28. "Making Choices"; Destiny and the Power of Free Will

"Lovely days don't come to you, you should walk to them."
~Rumi

On this path you will invariably be exposed to statements about free will (or “self effort”) and destiny. You will no doubt contemplate this as you observe more and more of your experiences to have been predetermined or synchronous instead of random and unrelated. Perhaps this is already the case.

Some who state that they know the Truth and claim to teach it will say that every experience is predestined and that there is nothing that you can do to change it. They will say that all you have thought or done is merely conditioning, a program, and that you have no effect on the program. 

Under this line of thought what then is an “enlightened” one, such as them? They will say “awakening” comes through pure chance or pure grace, with no "personal" intervention or role in the awakening. The logic is that in this infinite world there is every thing and every thought, and this then must include one who is enlightened, who has awakened from the dream and knows the Truth. Even this, they say, was predetermined. They just happened to be the one who was destined to wake up.

A purely materialistic scientific view leads us to this same place. We may say that we believe in science but the top scientists have come to string theory and hologram theory as the "unifying theories" of the universe. These views leave precious little room for the concept of free will. We have discussed these early on, if we revisit for just a moment we see that in both theories the universe is thought to be part of vast and infinite multiverse, with an infinite number of parallel universes, each of which are also infinite just as is our universe. According to the theories in this multiverse anything that can happen does happen somewhere.

Again this means that every individual event or person that we observe is an infinitesimal part of the infinite universe(s) of countless names and forms. According to the philosophy that accompanies string theory your form and predisposition are random; not only this but there are infinite “you(s)”, each perhaps just a little different from the other. Under a popular (amongst quantum physicists and cosmologists) concept of this there is a new universe and a new “you” with every single choice. No choice is really made, it just appears to be and both possible results happen (one in this universe, one in another). Playing out hologram theory leads us to a similar place, except that the names and forms are images only and the information defining them is the only reality. 

These ideas seem quite far-fetched but with a purely materialistic view they will appear to be the only logical explanations for what we observe. From this view life seems to be random and unfair.

As a practical matter you may consider something like this. You think that you have free will. How do you exercise your free will? Let's say that you think that your choice of a meal is free will. You order a Greek salad. How is it that this choice is free will? Have you considered that the choice of Greek salad is already in your subconscious mind? You think it's free will, but that thought is part of your program. From inside us, in our subconscious mind, comes the thought, "I have not had Greek salad in some time and I hear that they have a great one here", and we follow it. We are following what our mind tells us, is this choice free will? When we pick red shoes and a red purse, isn't it because we like it and think that we will look good with it? If we are hungry and are offered beans but turn them down isn't it because we don't like beans? Aren't we just following our likes and dislikes then? How is this free? 

What we tend to call free will is the following our own mental view, our own conditioned program, and this is not really freedom. We are, instead, just following our program. Through introspection and analysis of all of our thoughts and actions in this same way we’ll see that substantially every thought we have and most every decision we take is a low level programmed decision. We made the choice because we were destined to; it was not a choice.

This argument is so eminently logical that the great Saint Augustine fell for it many years ago. Before he Self realized he played the role of a bad boy and was quite caught up in it, as he tells in his book “Confessions”. He was drawn into a cult in which the belief was that every thought and every action in the world was predestined. With this line of logic there is no sin and everyone is simply acting out their own nature. According to the logic there is nothing wrong and all is to be accepted, including all of your own thoughts and actions. Not so many years later, however, he did see inside at a deeper level and he found Christ in his heart. From there he taught of choice and free will although with a deep understanding of what the term "free will" actually means.

So many want to know their fate. “Will I be married, will I have children?” “Will I be a millionaire?” “When will I die?” We turn to astrology, palm reading, tarot, etc. in order to know our destiny.

On the other side of the spectrum is the concept that all have complete free will. Under this concept any action is chosen of one’s own free will and through self-effort. If one sins they should know better, therefore they own full responsibility for their action.

Based upon deep objective analysis of our experience this argument does not stand up in the same way that the predestination argument does. It is not, for example, consistent with what materialistic science observes and this concept should also be considered against what we see in our own mind.

Our mind is not a blank slate. It is clearly predisposed to certain desires, thoughts and beliefs that are unique from the desires, thoughts and beliefs of others. We like some things and dislike others. Others like what we don't and don't like what we do. Taking the time to understand the actions of a murderer we see that there was repetitive thought about murder prior to the act. In society this is called premeditated murder. The thoughts may have originated many years prior. Another person has no such thought and therefore does not commit murder. Thoughts, then, are the culprit and the cause of the act. One has such thoughts and another does not. Both persons act out their thoughts; the difference between them is in the nature of their thoughts.

Why does one have murderous thoughts and the other not? This has to do with their character, and again character comes from our thoughts, conditioned by past experience. 

Clearly, then, there is some aspect of predestination, or at least a strong predilection towards a particular thought or action. The question about the murderer, for example, can move from “why did he/she commit murder?” to “why did he/she have recurring thoughts about committing murder?” This line of inquiry is fruitful, although in our rush to judgment it is rarely pursued.

