Life..Mystic Ecstacy (Contd.)
As a follow up to my last blog....
I have been thinking more about "Life" and the big scheme of things.
Two big 'truths' of life karma vs. destiny.
Look at the two..from one viewpoint they seem hand in hand and from another they seem contradictory to each other. If everything is pre-destined then the "karma" philosophy doesnt make sense, because then your very "actions" are not really in your control. That beats the whole "Karmanyevaadhikaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana.." - the essence of the BhagavadGita. Because if you never have control over your actions in reality and you will end up doing exactly what you should, be it right or wrong, then the whole "Arjuna dilemna" situation becomes a farce. Would God really want us to live in such a farce..?!
What do I think..?..hmm....again I dont have one right answer in my head but I can make a guess.
My guess is that Karma and Destiny are both true as a package together, not as individual entities.
Destiny: A very high level definition of how things will work.
Karma : A more day to day method of defining things at the granular level.
To elaborate more there might be a pre-defined grand scheme of things..the ice age, the dinosaurs, the meteor strikes, volcanoes etc. But there are many phenomenon that arise from man's "karma" (foolish karma in this case) like earthquakes caused by dams and reservoirs or other man-created high pressure zones, climatic disruption caused by pollution, hurricanes, tidal waves and other manifestations of nature's fury in response to man's foolish doings or karma!
This is still at a higher level, where the actions of a specific group of individuals affects the entire planet or even the universe at large. At a more day to day level, our own day to day doings and un-doings are I guess very much in control. We too have a destiny governing us but my guess is that it is not set in stone, instead there is room for us to steer our destiny by virtue of our actions or "karma". Thus life to us becomes more meaningful and gives us a sense and purpose of being. We always have God to fall back on..to ask for help..to vent our woes to. But as long as we are doing the "right" things and have our "karma" justified, we can rest assured.
Now why do I keep saying "God". Why do I keep referring to God as "he". Am I one of those believers in male-supremacy even when it comes to deities?! Well, those who know me might say a maybe for the deities part, but the male-supremacy part they would surely say "No! Thats not her!". That is quite right..I just use 'he' as a generic pronoun not really gender specific. As far as God..I believe there is a supreme governing power for this whole universe. There is a force we can never defy. There is one single governing entity which is there for us to take care of and get taken care of in return..call it nature, call it God, give it any name you want. I firmly believe in that one single all powerful entity!! I bow to that power. I call it God..Shakti in Hinduism..Want to give it a gender? Well, here you go, both nature and Shakti are referred to in the feminine. (Should I be honest and add that this to me is a secret feeling of gratification ;D For those of you familiar with the Da Vinci Code, it is the Sacred Feminine, the supreme power!)
I have been thinking more about "Life" and the big scheme of things.
Two big 'truths' of life karma vs. destiny.
Look at the two..from one viewpoint they seem hand in hand and from another they seem contradictory to each other. If everything is pre-destined then the "karma" philosophy doesnt make sense, because then your very "actions" are not really in your control. That beats the whole "Karmanyevaadhikaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana.." - the essence of the BhagavadGita. Because if you never have control over your actions in reality and you will end up doing exactly what you should, be it right or wrong, then the whole "Arjuna dilemna" situation becomes a farce. Would God really want us to live in such a farce..?!
What do I think..?..hmm....again I dont have one right answer in my head but I can make a guess.
My guess is that Karma and Destiny are both true as a package together, not as individual entities.
Destiny: A very high level definition of how things will work.
Karma : A more day to day method of defining things at the granular level.
To elaborate more there might be a pre-defined grand scheme of things..the ice age, the dinosaurs, the meteor strikes, volcanoes etc. But there are many phenomenon that arise from man's "karma" (foolish karma in this case) like earthquakes caused by dams and reservoirs or other man-created high pressure zones, climatic disruption caused by pollution, hurricanes, tidal waves and other manifestations of nature's fury in response to man's foolish doings or karma!
This is still at a higher level, where the actions of a specific group of individuals affects the entire planet or even the universe at large. At a more day to day level, our own day to day doings and un-doings are I guess very much in control. We too have a destiny governing us but my guess is that it is not set in stone, instead there is room for us to steer our destiny by virtue of our actions or "karma". Thus life to us becomes more meaningful and gives us a sense and purpose of being. We always have God to fall back on..to ask for help..to vent our woes to. But as long as we are doing the "right" things and have our "karma" justified, we can rest assured.
Now why do I keep saying "God". Why do I keep referring to God as "he". Am I one of those believers in male-supremacy even when it comes to deities?! Well, those who know me might say a maybe for the deities part, but the male-supremacy part they would surely say "No! Thats not her!". That is quite right..I just use 'he' as a generic pronoun not really gender specific. As far as God..I believe there is a supreme governing power for this whole universe. There is a force we can never defy. There is one single governing entity which is there for us to take care of and get taken care of in return..call it nature, call it God, give it any name you want. I firmly believe in that one single all powerful entity!! I bow to that power. I call it God..Shakti in Hinduism..Want to give it a gender? Well, here you go, both nature and Shakti are referred to in the feminine. (Should I be honest and add that this to me is a secret feeling of gratification ;D For those of you familiar with the Da Vinci Code, it is the Sacred Feminine, the supreme power!)