Fate and Free Will
I was in Bangladesh last few days. What a country! Makes you reflect about many things. I was not at all in reflecting mood and was quite busy chasing government officials to get my file moving but still the newspaper headlines, the appalling disparity and general life style of people made me think about fate.
One gentleman in Dhaka described fate to me in the following manner; if you are born as a bull in the upper part of Ganges then you are worshipped and if you are born as a bull in lower part of Ganges then you are killed and eaten and that's fate for you. How true! Am I not lucky to be born in India and not in a country where one third of the females are married before the age of 15? I have been given education and freedom to choose my work and yet I get pissed when my parents object to my wearing some dress which is not conforming to social standards of "their" (I have stopped considering myself as part of that one) society. If you can detect the paradox in my previous comment then no need to feel like a genius. It was meant to be like that. However, the point is not the paradox of my life but the very fact that where people are born decides their fate to a large extent. Well, sometimes you have to take a bullet in your head and change the fate as Malala did but most of us are slaves to our fate.
I was born as a Hindu and am told that whatever I have got is mostly because of my past lives' 'Karma'. As per our astrologers, we keep getting reincarnated till the time we attain 'Nirvana'. This is not like judgement from God but it is something like Newton's law of action and reaction. Few say that soul chooses their path on earth even before we are born. The sufferings and learnings are all part of our greater journey to attain the state where we are one with our creator. All this talk is fine with me till the time I don't suffer pain and anguish of human life. Will I understand soul's journey if I were to be a 14 year old bride in Bangladesh? I have my doubts on the same.
However, I feel that all of us have 'free will' but very few choose to use it. We are a product of our choices. Our lives are result of the choices we made and things we did or didn't do. We do have capability to make different choices and change our situations. But this four letter 'F' word is the greatest factor in our being the way we are. FEAR, fear of failing, fear of unknown, fear of losing and even fear of gaining. We are so comfortable in our familiar surroundings that we don't exercise our Free will at all.
The same choices and subsequently actions will lead to the same results. All of us know it but how many dare to change. I, for sure, do not have the courage to venture into the unknown. I am stuck and the very knowledge that I have the power to change my fate but I don't have the courage to make choices different than my previous ones is making me feel frustrated. However, this knowledge is first step for me. I am willing to change and feel more satisfied with my own self. So, though they say that 'my stars' are not favourable for me. I feel that I have all the power to change my fate and that I have free will and that's all that is needed. Isn't it?
One gentleman in Dhaka described fate to me in the following manner; if you are born as a bull in the upper part of Ganges then you are worshipped and if you are born as a bull in lower part of Ganges then you are killed and eaten and that's fate for you. How true! Am I not lucky to be born in India and not in a country where one third of the females are married before the age of 15? I have been given education and freedom to choose my work and yet I get pissed when my parents object to my wearing some dress which is not conforming to social standards of "their" (I have stopped considering myself as part of that one) society. If you can detect the paradox in my previous comment then no need to feel like a genius. It was meant to be like that. However, the point is not the paradox of my life but the very fact that where people are born decides their fate to a large extent. Well, sometimes you have to take a bullet in your head and change the fate as Malala did but most of us are slaves to our fate.
I was born as a Hindu and am told that whatever I have got is mostly because of my past lives' 'Karma'. As per our astrologers, we keep getting reincarnated till the time we attain 'Nirvana'. This is not like judgement from God but it is something like Newton's law of action and reaction. Few say that soul chooses their path on earth even before we are born. The sufferings and learnings are all part of our greater journey to attain the state where we are one with our creator. All this talk is fine with me till the time I don't suffer pain and anguish of human life. Will I understand soul's journey if I were to be a 14 year old bride in Bangladesh? I have my doubts on the same.
However, I feel that all of us have 'free will' but very few choose to use it. We are a product of our choices. Our lives are result of the choices we made and things we did or didn't do. We do have capability to make different choices and change our situations. But this four letter 'F' word is the greatest factor in our being the way we are. FEAR, fear of failing, fear of unknown, fear of losing and even fear of gaining. We are so comfortable in our familiar surroundings that we don't exercise our Free will at all.
The same choices and subsequently actions will lead to the same results. All of us know it but how many dare to change. I, for sure, do not have the courage to venture into the unknown. I am stuck and the very knowledge that I have the power to change my fate but I don't have the courage to make choices different than my previous ones is making me feel frustrated. However, this knowledge is first step for me. I am willing to change and feel more satisfied with my own self. So, though they say that 'my stars' are not favourable for me. I feel that I have all the power to change my fate and that I have free will and that's all that is needed. Isn't it?
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