Just do it ? Free will or Destiny. Part I
Be warned , this is a long one !
Some years back, General Electric had a career guidance booklet. It carried the title “Control your destiny or someone else will.” This phrase was attributed to the super-manager Jack Welch, the guy who REALLY controlled everyone’s destiny at GE.. but that’s another story.
In this post, I intend to show how collective beliefs can shape the destiny of a people and a nation (Part I), and why personal beliefs must be changed for collective beliefs to change (pat II).
Now this “Control your destiny or someone else will” is one end of the spectrum in an ongoing debate on what governs human affairs , free will or destiny. Aptly it comes from the USA. At the other end is the oft heard in India “Sab upar waale ke’ haath mein hai/ Sab theek ho jaayega” in Hindi and no doubt in most other languages of our wonderful land.
To elaborate, the debate is between the forces of Destiny and the choices of Freewill and which of these two defines our lives. At one end of the spectrum there are those who believe that an individual can achieve anything if she / he makes the effort and at the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that everything is pre-ordained or “destined”. And there are of course those in between. In some ways this debate is similar to the one about whether god exists.
India and most Indians have traditionally believed in destiny/ fate. Our Hindu religious books and leaders (past and present) are explicit about destiny. Very little importance is placed on the role of effort and action. The doctrine of karma states that our orbits in this life are limited by actions in past lives, and that the only worthwhile rewards are to be obtained in the afterlife (swarga/ moksha). And the highest level of action is “tapasya”, “tyaag” or “sanyas” , that is withdrawal from life. Historically, we have honoured and revered not so much the ones who achieved, but those who withdrew. With the exception of Swami Vivekanand I am not aware of any major Hindu religious leader or philosopher who has laid stress on doing and achieving.
What this meant for most of the last 1000 years or more, is that our collective will has been indoctrinated to “withdraw” rather than achieve. This was eminently suited to the various powers that ruled us, whether they were Hindu kings, Arab-Turks, Mughals or the British. Some scholars even suggest that this belief was encouraged and supported by the ruling class, because a people who have been taught to withdraw are not likely to demand a better life… being poor and dying of epidemics or hunger was after all a faster way to moksha! In fact it took leaders of the caliber of the Mahatma and several of his contemporaries to wake us up from this passive approach and demand independence from the British.
Even after independence, things did not change rapidly. India struggled along as a subsistence economy (an euphemism is Developing Country) for many years. In fact a new phrase was coined in Economics: the Hindu Rate of growth !! Implying a GDP growth rate of 3 to 4 percent which is what India did till the seventies.
It is only in the last 20 years or so, that prosperity, a better life and better living condition have caught the imagination of India at every level. This is due, in no small measure, to our interactions with the Western world and its “riches’ through the channel of books/ magazines, satellite TV, movies and NRI’s. India has suddenly realized that it is better to live in at least some comfort here than be in perpetual misery for a swarga in afterlife. We are at last publicly celebrating achievement and wealth. And a GDP growth rate of less than 8 percent is a nightmare for everyone. So we now have a new sensibility, a new belief a new hope. And this has given us new malls (yes chithra, I DID read ur post !!), new roads and new lifestyles.
…… to be continued
Be warned , this is a long one !
Some years back, General Electric had a career guidance booklet. It carried the title “Control your destiny or someone else will.” This phrase was attributed to the super-manager Jack Welch, the guy who REALLY controlled everyone’s destiny at GE.. but that’s another story.
In this post, I intend to show how collective beliefs can shape the destiny of a people and a nation (Part I), and why personal beliefs must be changed for collective beliefs to change (pat II).
Now this “Control your destiny or someone else will” is one end of the spectrum in an ongoing debate on what governs human affairs , free will or destiny. Aptly it comes from the USA. At the other end is the oft heard in India “Sab upar waale ke’ haath mein hai/ Sab theek ho jaayega” in Hindi and no doubt in most other languages of our wonderful land.
To elaborate, the debate is between the forces of Destiny and the choices of Freewill and which of these two defines our lives. At one end of the spectrum there are those who believe that an individual can achieve anything if she / he makes the effort and at the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that everything is pre-ordained or “destined”. And there are of course those in between. In some ways this debate is similar to the one about whether god exists.
India and most Indians have traditionally believed in destiny/ fate. Our Hindu religious books and leaders (past and present) are explicit about destiny. Very little importance is placed on the role of effort and action. The doctrine of karma states that our orbits in this life are limited by actions in past lives, and that the only worthwhile rewards are to be obtained in the afterlife (swarga/ moksha). And the highest level of action is “tapasya”, “tyaag” or “sanyas” , that is withdrawal from life. Historically, we have honoured and revered not so much the ones who achieved, but those who withdrew. With the exception of Swami Vivekanand I am not aware of any major Hindu religious leader or philosopher who has laid stress on doing and achieving.
What this meant for most of the last 1000 years or more, is that our collective will has been indoctrinated to “withdraw” rather than achieve. This was eminently suited to the various powers that ruled us, whether they were Hindu kings, Arab-Turks, Mughals or the British. Some scholars even suggest that this belief was encouraged and supported by the ruling class, because a people who have been taught to withdraw are not likely to demand a better life… being poor and dying of epidemics or hunger was after all a faster way to moksha! In fact it took leaders of the caliber of the Mahatma and several of his contemporaries to wake us up from this passive approach and demand independence from the British.
Even after independence, things did not change rapidly. India struggled along as a subsistence economy (an euphemism is Developing Country) for many years. In fact a new phrase was coined in Economics: the Hindu Rate of growth !! Implying a GDP growth rate of 3 to 4 percent which is what India did till the seventies.
It is only in the last 20 years or so, that prosperity, a better life and better living condition have caught the imagination of India at every level. This is due, in no small measure, to our interactions with the Western world and its “riches’ through the channel of books/ magazines, satellite TV, movies and NRI’s. India has suddenly realized that it is better to live in at least some comfort here than be in perpetual misery for a swarga in afterlife. We are at last publicly celebrating achievement and wealth. And a GDP growth rate of less than 8 percent is a nightmare for everyone. So we now have a new sensibility, a new belief a new hope. And this has given us new malls (yes chithra, I DID read ur post !!), new roads and new lifestyles.
…… to be continued
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