Are our life paths predetermined by a higher power

Bijenti Irengbam *

We have a personal life, professional life and family life where we get maximum happiness or sadness from, while dealing with our family members. One might have thoughts like 'What did I do for myself ?'

There are numerous ways in which we can be led astray into pursuing goals that are unrelated to our basic requirements. Many people identify with their physical body. But the body is simply a covering of the self, like a garment. It is the vehicle by which we, consciously, express ourselves in this world. The eye does not see, the ear does not hear, and the flesh does not feel.

It is consciousness that sees, hears and feels. When consciousness leaves the body, the body is inactive, like a vehicle without a driver. When we look at photos of our childhood, it is fairly easy to recognize how we are distinct from the changing physical body. We are the life force that animates that body.

In Platonism, the meaning of life is in attaining the highest form of knowledge, which is the Idea (Form) of the Good, from which all good and just things derive utility and value. Aristotle's solution is the Highest Good, which is desirable for its own sake. It is its own goal. The Highest Good is not desirable for the sake of achieving some other good, and all other "goods" desirable for its sake.

Arthashastra says, 'This science brings into being and preserves spiritual good, material well-being and pleasures, and destroys spiritual evil, material loss and hatred' (15.1.72) Arthashastra as a generic term refers to the science of politics, Government, and economics, while the Arthashastra attributed to Kautilya is a single text, a compendium of advice for a king, combining much technical information on the running of a kingdom with a good deal of thought on the subject of human psychology.

The Purusharthas have been classified in four—Dharma, Artha, Madana, Kama,and Moksha.

Dharma has always occupied the premier place. Dharma is law in its widest sense—spiritual, moral, ethics and temporal. Every individual, whether the ruler or the ruled, is governed by his or her own Dharma. Dharma contains values of love, justice, equality, devotion to God, loving action, commitment to the welfare of humans as well as to the harmony of the universe and action without selfish attachment.

These values go beyond the boundaries of religions and culture. Life is stressful and empty when we are unaware of our destinies, for no amount of wealth, food, or entertainment can fill us like a tiny grain of purpose. The Vedic tradition asks, "Why chase after different destinies, when it is hard enough to find your own?" Artha follows Dharma. Artha has a much wider significance than merely wealth".

The material well-being of individuals is a part of it. As Kautilya says, 'The Source of the livelihood of men is wealth'. Professor Trautmann's book 'Kautilya the Arthashastra' reminds us that artha, material well-being, is one of the three or four classical goals of life and it is subordinate to Dharma, moral well-being. We experience the phenomenon of "lift" in our everyday life also.

Some ways of thinking and acting drag us down, while others uplift us and lead to optimal outcomes. Dharma is what we might call the phenomenon of "lift" in life, when our state of being is elevated, and our thoughts, words and actions come from the very best place within us. To manifest Dharma is to live in accord with the hidden laws of life – akin to the principles of flight in aeronautics.

Suffering can be either physical or mental or both, but every kind of suffering manifests somewhere in the body and creates tension and stress. We are told that we should release the tension in our body. Many of us have tried very hard ! We want to release the tension in our body, but we can't release it. Our attempts at reducing tension in us won't work. Consciousness is not a thing; it is nothing material !

Yet it is everything, and these things, as we shall see, are perspectives within consciousness looking at its own Self from infmitely different points of view. Some philosophers said that the purpose of life is living a life of Virtue that agrees with Nature. Happiness depends upon being self-sufficient and master of one's mental attitude; suffering is the Dharma including duty, religion, religious merit, morality, social obligations, justice, righteousness, and the law— the good life.

Jnana Margam is one of Hinduism's three fundamental paths (Margas) to Moksha (liberation), emphasizing the 'road of enlightenment' also known as 'self realization'. Jnana is the Sanskrit word for 'knowledge' and it relates to any mental event that is true and accurate over time. The Purusharthas are the 'goals of human existence' or the 'Soul's purpose' as they are referred to in Vedic writings and the major epics of the Ramayana and Mahabharatha.

Madana is frequently represented in Indian mythology as the deity of Love. Madana is the source of everything that is born. Nothing happens without love, from birth to death. The law of karma is a complex law. It works in several ways. So karma is a law of Action and Reaction. The law of karma is a universal law and holds good for everybody. Nobody can escape this law.

Today world believes that what goes around comes around. Karma is not punishment or retribution but simply an extended expression or consequence of natural acts. Everything that is unfolding in our life, moment by moment, is karma. Can we change the present circumstances of our life ?

Things happen and we wonder why they happen, we laugh, we cry, things and our outlooks change with the passing of time, we see and evaluate and the same situation differently. Thus we evolve, and in evolving we change. For example, if we are thirsty and we need to drink, we should try to purify it and make it fit for drinking. We have a great desire to know from where the right action happens.

The right action always looks known because it is a repeated action, passed through many times before. Life has its moments of harmony and its moments of pain. Some of the painful memories fade into unawareness and yet they are still part of reality, and can affect us whether we are conscious of them or not.

Karma, when we talk of karmic healing, consists of resolving painful real life memories that we remain connected to like a trail of hurt left behind in the forgotten darkness of yesterday. Kindness makes the world go round, because everything we do come around.