Destiny??

How much control does one really have over their own destiny?

When we are conceived in the womb we have absolutely no control over who we are, what we will become, and how we will get there. Once born, all that we have to survive in this existence is bestowed upon us. We do not choose our mental capacity, our physical ability, nor our spiritual belief. From this point on all these things are shaped and molded based on our exposure to our environment. Those things which bring us pleasure, we desire, and pursue. Those things which bring us pain, we revile, and seek to avoid. This sequence of pleasure and pain forms who we are. Everything we are exposed to is analysed in our minds on this scale. Our morals, our spirituality, our political beliefs, all things which make us who we are is the result of this sequence of pleasure and pain. We do not have control over what we are exposed to at birth or as we grow into adulthood. Yet, it is these exposures and the subsequent pleasure/pain reactions they create which form the foundation of the continuing path we take in life. In adulthood, we perceive our world against the background of our earliest memories. We add to them a continuous string of pleasure/pain to form what ever adult we are. We cannot break this string, only add to it. We can only add to it, based on future input. Future input is not something we choose. Future input is the result of the prexisting code which makes us. That code takes us to every point in our lives. For example, if one chooses to become a Boy Scout, it is only because he has heard of the organisation and perceived that it is something he wants. Hearing of the organisation is not something in his control. It must come from outside him. Finding it is something he wants is not in his control. That too must come from outside him and is based primarily on the perception that becoming a Boyscout will in some way bring him pleasure.

One can argue that the outside information could have given the impression that the organisation would bring some form of pain, and the individual chose to pursue it anyway in hopes that the information was wrong, thereby making a choice and having control. But, is making this choice really control?

One would not have this idea that he is making the choice of his own accord without having that too imprinted in his code. Without the knowledge of self determination, self determination does not exist. Needing to have the knowledge of self determination come from an outside source, rules out the possibility of self determination all together. Self determination then becomes merely another string of code which creates a different kind of behavior than before the code was imprinted. One is still not acting of his own control, but reacting to a set of parameters.

So, looking at it this way, do we really have control over our lives, or are we simply acting out a set of preordained events, destiny?

I really like your take on destiny. You put a lot of good thoughts into your post. While I do agree with most of your points I feel you haven't dove in deep enough. What you are describing is the brains reactions to external stimuli. I like to view the brain as the connection between me and body. The thing is the brain will only base its suggestions on the physical needs of the body. This usually causes a sort of blindness which is found in most people. Meaning most people make decisions based on what their brains tell them is good or bad for them. It's really a simplistic way of living. It gets the job done and keeps the status quo moving. Which is necessary to continue our existence. We do need some form of normality.

What I feel you don't take into account is the man behind the camera. In other words the mind and the brain are not one in the same but rather linked together. The best way I can describe the mind is to say "limited infinity". Infinity meaning the ability to realize and visualize all things possible but limited by the simple demands of the body.

The true mind is not meant to make decisions based on the external world. It is meant to wonder around aimlessly in a world of infinite possibilities. You could say this is where ingenuity lies. The thing is people who give in to their true nature 100% are considered insane in the physical world while those who ignore their true minds become hapless robots who depend on routine. Finding balance between the two worlds can lead to bliss, ingenuity, creative expression; basically the things that define us as human.

Someone has, but in the way he thinks he has. It's like kicking a ball. You don't know exactly where it's gonna land.

reply to post by ScRuFFy63


Thanks for sharing my friend. You bring up some interesting thoughts, which I will think on more deeply. I have to ask though, did you come up with these thoughts on your own, or are they thoughts manifested from things you have been exposed to?

With Love,

Your Brother

Lol. good question. Honestly it's a combination. I like to read things from many different perspectives. And then I kinda like to let my mind ponder deep thoughts without a direction/cause. By unbiasedly exposing myself to all sorts of "material" It kinda forces me to think freely.

PS: I had to reword that last sentence a few times to try to get the correct idea across.

Resurrection.

er... bump

There ARE ways to control our lifepaths. I don't like to call it "destiny" because I think we have free will and having it, the destiny is not necesary. If you're aware enough to see the cracks of the path you're walking on, it's "easy" (not really) to change direction to reach wherever you want.

And well, we can argue as the classic "what was first, the egg or the chicken?" if it's my destiny to see those cracks and feel like i have power over my lifepath

Originally posted by Caggy
There ARE ways to control our lifepaths. I don't like to call it "destiny" because I think we have free will and having it, the destiny is not necesary. If you're aware enough to see the cracks of the path you're walking on, it's "easy" (not really) to change direction to reach wherever you want.

And well, we can argue as the classic "what was first, the egg or the chicken?" if it's my destiny to see those cracks and feel like i have power over my lifepath

LOL

No fair!

You used my own rebuttal against your original premise.

I suppose that is why this thread is destined to fail.



With Love,

Your Brother

reply to post by IAMIAM


Good questions, IAMIAM, as usual, you present an intelligent question on a subject that intelligent people will automatically wish to answer.

I believe, and that is a word I rarely use, that we are all Spirits, first and foremost. I believe that we each are actually two Spirits, one male, one female, and when one is here, they other is there, in another dimension of time and space. I see life on 3D Earth a a mission of sorts. I believe we plan out our lives, the high points, anyway, who our parents will be, and so on. These things can, and do change, nothing is set in stone here. I base the two Spirit thing on a Golden Dawn Ritual I performed quite a few years ago in which I met my Higher Self, it was two look alike twins, one male, one female, and both had wings, and they glowed with a silver hue.

I believe that upon physical death, one is able to look over every thing they did in the previous life, and make plans for the next life. I may be wrong, but this is how I see it.

