Q: Being “masters of our destiny” is mentioned in the article on the purpose of reincarnation. Does that include the two year old child in Haiti, born into extreme poverty and contracts typhoid, malaria and yaws and dies a horrible death? That child is the “master of his destiny” due to free will?
I simply do not grasp this.
It is quite simple, once you shake off the blindness of Western religion and come to understand the truth about the divine status of the Self, its absolute control over everything that happens to it in each lifetime, and the reality of karma–not only as an absolute law, but as a tool wielded by the evolving soul.
The sole purpose of the universe is the evolution of the individual spirit-consciousness. But the cosmos is not some kind of machine into which the spirit is dumped against its will, and subjected to a “sink or swim” situation. Rather, it is governed by very precise laws, all of which are being operated by the Self.
Our particular section of the universe is populated by people who, having made wrong choices (sankalpa), have come into conflict with the cosmos and its purpose. Just as it is not the fault of a wall if we bang our head into it, or the fault of a window if we fall or jump out of it, so it is with the world around us. When we touch fire it burns us–that is the law–but we are not being punished. We are experiencing the ultimately beneficial “mercy” of the universe which is using pain to warn us away from mistaken action.
Learning to turn things around
I have said that our life is fully under our control, and that is so. However, we have made a great deal of wrong turnings and fallen into the quicksand of ignorance and confusion. The resulting suffering is great, but the only remedy is for us to quit making foolish decisions and actions and rectify what we have already done to our detriment.
As with every other aspect of life, the Bhagavad Gita deals with this matter clearly and very concisely. Here is the relevant section:
“Arjuna said: Impelled by what does a man commit evil, even unwillingly, as if urged [commanded] by force?
“This force is desire, this force is anger; its source is the rajas guna. Voracious and greatly injurious, know this to be the enemy.
“As fire is covered by smoke, and a mirror by dust, as the embryo is enveloped by the membrane, so the intellect is obscured [enveloped] by this [i.e., rajas and its two forms of kama and krodha].
“The knowledge even of the wise ones is obscured by this eternal enemy, having the form of desire, which is insatiable fire.
“The senses, the mind and the intellect are said to be its abode; with these it confuses [deludes] the embodied one, obscuring [or covering] his knowledge.
“Therefore, restraining the senses first, kill this evil thing which destroys knowledge and discrimination [intelligent understanding].
“They say that the senses are superior. The mind is superior to the senses; moreover, the intellect is superior to the mind; that which is superior to the intellect is the Self.
“Thus having known that which is higher than the intellect, sustaining the self by the Self, kill the enemy which has the form of desire and is difficult to conquer.” (Bhagavad Gita 3:36-43)
Most human beings have developed a form of schizophrenia in which the true Self and the body, emotions, mind, and intellect have become estranged by the arising of the negative ego which usurps the natural kingdom of the Self. Just as a person with multiple personality disorder is unaware of the “other” personalities, so it is with us.
Although the Self and the “lesser self” have become disconnected to a great degree, the Self is still fundamentally in command, and so it does all it can to awaken its alienated levels so reintegration can be accomplished–in the manner indicated by the Gita. Because of our present status, pain and suffering are usually the only things that get our attention. So yes, the baby is born in terrible conditions and suffers accordingly. Even though it may not understand on the conscious level what is going on, a subliminal conditioning is taking place that will eventually surface in a future incarnation. In the meantime, between lives the individual becomes aware of what is going on during material incarnation, analyzes it, and arranges its next birth(s) accordingly. Consequently only benefit results, however long it takes for that to become obvious to us.
Conscious evolution
There can be no end to this karmic dilemma without an intentional, conscious, and thorough restructuring of consciousness. And this is accomplished only through yoga, as it is the only way to follow Krishna’s instructions to Arjuna. This does not mean that the individual cannot bring about a marked degree of relief by other means, but until the knowledge of Yoga is gained the process cannot be completed and the freedom from pain made permanent. As the great Master Paramhansa Yogananda used to say: “Yoga is the beginning of the end.”
Further Reading:
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