How is our destiny made?

We make our own destiny.

There is a law of nature -- which our rishis discovered in ancient times

and which Newton discovered later --

that for every action there is an equal reaction.

You can also therefore say that for every reaction,

there has to have been a preceding action.


Therefore, all the things happening to us in the present

are obviously the reactions or results of our own actions done in the past.

You cannot say why is this happening to me.

It has to be the result or reaction of your own action done earlier.

What if something really bad or really good is happening to me now,

and I feel I have done nothing earlier to deserve it?

Let us say something really bad is happening to you in the present.

One of three things could apply.
First, you may not remember the relevant wrong
action you did in the past.

Second, you may remember your relevant
past action, but you don't realise that the action was wrong.
The reaction doesn't just depend on the physical action, but also on the

motive and the timing behind the action.

For example, you may have sowed sweet pea seeds

using all the right manure and with all good intentions --

but if you sowed the seeds in May when you should actually

have sowed them in October, then obviously you will not get any flowers.



An action is thus judged by all three things --

the way it is physically done, the motive

behind it and the timing of it.



Finally, you may have done the relevant past action in a previous life

and it is having its reaction now.

All actions have different time frames for fructifying.

For example, if you do the action of throwing a glass

tumbler on a hard floor, it will have a reaction in less than one second

-- in the form of broken glass.

If you do the action of sowing the seed of a redwood

tree,it will have a reaction after 500 years --

in the form of a giant redwood tree.

Thus, every action has its own time frame for

fructifying. You may have done an action in a previous

life that is fructifying now.

You may also have done actions in previous lives that are yet to fructify.

What is the logical basis for the concept of rebirth or reincarnation?

Let us say that at a particular point in time, two babies are born.

One is born healthy and into a very wealthy family.

The other is born crippled and into a very impoverished family.

Both the babies have been born into widely differing circumstances.

What are these differing circumstances the results or reactions of?

Every effect has a cause. Since the two newly born babies have

obviously done no actions in their present lives to beget

their respective circumstances --

obviously they must have done something earlier.

And those earlier actions can therefore only have

taken place in a previous life,

and the results of those actions are fructifying now.



You may say that it is just a matter of chance that one baby is born rich

and healthy and the other poor and crippled.

But are God's laws that whimsical?

The whole universe functions on the basis of certain rational



Nothing happens by chance. Everything is subject to the scientific

law of action and reaction.

Maybe we haven't discovered what the action behind a particular reaction is.

But the fact that there must have been an

action cannot be disputed.



You may also say that one baby is born healthy an done crippled

because of the way their respective genes are.

But again the question would arise that, why was one baby put into

a position where it inherited good genes

and the other baby put into a position where it inherited bad genes?



They must be the reactions of some preceding actions.

Some of our actions done in various earlier lifetimes -- which we do not

remember -- may yield their results in this life.

Similarly, some of our actions in this life may only yield results

in various future lives. Isn't this unfair?



Life is a continuum. The present lifetime is just a tiny experience in

the continuous journey of the soul.

Memories of previous lifetimes are stored within us.

But our minds are so clogged with desires and stresses

of the present, that we are unable to tap our deep memories of the past.

Forget remembering past lives, do you even remember what you had for

dinner four days ago?



Those people who have truly calmed their minds can remember their past

lives. Many such cases have been documented.

Many spiritually evolved people -- having made their minds quiet --

can dig into their past lives.



I must add that in a way, not remembering our past lives is also a natural

blessing. Our minds are so chaotic even with whatever memories we have

of this lifetime -- imagine our condition if we could remember thousands

of past lives as well.

Please could you explain how exactly our future is made?

Thus, past plus present actions make the future. Past actions are already

done, but present actions are totally within out control. Therefore, we

have considerable leverage over our future.

Swami Chinmayananda used to say:

``Leave aside your regrets of the past and anxieties for the future,

and focus intelligently on the present.''

This is the best way of ensuring a positive future.

Plato said: ``Take charge of your life. You can do with

it what you will. Will it.''