On Destiny

Do you believe in destiny? Do you think you control your life and what comes next? Do you wonder why bad things keep happening to good people? Why do the seemingly bad people continue to get what they want? All these and many more similar questions have entered my thoughts over the years. I am sure you too have encountered them in your lives.

Many years ago I asked my Vedanta teacher these questions in a room full of people in Hinsdale, IL. He replied — ”Oh! That’s simple it’s just Karma Theory”. He went on to explain that our life is an accumulation of our karmas from our past and present lives. The good we experience today is the result of our good karma in our past lives. The results of our actions in this life is what we will experience in the future. Seemingly buying his argument, I followed up with the following question 🙋‍♂️-”How do you explain the untimely death of people in an accident?” He was at a loss for words. But then after some thought says it’s hard to explain without knowing what happened in the previous lives of the person. I didn’t buy it then and neither do I buy it now.

Random accidents happen around us everyday and we wonder why someone died in a car accident, flash floods, lightning strike, traffic stops, drug bust. In each instance it is someone like you or me who is impacted. We brush away some events saying he/she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But most often we can’t even say that. When a random shooting event happens why do some in the room die and others escape with their lives. Clearly something supernatural is controlling the events.

Several years ago in my neighborhood a young professional went out to pick up pizza for the family on a Friday night. He had to drive along the highway that went over the Brazos river. He saw a car pulled over on the shoulder over the bridge and stopped behind them to see if they needed help. After helping them out he was returning to his car when we think he got hit by an approaching vehicle which flipped him over the bridge. No one knows what really happened. His car was parked on the highway when his wife sent the cops to look for him. They found his car but no sign of him. His body was found downstream several days later. He left behind a young wife and an infant, just imagine their plight.

Just last weekend three kids were traveling home from UT in good weather to visit their families. There was a fourth kid who was supposed to join them but pulled out at the last minute. Along the way the car skidded into a ditch and caught fire killing two of them on the spot and leaving the third fighting for her life. All nineteen year olds in the prime of their youth. The parents and siblings and friends are heartbroken with no real explanation on how to deal with this tragedy. What did these children do to deserve this fate? All smart college students with good natures.

A few years ago in a high school shooting in the Houston area a Pakistani exchange student was killed. She had come to gain experience in a foreign country and her life was taken away from her. Her parents and friends and family were left with no explanation. When a random event happens and it has a devastating impact on some lives, it leaves a very bad taste in our mouths.

Let’s take the case of the passengers on Malaysian flight 370 or flight 17, one which disappeared and the other that was shot down by a missile over Ukraine. In both cases all the passengers died. A plane that disappeared without a trace and a passenger flight that was shot down. There were several other planes that flew similar paths but why did just these two planes get impacted. How do people who lost kith and kin on these flights seek resolution.

Most of us live good lives and die when our bodies and/or minds die due to myriad causes. We think that we have one life and having an untimely death steals us of our rightful existence. So when someone dies we feel sad that there life was cut short. Especially so when the death is accidental. Close relatives and friends grieve and struggle to accept the loss. It is indeed very traumatic as people seek resolution. Our minds are filled with the Why question? Modern science can explain death by disease but cannot explain the accidental deaths. If we look deeply science only explain why the body dies. When death is natural we understand the cause and don’t question as much even if it happens to someone very young. But unnatural deaths always are very disturbing.

To explain death we go to God and our religions. Seldom do we delve into it philosophically. Vedanta offers a very interesting explanation for life and death. It separates our soul from our body and mind. Death implies the death of a body and mind. The soul is still alive. It never dies. Our soul is always seeking opportunities to reach salvation. In layman’s terms it’s seeking purification. Irrespective of how people die, death happens when the soul decides to continue its journey. Irrespective of whether death is natural or not the soul probably migrates before death happens. Rationally if we can see a soul as opportunistic seeking betterment always we can explain both natural and unnatural deaths. While we grieve for the lost mind and body the soul is very much in our midst. It never dies. Rather than grieve because of our attachment to body and mind we should celebrate the fact that soul got a better opportunity. Much like we celebrate when someone gets a new job, a persons death is a celebration of the migration of their soul to a better state. Strangely this alone can help bring resolution to the questions we have.

So what we call destiny is really natural justice. It’s nature’s nudge to get us on the correct path. In the game of life our righteousness opens lifelines and paves new pathways. So dying an untimely death might just imply that the soul has accomplished this life’s purpose and got an opportunity to move on early. So rather than mourn the death of the body and mind we should celebrate the advancement of the soul.