Those who perpetrate heinous acts do so because they are locked in a prison of heinous thoughts. From the outside it is not so clear how these thoughts became prevalent, in fact it typically does not appear that the perpetrator intentionally brought them in to their mind. The predisposition existed prior to the thought. Certainly, at a minimum, the tables are turned towards some predetermined fate.

So, is there really self-effort or does there just seem to be? 

As I write this I note that for the past four days the topic of Swami Premananda Ji’s Yoga Vasishta class has been destiny and self-effort. I share his teaching now and share that this is completely consistent with my own experience and observation. I view it as being as true as anything in the world can be.

First, clearly there is destiny, and it is a powerful force. The entire universal show is a play of destiny. Everything and every force has its direction set and will continue on its course unless and until the course is changed by an even more powerful force. The course continues through apparent birth and death; both being apparent doorways through which all of these infinite characters in the world make their entrances and exits. Destiny is cause and effect playing out. Every action has a cause and there is nothing “random” in the world.

Thought, word and deed are the forces that set actions in motion. A persistent thought becomes word, then action, and then an action has repercussions (reaction). From the action comes again thought, and from the new thought action once again. The two dance continuously intertwined, first one moves and then the other, never separate.

We see this, and we have talked about it above in the example of the murderer. If you look at your own thoughts and actions you will see the same. You think that you will look better with a certain hairstyle. You look in the mirror, you imagine yourself with the new hairstyle, and the thought is reinforced. It continues in this way until the thought manifests as action, and then you have your new hairstyle. Diet is the same. You think you are fat, or skinny, or need to work on a particular aspect of your body. The desire for a new job is the same. You think you need a new job for such and such a reason, the mind continues to bring the idea back and re-enforces it with thoughts about your current job making you unhappy for this or that reason. You don’t have enough money, or enough respect, whatever. Finally the thought fructifies and you take action on it. Thoughts are all powerful; they are the creator of the actions we observe and participate in.

The force of destiny, then, is seated inside your mind and all minds including the cosmic mind, from which your mind is not separate. The seed of destiny is the tendency that exists within your mind. Tendency is a preset reaction towards a certain experience when circumstances call the tendency forward. An example of this is that you walk past a Greek restaurant and a tendency within your mind calls forth a thought. The thought may be, “I got sick the last time I went to a Greek restaurant”, in which case you will then think, “I’m going to keep walking”, or you may think, “that’s the only time I’ve gotten sick from eating Greek food and I love it, I should go again”. Whatever thought comes next is as a result of the tendency in the mind only. It comes, it plays out as action.

Where did the tendency come from? This is a wonderful question, for this leads us back to the concept of self-effort. It came from your memory; habits that are deeply engrained. It came from past actions and choices that you made. Scientists will say “DNA”, psychologists will say “childhood” and Vedantins will say, “your repeated choices, thoughts and actions over countless births including this one”. All of these thoughts come from previous experience, going back to sources long past. To think that someone else is the cause of pain, or that someone else punishes us, is misunderstanding. Whatever happens to us we ourselves caused in time past.

We can change destiny by changing our thoughts. You see, you have the ability to catch the thoughts as they come, to recognize them, and to take a different course of action. It is not easy, but your intellect gives you this power. The subconscious mind will bring forth ideas as per your program; it is simply a storehouse of "Vasanas", or tendencies. On the other hand the intellect allows one to analyze and through analysis it is possible to “see” the acting out of tendencies, from here one can make changes. Change the thought and the act changes. Change the diet the mind is fed and the thought is bound to change. This last, regulation of the diet of the mind, is known as the practice of Yoga. Once the thought is changed the action is also changed and a new destiny plays out.

We can of course ride the wave of destiny. It carries us; it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Every thought carries us to the next thought; the thoughts carry us to the next action. This is the world that we see, it is made up of these thoughts fructifying (becoming action) and continuing on as a wave. This is called the wheel of Samsara, or birth-and-death. It goes on and on, it is never ending. Father time (destiny itself) carries it.

But, as it relates to you and to each individual, destiny can be changed. We spoke earlier of Swami Sivananda’s saying about tendency becoming thought, thought habit, habit character and character destiny. Through self-effort, applying our effort at the very root of the tendencies, we can change our destiny. We must start at the root, the cause of the particular thoughts that we have, if we wish to change our character and our destiny. In this way we can do it, we can also say that this is the only way to do it. Here we speak of taking control of ones life, which is to be done by taking control of one’s own mind.

Destiny and self-effort, then, are opposing forces. Destiny is the force of the past and self-effort is the force of the present. Prior self-effort is what brought you to this moment; current self-effort is what will carry you forward. Choosing to follow only the thoughts of the mind, to “ride with destiny” is a choice, and choosing to change your course is a choice. Choosing whether to exert and exercise free will is a choice. Make no mistake though; following the river of destiny is a bumpy and terrible ride. You have much evidence of this already. It is far better to exert, to strive to awaken and to find our source for in our source there is rest and joy. Our source is heaven, attachment to the terror filled road of Samsara is hell.

