person well versed in the scriptures. It is only by self-effort that Indra became King Of Heaven, that Brahma became the creator, and the other day deities earned their places.

Self-effort is of two categories: that of past births and that of this birth, the latter effectively counteract the former. Fate is none other than the self-effort of a past incarnation. There is constant conflict between these two in this birth and that which is more powerful triumphs.

Self-effort which is not in accordance with the scriptures is motivated by delusion. When there is an obstruction in the fruition of self-effort one should examine it to see if there is such deluded action, and if there is, it should be immediately corrected.

There is no power greater than right action in the present, hence one should take recourse to self-effort and overcome evil by good, and fate by present effort.

One should never yield to laziness but strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is ebbing away every moment. If this dreadful source of evil named laziness is not found on earth, who will ever be illiterate and poor?. It is because laziness is found on earth that people live the life of animals, miserable and poverty-stricken.

One who says “fate is directing me to do this” is a fool, and the goddess of fortune abandons him. Hence by self-effort acquire wisdom and then realize that this self-effort is not without its own end but in the direct realization of the truth.

As is the effort, so is the fruit, this is the meaning of self-effort, and is also known as fate. When afflicted by suffering people cry “Alas, what tragedy, or Alas, look at my fate”, both of which mean the same thing. What is called fate or divine will is none other than the action or self-effort of the past. The present is infinitely more potent than the past. They indeed are fools who are satisfied with the fruits of their past effort and do not engage themselves in self-effort now.

Sometimes it happens that without effort someone makes a great gain: for eg., a mendicant becomes the ruler of the country. This is certainly neither an accident nor some kind of divine act, but the fruit of the mendicant’s self-effort in the past birth. Sometimes it happens that a farmer’s efforts are made fruitless by a hailstorm; surely the hailstorm’s own power was greater than the farmer’s effort and so the farmer should put forth greater effort now. He should not grieve over the inevitable loss. If such grief is justified, why should he not weep daily over the inevitability of death? The wise man should of course know what is capable of attainment by self-effort and what is not. It is ignorance however to attribute all this to an outside agency (God).

One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and engage oneself in righteous self-effort and reach the supreme truth, knowing that self-effort alone is another name for the divine will. That alone is self-effort that springs from the right understanding that manifests in one’s heart which has been exposed to the teachings of the scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.

Fate or divine dispensation is merely a convention that has come to be regarded as truth by being repeatedly declared to be true. If this God or fate is truly the ordainer of everything in this world, of what meaning is any action, and whom should one teach at all? In this world except for a corpse, everything is active and such activity yields its appropriate result. No one has ever realized the existence of a fate or divine dispensation. For example, if an astrologer predicts that a young man would become a great scholar, does that young man become a scholar without study? No. Then, why do we believe in divine dispensation?. Rama, this sage Visvamitra became a Brahma-rishi by self-effort; all of us have attained self-knowledge by self-effort alone. Hence, renounce fatalism and apply yourself to self-effort.

***

Thanks for reading!

Excerpts from “The Supreme Yoga — Yoga Vasistha”