Originally posted by autowrench
Good questions, IAMIAM, as usual, you present an intelligent question on a subject that intelligent people will automatically wish to answer.

Flattery will get you everywhere my friend!

Originally posted by autowrench
I believe, and that is a word I rarely use, that we are all Spirits, first and foremost. I believe that we each are actually two Spirits, one male, one female, and when one is here, they other is there, in another dimension of time and space.

Interesting thought my friend. I had a girlfriend once who grew tired of my masculinity. She demanded one day that I spend some time connecting with my feminine side. Reluctantly, I took a weekend retreat by myself to do just that. When I returned she asked me what I had learned.

I told her that we were over and she had to leave. Awe struck she asked me why. Well, I found my feminine side and she loves my masculine side just the way it is, and that became the standard by which I have measured all future relations. She's a good looker to for what it is worth.

Originally posted by autowrench
I see life on 3D Earth a a mission of sorts. I believe we plan out our lives, the high points, anyway, who our parents will be, and so on. These things can, and do change, nothing is set in stone here. I base the two Spirit thing on a Golden Dawn Ritual I performed quite a few years ago in which I met my Higher Self, it was two look alike twins, one male, one female, and both had wings, and they glowed with a silver hue.

I believe that upon physical death, one is able to look over every thing they did in the previous life, and make plans for the next life. I may be wrong, but this is how I see it.

Do you suppose that you would have arrived at these thoughts without the exposure in life that you have been given? Suppose that Golden Dawn never was.

Pick any experience which has impacted your outlook on life. Can you imagine what your view would have been like if that experience never happened or happened differently?

Can you separate YOU from your experiences?

I suppose that last question is the heart of the thread.

With Love,

Your Brother

Do you suppose that you would have arrived at these thoughts without the exposure in life that you have been given? Suppose that Golden Dawn never was.

Well, I do not know, really. I believe the Golden Dawn got the original Ritual from the Quabbala, it is called, collectively, the "Flying Roll."
The Ritual took 7 days in all, 6 in preparation, and the final day of the actual ritual, which took several hours. Through this ritual, I was able to gain full control over my inner demons, those who come out as anger, greed, and so on. I was blessed in ways I cannot fully describe. At the time, I remember, when I saw the wings, I thought to myself, this is where the idea of Angels came from. So perhaps during biblical times people were seeing what they thought were angels, and were really their own Guardian Angels? This is just a thought, nothing solid.

Destiny is the potential paths fanning out before a choice through FREE WILL is made. In this sense, everyone has a destiny...a general map based on probabilities and possibilities that fan out before them.

Whether an individual chooses to aver a FREE WILL or not, this choice, and its consequences ,is based on the FREE WILL to choose. The choice narrows, culls, alters, changes the pathway through the original 'destiny map', subsequently altering the emergent probabilities and possibilities, based on the choices made. A so-called, non-choice, is also a choice...the ability to choose to believe it or not. Regardless, the pathway is either chosen through choice or non-choice. The mechanism works exactly the same way, either way.

So, loosely, destiny...yes...

Akushla

Well, as a small child, my Mother, a Devout Fundamentalist, fled the place of my birth, scared of things she could not understand, and changed my destiny, for a time. I am now back on the path. I cannot return to my place of birth, for fear of my life, but I can work from here just fine. My Father found me, and know who, and where I am now.

What is truly 'destiny'?

Many had confused it with only fate. Just as mankind had confused science with religion, with the little knowledge we know and yet dared to claim superior intellect, we, whom have only 5000 years old history as compared to the age of the Universe.

Why does the sun rises EVERY morning? Why is there a Gravitional pull on our planet? And many more questions.

Did we, mankind, made the sun rise every morning? No, we did not.

Did we create the gravitional pull? No we did not.

So what are the mechanics of it? WHO created them out of nothingness? Can our feeble minds comprehend it, or even ready for it? No, limited with prejudices and self ego, we will not. Not even if it is right before our eyes, with evidences of neutrinos and Higgs Bisson particles.

The most brilliant man on Earth currently, Stephen Hawkings, attempted to answer those questions, but honestly, left much to be desired for many questions abound and cannot be answered. So much for science, but still, at least something that man can hold on to in the face of ambiguities, such as those whom had be touched by religon to take 'a leap of faith' on their own free will.

Fate is only something that you alone can determine for yourself. Example - you were born a rickshaw's son, and everyone tells you that your future lays in becoming another rickshaw puller when you grow up. If you believe it, then that's only your fate. Determined by others.

But if you dont believe it, grasp every opportunity to climb up the social ladder, which is entirely possible when the nation you are in offers opportunities for all, or crisises happened that opens up opportunities. That too, is fate. Yours. Determined by you alone, not by others.

Destiny is entirely a different issue. No mortal can change destiny. It is pre-ordained, and a far bigger picture than personal lives and issues. Just as the sun 'rises' each morning, it follows a destined path, unchanged by millenia till it burns itself out.

Destiny is a pre-set, akin to a computer programming code, for a better comprehension. It is for the sake of the running of the Universe. It may seem chaos to us, but if we had live far longer, we would have known the beauty of it, which we can only accept now on the basis of 'leap of faith'.

Just like a computer programme, no one will attempt to change or alter it on whims, except to correct critical minor errors, otherwise, every parameter will have to be altered and the entire programme overhauled. So too our Universe.

What then is mankind's destiny within the pre-set programme? The answer is - Evolution. From animal like beings to humans, to the stars. It's only the natural logical path, for those whom are atheists, and a promised path as well as for those whom had taken the 'leap of faith' as mentioned in religious scriptures.