Does destiny determine who comes to spirituality and who doesn’t?
Any other question? So what role does destiny play in us coming to know about spirituality, about the paths of yoga? Actually, destiny determines what happens to us. Free will is how we respond to what happens to us. Some people have the idea that destiny means everything in life is controlled.
That is a misunderstanding. See, destiny, we could understand it in an approximate way, is that we could consider destiny like a like a road map, or a weather forecast. Say, if a plane is going to, say, go from here to New York, then before it starts off itself, the weather forecast is given.
Okay, here we are going to have some turbulence, here there is calmness, here the temperature is very cold, whatever. So now, like that, in our life, our life does not begin with birth. We are souls.
And as souls, we have existed in previous lives. And based on the way we have lived in our previous lives, certain karma has been done, and its reactions are going to determine the trajectory of our life. But still within that, we have choices.
So, the path that we will we will meet in our life journey, that is fixed. But how I respond in that path, that is up to me. So, for example, say, if a person gets into a particular plane from here to go to New York, now for the next, say, two hours, or one hour, whatever it is, the person is going to be in that plane.
But what they do in one hour, that is up to them. Suppose, they talk with their neighbor, and they find, okay, that person is a businessman, and they make a business contract. They may have a big business contract, by the time they come out.
Or, if someone tries to do some, you know, someone tries to do some stunt, and they get into trouble with the law, they come out, and the policeman is handcuffed. Handcuffs will be waiting for them. They might just go to sleep, and they will do nothing.
And one hour just goes like that. So, like that, destiny determines the broad circumstances of our life. But what we do with those circumstances is up to us.
And so, that means, with respect to specifically the situation, yes, those who get the opportunity to know about the path to God, they are fortunate. But, those who take that opportunity, they are intelligent. So, actually, a fortune comes to many.
Yes, it may not come to everyone, you may say like that, but it comes to many. No, actually, if a person wants to turn towards God, the Bhagavad Gita tells, sarvasya chaham hrdi sannivishto, that Krishna is present in the hearts of everyone, and Krishna will take that person to the right path. So, you know, we should focus on doing our part.
If we have a desire to know about God, then it is God's responsibility to guide us to a place where we will come to know about Him. So, now, at what particular time, who will come to know about God, that may vary. So, what we should see is that if we have come to a particular spiritual path, that means, it is our fortune.
But if we take it up, that is our intelligence. So, by destiny, we may get fortune. It's like sometimes some people are born to very wealthy parents.
So, by destiny, they got their wealth. But if they are not very responsible, if they are very profligate in spending money, then they may lose it all. So, again, what I said, what we have is not as important as what we do with what we have.
So, we have got a spiritual opportunity to know about God, about spirituality, and then we take that opportunity, that is our intelligence. Does it address your question? Yes.