Here I share a lovely quote from yesterday’s class; “A man is measured by his thought process.”

In the battle between destiny and self-effort whichever is stronger will win over the other. It is important to note that fate, or destiny, is not constant. Sometimes it is strong and sometimes it is weak. This is what we see in the world; continuous change. First hot then cold, first good then bad, first strength then weakness. Our minds are the same; they are the source for what we see. In turns we feel happy then sad, aggressive then passive, angry then apologetic. We all see this restlessness; a turning from one state to another. Our minds are this way and the world is this way. A continuous force applied to a discontinuous object always wins, and this is the key for employing self-effort.

Our own effort must be continuous. It must be regular, every day. If one is to practice meditation it is far better to sit for even ten minutes every morning than it is to sit one day for four hours and then not again for a few days or a week. Pranayama practice, if it is taken on, should be every day. A yogic diet will help to bring the mind to a more controllable state (Sattva, or purity), but for it to work it needs to be maintained. Abidance with scriptural injunction, such as Yamas (Ahimsa, as an example) and Niyamas is incredibly beneficial, but it must be continuous. If one does take a day off from their practice one must immediately come back to it. If we do not do so destiny wins this particular round of the battle and our challenge becomes steeper.

Continuous self-effort works wonders and there is no impossibility with continuous self-effort. Jesus Christ tells us that the one of steady faith (which is gained only through continuous self-effort) can say to the mountain “move” and it will move. This same concept is taught in all of the traditions.

Swami Premananda Ji again; “If one does continuous self effort there is nothing in this world which cannot be done. Even if you do very little but do it every day it will have effect. Continuation is a greater force than effort which is strong one day and weak the next. With continuous effort you will achieve. If one fails to achieve their goal discontinuity is the cause for failure. Continuity is the cause for success. Do not stop for even one day.” If one’s goal is to know Truth, to be with God, to be forever happy and balanced, the way is the same. The paths are many, but the gate narrow at the end of the path. To make it through the gate one must finally be continuously focused on the Divine. In the Christian tradition this is called “prayer unceasing”, in the eastern tradition there is continuous mental repetition of Mantra (“Japa”).

Whatever you wish to do you may accomplish through applying this method. If you want to change, if you want true happiness, if you want to know God, you may do so. Self-effort is the way. It will be a battle though; do not be surprised about this. Old thoughts and old patterns will crop up and old behaviors will continue because of them unless subverted in the subconscious mind. In your life there have been so many seeds sown and these seeds sprout and grow, manifesting with great power. Do not fall in to the belief that nothing can be changed however; all can be changed through the one’s self-effort.

Since self-effort is harder than riding the wave of destiny, why not wait for some time until circumstances are better? Time marches on, our bodies get frail and the longer we wait the steeper our challenge becomes.

On the grand road to union, to happiness or heaven, it is best to start beneficial self-effort even from childhood if possible, from the earliest that we know of proper behavior and the power of positive thinking. The earlier the better lest destiny continue to become more solid and be harder to change. It is of course never too late to start or to come in to alignment with the Love Divine told of by the scriptures and the great teachers. The only way to walk through the desert is to get up every morning and take more steps. If we don’t take our necessary steps suffering continues, it is this simple.

Is there no end to self-effort? Will we always have to work in this way? Yes, there is an end to self-effort. When the end goal is reached self-effort is complete. Action continues, but the self-effort spoken of here is over and relief is known.

There are four keys to success that apply to any situation, to any challenge faced and to any goal one has:

1. Patience. Do your absolute best, then wait as long as is required.
2. Renunciation. Absolve yourself of the results and accept what comes.
3. Self-confidence. Know that you can do whatever you choose. Keep in mind the sayings of the great teachers.
4. Regularity. Be continuously engaged towards the goal.

Self-effort, then, is quite literally the reprogramming of one’s own mind. There is a program in it from birth and we have continued to add to the program since we took this birth, typically in unintended ways. We do not know what will be the impact of what we think, say and do. It is the program that is acting out on the world stage; to change actions, reactions, patterns and destiny our sole recourse is to change the program. If we want positive results (happiness) we must exert intentionally with full understanding of what we are feeding our mind and why we do so. We must do it with full awareness and beneficial intent (for ourselves and for others).

In this way you can do anything, this is the consistent message of this and of all of the great teachers. It is not easy, this is so, and you will be tested along the way. You can do it; there is nothing outside of you that will stop you. Set your goal high; choose peace, choose love, choose happiness. Then, through your own self-effort, walk towards it. Be consistent, be patient, and you shall have what you desire. If you want to know peace and you strive for peace then you shall know peace. Destiny need not stand in your way.

In the words of Sri Swami Sivananda Ji Maharaj, in this way “March forward hero, nil desperandum”.