The following is an account of Sage Vasistha to Rama from the famous "Yoga Vasistha". It is interesting to note what the Sage has said to Rama, since it directly deals with the oft confusing
and irreconcilable opinions on the topics of "fate", "free will", and whether everything is pre-ordained and all is just progressing according to a set "course"....
Ofcourse, the reader should keep in mind that the topic of discourse here is actually on "liberation" and the "attainment of the supreme", but it is clearly applicable to every aspects of our action in life. Every action that we choose to do in life and its potential outcome.
Here goes :-
O Rama, listen to what I am about to say, which instruction is sure to remove the darkness of ignorance. In this world, whatever is gained is gained only by self-effort; where failure is encountered it is seen that there has been slackness in the effort. This is quite obvious; but, what is called fate is fictitious and that is not realized ( or seen).
Self-effort, Rama, is that mental, verbal and physical action which is in accordance with the instructions of a holy person well versed in the scriptures. It is only by such effort that Indra became Kind of heaven, Brahma became the creator, and the other dieties earned their place.
Self-effort is of two categories: that of past births and that of this birth. The latter effectively counteracts the former. Fate is none other than self-effort of a past incarnation ( or the outcome
of past life efforts). There is constant conflict between these two in this incarnation; and that which is more powerful triumphs !
Self-effort which is not in accord with the scriptures is motivated by delusion. When there is obstruction in the fruition of self-effort one should examine it to see if there is such deluded action, and if there is it should be immediately corrected. There is no power greater than action in the present. Hence, one should take recourse to self-effort, grinding one's teeth and one should overcome evil by good and fate by present effort. The lazy man is worse than a donkey. One should never yield to laziness but strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is ebbing away every moment. One should not revel in the filth known as sense pleasures.
One who says, "Fate is directing me to do this," is brainless, and the goddess of fortune abandons him. Hence, by self-effort acquire wisdom and then realise that this self-effort is not without its own end, in the direct realisation of the truth.
If this dreadful source of evil named laziness is not found on earth who will ever be illiterate and poor? It is because laziness is found on earth that people live the life of animals, miserable and poverty-stricken.
As is the effort so is the fruit, O Rama: this is the meaning of self-effort, and it is also known as "fate" (divine will). When afflicted by suffering , people cry, "Alas, what tragedy" or "Alas, look at my fate" both of which mean the same thing. What is fate or divine will is nothing other than the action or self-effort of the past. The present is infinitely more potent than the past. They indeed are fools who are satisfied with the fruits of their past effort ( which they regard as divine will) and do not engage themselves in self-effort now.
If you see that the present self-effot is sometimes thwarted by fate ( or divine will), you should understand that the present self-effort is weak. A weak and dull-witted man sees the hand of providence when he is confronted by a strong and powerful adversary and succumbs to him.
Sometimes it happens that without effort someone makes a great gain: for eg., the state elephant chooses ( in accordance with ancient practice) a mendicant as the ruler of a country, whose king suddenly died without leaving an heir; this is certainly not an accident nor some kind of divine act, but the fruit of the mendicant's self-effort in the past birth.
Sometimes it happens that a farmers efforts are made fruitless by a hailstorm; surely, the hailstorms own power was greater than the farmers effort and the farmer should put forth greater effort now. He should not grieve over the inevitable loss. If such grief is justified, why should he not weep daily over the inevitablility of death ? The wise man should of course know what is capable of attainment by self-effort and what is not. It is , however, ignorance to attribute all this to an outside agency and to say that 'God sends me to heaven or to hell', or that 'an outside agency makes me do this or that'. Such an ignorant person should be shunned.
One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and engage oneself in righteous self-effort and reach the supreme truth, knowing that self-effort alone is another name for divine will. We only ridicule the fatalist. That alone is self-effort which springs from right understanding which manifests in ones heart which has been exposed to the teachings of the scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.
With a body free from illness and mind free from distress, one should pursue self-knowledge so that one is not born again here. Such self-effort has a threefold root and therefore threefold fruit - an inner awakening in the intelligence, a decision in the mind and the physical action.
Self-effort is based on these three - knowledge of scriptures, instructions of the preceptor, and one's own effort. Fate ( or divine dispensation) does not enter here. Hence he who desires salvation should divert the impure mind to pure endeavour by persistent effort- this is the very essence of all scriptures.
