ramana maharshi and destiny
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 22:39:46 -0700
i finished ramana maharshi last week, and had some things that have been bothering my mind lately. it's about destiny.
now, sri bhagavan believes that everyone has destiny, and of course, he did say that those who think they can just sit there and do nothing because their actions are predestined, make the wrong assumption that they know what their destinies are. i can accept that, and throughout the book, his arguments are really good, i like them. but i myself has never been a believer of destiny. as much as i believe that god exists, i also believe that we have been given free will, that we CHOOSE our actions, we DECIDE what we want to be, and thus we have FULL CONTROL of our destiny.
why do i believe this?
the idea of such a thing as a predestined life and course of actions to me leads to confusions, if not contradictions. first, sri bhagavan DID say that we don't know what our destinies are so we can't assume that if we sit there and do nothing, destiny will take its course and move us somehow. but LET'S SAY that we DO know what our destinies are. then what? here's an example. say i am destined to die on november 13th. it is something that is predestined, and i KNOW it. keep in mind that we're assuming i KNOW what my destiny is. well, being a jerk who is a strong believer of free will, i want to change my destiny. i don't want to die on november 13th. the easiest way to change my destiny is to kill myself before then. if i die sometimes earlier than november 13th, that means i have successfully proven that destiny (or fate) is a false concept. well, on august 1st, i got myself a handgun. i chose a place where there will be no distraction, no outsider interference made possible, no nothing, just me and the gun. i have made sure that the gun works perfectly. then i aimed the gun at my head, from point blank, and shot myself. BAM. now let's see what happens.
1. if destiny is a FALSE concept. then i will die. enough said.
2. if destiny is NOT a false concept. then i will NOT die. but then, how will this be possible, provided that i have chosen a place where there will be no distraction, no outsider interference made possible, no nothing, just me and the gun? will the bullet then somehow MISS my head, defying all physical law? but that's an impossibility. if laws can be defied at instances like that, then it will not be a law. say 300 people want to change their fates and decide to die like what i have done. will then be 300 exception of the newton physical laws? if we keep increasing the number, then we will no longer have any physical law. but this obviously doesn't make sense.
let's take a look at another example. ASSUME i KNOW that i am destined to win a nobel prize because of a paper i published during my 4th in college (which will be 2006). then because, again, i am a jerk and i want to not conform to my fate, i decided to NOT publish the paper, nor write it, nor thought about writing it. IF my actions are predestined, then somehow, there will be a chaotic sandstorm or whatever that will move my hands and fingers accordingly to type this ---let's say--- 80 pages paper that will eventually win a nobel prize. but what are the chances of that? if everyone in this world KNOWS about their fate and decides not to conform to it, that means if all the happenings in this world all this time have been in accordance to fate, then they have happened BY CHANCE. if that's true, then WOW, that sounds like too many things happening by chance. WAAAAY too many.
to put it in the context of sri bhagavan's argument, BUT WHAT IF WE DO KNOW OUR FATES? will unimaginable things occur just so that destinies can be fulfilled?
i finished ramana maharshi last week, and had some things that have been bothering my mind lately. it's about destiny.
now, sri bhagavan believes that everyone has destiny, and of course, he did say that those who think they can just sit there and do nothing because their actions are predestined, make the wrong assumption that they know what their destinies are. i can accept that, and throughout the book, his arguments are really good, i like them. but i myself has never been a believer of destiny. as much as i believe that god exists, i also believe that we have been given free will, that we CHOOSE our actions, we DECIDE what we want to be, and thus we have FULL CONTROL of our destiny.
why do i believe this?
the idea of such a thing as a predestined life and course of actions to me leads to confusions, if not contradictions. first, sri bhagavan DID say that we don't know what our destinies are so we can't assume that if we sit there and do nothing, destiny will take its course and move us somehow. but LET'S SAY that we DO know what our destinies are. then what? here's an example. say i am destined to die on november 13th. it is something that is predestined, and i KNOW it. keep in mind that we're assuming i KNOW what my destiny is. well, being a jerk who is a strong believer of free will, i want to change my destiny. i don't want to die on november 13th. the easiest way to change my destiny is to kill myself before then. if i die sometimes earlier than november 13th, that means i have successfully proven that destiny (or fate) is a false concept. well, on august 1st, i got myself a handgun. i chose a place where there will be no distraction, no outsider interference made possible, no nothing, just me and the gun. i have made sure that the gun works perfectly. then i aimed the gun at my head, from point blank, and shot myself. BAM. now let's see what happens.
1. if destiny is a FALSE concept. then i will die. enough said.
2. if destiny is NOT a false concept. then i will NOT die. but then, how will this be possible, provided that i have chosen a place where there will be no distraction, no outsider interference made possible, no nothing, just me and the gun? will the bullet then somehow MISS my head, defying all physical law? but that's an impossibility. if laws can be defied at instances like that, then it will not be a law. say 300 people want to change their fates and decide to die like what i have done. will then be 300 exception of the newton physical laws? if we keep increasing the number, then we will no longer have any physical law. but this obviously doesn't make sense.
let's take a look at another example. ASSUME i KNOW that i am destined to win a nobel prize because of a paper i published during my 4th in college (which will be 2006). then because, again, i am a jerk and i want to not conform to my fate, i decided to NOT publish the paper, nor write it, nor thought about writing it. IF my actions are predestined, then somehow, there will be a chaotic sandstorm or whatever that will move my hands and fingers accordingly to type this ---let's say--- 80 pages paper that will eventually win a nobel prize. but what are the chances of that? if everyone in this world KNOWS about their fate and decides not to conform to it, that means if all the happenings in this world all this time have been in accordance to fate, then they have happened BY CHANCE. if that's true, then WOW, that sounds like too many things happening by chance. WAAAAY too many.
to put it in the context of sri bhagavan's argument, BUT WHAT IF WE DO KNOW OUR FATES? will unimaginable things occur just so that destinies can be fulfilled?
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