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Summary of Question:GODS WILL (two replies appended)
Category:General Sikhism
Date Posted:Tuesday, 4/27/1999 3:04 PM MDT

Sat Sri Akal Ji,

I was wondering about the guru da bhana. Everything is supposed tp be written out for example your destiny; when you die and when you are born and everything else i nyour life. So if everything is supposedly written for us how are we supposed to improve oursleves? And God is the ultimate truth so how can He make us do immoral things becuase I heard in a Gurbani vichar tape that the good things and the bad thing all under parmashar da bhana. Thank you

Sincerely,
Jusleen Kaur
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REPLY
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Sat Nam, Jusleen, your question is a good one, It has puzzled philosophers and theologans for centuries. I'd like to share with you my understanding of this seeming paradox. First of all, I do accept the fact that everything is God's will. and I also accept the fact that God gave each of us, His creatures, choices. We each have options in our lives. Whenever we make a choice, take an action with the "free will" that God gave us, we set in motion the karmic consequences of that action. For God built into this Creation, certain universal laws which are all part of the "game." When we choose to live in harmony with God's will, and pray for Guru's grace, we will make wiser and better choices so that we can fulfill our "highest" destiny, instead of suffering our "fate." There is great power in prayer, and when we really relate to our Shabd Guru, and build into our consciousness the teachings of the Guru, we can more easily avoid making the "wrong" choices. (Meaning, those that cause us more suffering


, and take us farther from the experience of our own soul.) We are spiritual beings here on Earth to have a human experience, so that God can experience His Creation through us! Remember, it is God who is breathing in you, 24 hours a day! And He didn't create us to suffer, but God also doesn't prevent us from exerting our stupid egos and reaping the consequences, because He won't deny us our choices and interfere with the cosmic laws He designed. The tragedies we see happening in the world are the ignorant playing out of past karmas. Blessed are those who start each day in the Amrit Vela asking for the guidance of God and Guru! Blessings, with love, SP

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Reply #2
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The reality of who we are as human is multi-dimensional. The human encompasses the finite as well as, ultimately, the infinite. And so, as I agree completely with the 1st reply above, the way we humans often think of ourselves as limited, castaway, unholy beings is part of the reason it's difficult to understand the relationship between <God's Will> and <our karma>. The appearance is that we are small, insignificant, and powerless. And so, the idea that a <God> is writing our destiny for us makes us seem all the more powerless and unfree. Yet, it is also true, according to the Guru's teachings, that we are an intimate part of the God, and the God is an intimate part of us. Deep, deep within us, there is a vastness that few have yet experienced directly. And, surrounding us there is a selfish ego that is continually making mistakes and creating karmas. When we seek and then find the refuge of the Wahe Guru who is within us, who is our ultimate essence, there is no karma, there is only Dharma.

From that level we are one with the One who is writing our destiny. That is not coercive or limiting, that is liberation while one is still alive.

On the other hand, if we then slip into our egos and go off-course, creating karmas, then we slip into the script of suffering that we've created for ourselves. The fact that there is a Law of Karma does not signify that God has made a mistake. Rather, He is the underwriter that there shall be a Law and Consequence of Karma. Otherwise, we could do anything we randomly, egocentrically please, and there would be no consequence, no feedback loop, we'd never learn or become motivated to <get it right> finally. So, the paradox you are asking about, <How can we 1) have freedom and choice, and 2) that there is also a higher Wisdom that is guiding everything, yet still 3) we must strive to improve ourselves by practicing Dharma> is true precisely because we are infinity incarnated into a physical body, with a vast history behind us of evolving through every form of animal and pre-human being. We have a lot of reactive, animal patterns to unlearn, and a huge destiny to grow into, by the Grace of Wahe Guru.

Guru Nanak taught nothing else but how to become one with and merge into Wahe Guru. When our karma has become right, when it has become written on our foreheads, Wahe Guru will smile on us and within us, and we'll go foreward. Until then, we continue, in humility, to ask for His Grace and Prasad.

Humbly,
Krishna Singh Khalsa



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