The Holy ones emphasize: persistently tread the path that leads to the eternal good. The wise seeker knows: the fruit of my endeavours will be commensurate with the intensity of my self-effort alone and neither fate nor god can ordain it otherwise. Indeed, such self-effort alone is responsible for whatever man gets here; when he is sunk in unhappiness, to console him people suggest that it is his fate. This is obvious: one goes abroad, one appeases on'es hunger; by undertaking a journey and by eating food - not on account of a fate. No one has seen such a fate, but everyone has experienced how an action ( good or evil) leads to a result (good or evil). Hence , right from ones' childhod, one should endeavour to promote ones true good ( salvation) by a keen intelligent study of the scriptures, by having the c ompany of the holy ones and by right self-effort.
Fate or divine dispensation is merely a convention which has come to be regarded as truth by being repeately declared to be true. If this god or fate is truly the ordainer of everything in this world, of what meaning is any action (even like bathing, speaking or giving), and whom should one teach at all ? No. In this world everyting, except a corpse, is active and such activity yeilds its appropriate result. No one has ever realised the existence of a fate or divine dispensation. People use such expressions as "I am impelled by fate or divine dispensation to do this", for self-satisfaction, but this is not true. For example, if an astrologer predicts that a young man would become a great scholar, does that young man become a scholar without study ? No. Then why do we believe in divine dispensation ? Rama, this sage Vishwamitra, became a Brahma Rsi by self-effort, all of us have attained self-knowledge by self-effort alone. Hence, renounce fatalism and apply yourself to self-effort.
Rama asked: Lord, you are indeed the knower of truth. Pray, tell me what do people really call god, fate or daivam ?
Vasistha replied: The fruition of self-effort by which one experiences the good and evil results of past action is called fate or daivam by people. People also regard that as fate or daivam which characterises good and evil nature of such results. When you see that "this plant grows of this seed", it is regarded as an act of this daivam. But I feel that fate is nothing but the culmination of ones own action.
In the mind of man are numerous latent tendencies, and these tendencies give rise to various actions - physical, verbal and mental. Surely, ones actions are in strict accordance with these tendencies, it cannot be otherwise. Such is the course of action: action is non-different from the most potent amont latent tendencies, and these tendencies are non-different from the mind. One cannot definitely determine whethere categories like mind, latent tendencies, action and fate (daivam) are real or unreal: hence, the men of wisdom have alluded to them symbolically.
Rama asked:
Holy sir, if the latent tendencies brought forward from the previous birth impel me to act in the present, where is freedom of action ?
Vasistha replied:
Rama, the tendencies brought forward from past incarnations are of two kinds - pure and impure. The pure ones lead you towards liberation, and the impure ones invite trouble. You are indeed consciousness itself, and not inert physical matter. You are not impelled to action by anything other than yourself. Hence you are free to strengthen the pure latent tendencies in preference to the impure ones. The impure ones have to be abandoned gradually and the mind turned away from them little by little, lest there should be violent reaction. By encouraging the good tendencies to act repeatedly, strengthen them. The impure ones will weaken by disuse. You will soon become absorbed in the expression of the good tendencies, in good actions. When thus you have overcome the force of the evil tendencies then you will have to abandon even the good ones. You will then experience the supreme truth with the intelligence that rises from the good tendencies.
The cosmic order that people refer to as fate, daivam or niyati and which ensure that every effort is blessed with appropriate fruition is based on omnipresent and omnipotent omniscience ( known as Brahman). By self-effort, therefore, restrain the senses and the mind, with a mind that is one pointed calmly listen to what I am going to say.
[The rest of the discourse deals with liberation and various other related topics]
----------
It is therefore clear from the above discourse that while some of our actions ( through our inherent/latent tendencies) are motivated by past impressions, the present actions are quite potent in overcoming the outcomes of past actions. Ofcourse, if the past actions were towards the impure and were quite strong, your inherent tendencies themselves would be such that it might be difficult for you to steer your present actions towards the pure. Conversely, if your past actions were pure then your current efforts towards pure actions should be quite "effortless" so
to say.
