Freedom to choose

Rule 29: Destiny doesn’t mean that your life has been strictly predetermined. Therefore, to leave everything to the fate and to not actively contribute to the music of the universe is a sign of sheer ignorance. The music of the universe is all pervading and it is composed on 40 different levels. Your destiny is the level where you play your tune. You might not change your instrument but how well to play is entirely in your hands.

“Everyone believes the world's greatest lie..." says the mysterious old man.

"What is the world's greatest lie?" the little boy asks.

The old man replies, "It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate, by our destiny. That's the world's greatest lie.”

This is an excerpt from one of my favourite book, The Alchemist. I like the way Paulo Cuelho has articulated this concept of destiny or fate. He says that ‘at certain point in our lives’, we lose control and start believing in the greatest lie. This can also mean that we do have control of our lives but ‘at certain point’ we give up.

This notion of destiny is so prevalent in our society that I recently saw status of one of my friends who had written “whatever has to happen will happen”. The role of destiny is quite important in eastern cultures, especially in Hinduism where people believe in ‘fate’ and ‘karma’ so much that they sometimes resign to their circumstances and consider it their fate to suffer. No wonder all the foreigners wonder why Indians live in so much of misery and yet do not become violent against regimens but they keep on smiling. The crime rate in India is much less than in many other countries with similar circumstances. One of the main reasons is that people believe that it is their past life karma or their fate and suffer without too much resistance. 

Since the ancient times man has always wondered if he is the prisoner of fate or he has the option to exercise free will. In monotheistic religions – such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, where the day of judgement plays the pivotal role in shaping people’s moral conduct – ‘free will’ is given a lot of emphasis. Free will is what makes man accountable for his actions; on the judgement day he is judged by the actions he committed through his free will. However, to me, this is not the freedom of being able to choose or exercise free will. Here, along with free will is also the fear of consequences on the judgement day. 

Hinduism has many schools of thought and each has its view about the free will. Some are deterministic and others propose that there is some amount of free will that a man can exercise. Advaita philosophy for instance says that a man does have a free will but the outcome of action decides how much of his past karmas have been into the opposite direction and for how long should he persist to get the desired results. Thus, if you do get an obstacle in your desired path then it is only a gauge offered by fate to determine how much and how long you need to persist to eliminate past Karma and get the desired results in the present life. So on one hand you do have a free will but on the other hand it also suggests that you can’t escape from the consequences of actions of the free will which you have exercised in your past lives. 

Not only in religions and philosophy but in psychology also, the debate about the fate and free will is quite interesting. Psychology, as a science is trying to understand human behaviour and is trying to establish laws to predict human behaviour and how it gets influenced by internal and external factors. They are finding evidences as to how genetics and circumstances shape the choices people make. Certain mental illnesses such as OCD and depression also undermine the notion of free will. However, psychologists  (cognitive and humanists) believe that we do have free will and freedom to choose the path and shape of our lives. Some psychologist Nick Heather proposes soft determinism : where he says that while our behaviour is predictable, that doesn’t make it inevitable. He believes that we can choose how to behave, but normally we only have a limited number of behaviours to choose from.

Shamz, however is offering yet another alternative to look at free will. Like Nick Heater, he also is somewhat deterministic when he says that “you might not be able to change your instrument”. Shamz, also emphasises that how well you play your life is in your hands. In other words, he is urging people to use free will and not surrender to destiny He is not talking about judgement day and how it can open the door to heaven if you use your free will to live a moralistic life. Shamz is more of a view that your present life can sound much more melodious if you choose to play and actively contribute to the “music of universe”. 

Just like Plato, I would equate free will with freedom. Plato says that freedom is a kind of self-mastery, attained by developing the virtues of wisdom, courage, and temperance. This results in one’s liberation from the tyranny of base desires and acquisition of a more accurate understanding. I feel that we have enough free will to choose a path which leads to self-development and wisdom. Similar to Advaita philosophy, we also have a gauge to determine the perseverance and control required to achieve the desired results. 

It is not only that,  I also think that we have free will to choose a different perspective so that we do not suffer when we are faced with adverse circumstances. Here is where Shamz’s rule is so relevant. We may not get the desired instrument but how well (or bad) we play is entirely in our hands. I take it a step further and conclude that it is also entirely in our hands to enjoy the music being played by the universe. This can be done by being in harmony with universe. In this context, I always admire and try to learn from my Dutch friend who is a firm believer in the adage that when life gives you lemons then sweeten the deal by preparing lemonade out of it. When things don’t go his way despite repeated efforts, he doesn’t crib or stubbornly hold on to the desired results. He rather looks at the positives that the situation has bring him and finds alternatives to suit his motives. This makes him a much happier person. The secret of free will is in not only in choosing your own Karma but also be able to choose a different perspective and feel happy. After all, isn’t it happiness that we are all aspiring for?