Are we the makers of our destiny?

Sports – amplified microcosm of life

Performance matters, Yet performance is not all that matters

Vasudeva-Kamsa-Devaki

Predestination is no rationalization for inaction

Vidura-Dhritarashtra

Destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves

What is destiny?The aggregate of the reactions to our own past actions delivered to us according to a higher plan

What is destiny?The aggregate of the reactions to our own past actions delivered to us according to a higher plan

What is destiny?Sanchit KarmaKriyaman KarmaPrarabhda Karma Aprarabhda Karma

Can we change our destiny?Yes & no.Semantics: Destiny: what is going to happenDestiny: what we are going to achieve

Beyond destiny Accepting destiny or changing destiny?Rama when exiled & Rama when Sita abducted

Intelligence Know what is changeableKnow what is unchangeable Focus on what can be changed and what can’t be changed won’t be so conquential

How spirituality is freeingWhat happens to us is destinyHow we respond to it is free willSpirituality increases the distance between what happens & how we respond

Destiny vs determinism Genetic determinism Psychic determinismEnvironmental determinism We are products of our past – not its prisoners

What determines our behavior? Our svabhava / genes / past-karmaUpbringingAssociation Free willGod’s grace

Open a new TAB in your life

T: Thoughts A: AttitudeB: Behavior

Thoughts

Create a comforting home for the heartBhakti is making Krishna our default object of thought

Attitudes“The inscrutable will of the Lord is surely for the well-being of all living beings.” - MahabharataTrust God’s omnipotence & omniscience

Behavior

“Entrust the reins of your chariot to Krishna”- Srila PrabhupadaArjuna’s Gandiva bow represents our determination