My next article will talk on why astrology needn't be considered as something fatalistic and pretty much fits in very well with the wisdom given above.
and irreconcilable opinions on the topics of "fate", "free will", and whether everything is pre-ordained and all is just progressing according to a set "course"....
Ofcourse, the reader should keep in mind that the topic of discourse here is actually on "liberation" and the "attainment of the supreme", but it is clearly applicable to every aspects of our action in life. Every action that we choose to do in life and its potential outcome.
Here goes :-
O Rama, listen to what I am about to say, which instruction is sure to remove the darkness of ignorance. In this world, whatever is gained is gained only by self-effort; where failure is encountered it is seen that there has been slackness in the effort. This is quite obvious; but, what is called fate is fictitious and that is not realized ( or seen).
Self-effort, Rama, is that mental, verbal and physical action which is in accordance with the instructions of a holy person well versed in the scriptures. It is only by such effort that Indra became Kind of heaven, Brahma became the creator, and the other dieties earned their place.
Self-effort is of two categories: that of past births and that of this birth. The latter effectively counteracts the former. Fate is none other than self-effort of a past incarnation ( or the outcome
of past life efforts). There is constant conflict between these two in this incarnation; and that which is more powerful triumphs !
Self-effort which is not in accord with the scriptures is motivated by delusion. When there is obstruction in the fruition of self-effort one should examine it to see if there is such deluded action, and if there is it should be immediately corrected. There is no power greater than action in the present. Hence, one should take recourse to self-effort, grinding one's teeth and one should overcome evil by good and fate by present effort. The lazy man is worse than a donkey. One should never yield to laziness but strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is ebbing away every moment. One should not revel in the filth known as sense pleasures.
One who says, "Fate is directing me to do this," is brainless, and the goddess of fortune abandons him. Hence, by self-effort acquire wisdom and then realise that this self-effort is not without its own end, in the direct realisation of the truth.
If this dreadful source of evil named laziness is not found on earth who will ever be illiterate and poor? It is because laziness is found on earth that people live the life of animals, miserable and poverty-stricken.
As is the effort so is the fruit, O Rama: this is the meaning of self-effort, and it is also known as "fate" (divine will). When afflicted by suffering , people cry, "Alas, what tragedy" or "Alas, look at my fate" both of which mean the same thing. What is fate or divine will is nothing other than the action or self-effort of the past. The present is infinitely more potent than the past. They indeed are fools who are satisfied with the fruits of their past effort ( which they regard as divine will) and do not engage themselves in self-effort now.
If you see that the present self-effot is sometimes thwarted by fate ( or divine will), you should understand that the present self-effort is weak. A weak and dull-witted man sees the hand of providence when he is confronted by a strong and powerful adversary and succumbs to him.
Sometimes it happens that without effort someone makes a great gain: for eg., the state elephant chooses ( in accordance with ancient practice) a mendicant as the ruler of a country, whose king suddenly died without leaving an heir; this is certainly not an accident nor some kind of divine act, but the fruit of the mendicant's self-effort in the past birth.
Sometimes it happens that a farmers efforts are made fruitless by a hailstorm; surely, the hailstorms own power was greater than the farmers effort and the farmer should put forth greater effort now. He should not grieve over the inevitable loss. If such grief is justified, why should he not weep daily over the inevitablility of death ? The wise man should of course know what is capable of attainment by self-effort and what is not. It is , however, ignorance to attribute all this to an outside agency and to say that 'God sends me to heaven or to hell', or that 'an outside agency makes me do this or that'. Such an ignorant person should be shunned.
One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and engage oneself in righteous self-effort and reach the supreme truth, knowing that self-effort alone is another name for divine will. We only ridicule the fatalist. That alone is self-effort which springs from right understanding which manifests in ones heart which has been exposed to the teachings of the scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.
With a body free from illness and mind free from distress, one should pursue self-knowledge so that one is not born again here. Such self-effort has a threefold root and therefore threefold fruit - an inner awakening in the intelligence, a decision in the mind and the physical action.
Self-effort is based on these three - knowledge of scriptures, instructions of the preceptor, and one's own effort. Fate ( or divine dispensation) does not enter here. Hence he who desires salvation should divert the impure mind to pure endeavour by persistent effort- this is the very essence of all scriptures.
The Holy ones emphasize: persistently tread the path that leads to the eternal good. The wise seeker knows: the fruit of my endeavours will be commensurate with the intensity of my self-effort alone and neither fate nor god can ordain it otherwise. Indeed, such self-effort alone is responsible for whatever man gets here; when he is sunk in unhappiness, to console him people suggest that it is his fate. This is obvious: one goes abroad, one appeases on'es hunger; by undertaking a journey and by eating food - not on account of a fate. No one has seen such a fate, but everyone has experienced how an action ( good or evil) leads to a result (good or evil). Hence , right from ones' childhod, one should endeavour to promote ones true good ( salvation) by a keen intelligent study of the scriptures, by having the c ompany of the holy ones and by right self-effort.
Fate or divine dispensation is merely a convention which has come to be regarded as truth by being repeately declared to be true. If this god or fate is truly the ordainer of everything in this world, of what meaning is any action (even like bathing, speaking or giving), and whom should one teach at all ? No. In this world everyting, except a corpse, is active and such activity yeilds its appropriate result. No one has ever realised the existence of a fate or divine dispensation. People use such expressions as "I am impelled by fate or divine dispensation to do this", for self-satisfaction, but this is not true. For example, if an astrologer predicts that a young man would become a great scholar, does that young man become a scholar without study ? No. Then why do we believe in divine dispensation ? Rama, this sage Vishwamitra, became a Brahma Rsi by self-effort, all of us have attained self-knowledge by self-effort alone. Hence, renounce fatalism and apply yourself to self-effort.
Rama asked: Lord, you are indeed the knower of truth. Pray, tell me what do people really call god, fate or daivam ?
Vasistha replied: The fruition of self-effort by which one experiences the good and evil results of past action is called fate or daivam by people. People also regard that as fate or daivam which characterises good and evil nature of such results. When you see that "this plant grows of this seed", it is regarded as an act of this daivam. But I feel that fate is nothing but the culmination of ones own action.
In the mind of man are numerous latent tendencies, and these tendencies give rise to various actions - physical, verbal and mental. Surely, ones actions are in strict accordance with these tendencies, it cannot be otherwise. Such is the course of action: action is non-different from the most potent amont latent tendencies, and these tendencies are non-different from the mind. One cannot definitely determine whethere categories like mind, latent tendencies, action and fate (daivam) are real or unreal: hence, the men of wisdom have alluded to them symbolically.
Rama asked:
Holy sir, if the latent tendencies brought forward from the previous birth impel me to act in the present, where is freedom of action ?
Vasistha replied:
Rama, the tendencies brought forward from past incarnations are of two kinds - pure and impure. The pure ones lead you towards liberation, and the impure ones invite trouble. You are indeed consciousness itself, and not inert physical matter. You are not impelled to action by anything other than yourself. Hence you are free to strengthen the pure latent tendencies in preference to the impure ones. The impure ones have to be abandoned gradually and the mind turned away from them little by little, lest there should be violent reaction. By encouraging the good tendencies to act repeatedly, strengthen them. The impure ones will weaken by disuse. You will soon become absorbed in the expression of the good tendencies, in good actions. When thus you have overcome the force of the evil tendencies then you will have to abandon even the good ones. You will then experience the supreme truth with the intelligence that rises from the good tendencies.
The cosmic order that people refer to as fate, daivam or niyati and which ensure that every effort is blessed with appropriate fruition is based on omnipresent and omnipotent omniscience ( known as Brahman). By self-effort, therefore, restrain the senses and the mind, with a mind that is one pointed calmly listen to what I am going to say.
[The rest of the discourse deals with liberation and various other related topics]
----------
It is therefore clear from the above discourse that while some of our actions ( through our inherent/latent tendencies) are motivated by past impressions, the present actions are quite potent in overcoming the outcomes of past actions. Ofcourse, if the past actions were towards the impure and were quite strong, your inherent tendencies themselves would be such that it might be difficult for you to steer your present actions towards the pure. Conversely, if your past actions were pure then your current efforts towards pure actions should be quite "effortless" so
to say.
My next article will talk on why astrology needn't be considered as something fatalistic and pretty much fits in very well with the wisdom given above.
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