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Summary of Question:	Reply To "Destiny"
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Thursday, 5/22/2003 1:45 PM MDT

This is how I see the Sikh concept of karma/destiny.

Most events in your life you have control over - most events are a result of your own actions, others action, and natural laws. Karma - cause and effect.

HOWEVER, Waheguru is all knowing and all pervading. He is beyond the limits of time or space. He knows what choice you will make even before you make it. Hence to an extent you have control over many of your actions, but Waheguru knows the outcome always, and nothing can change this "pre written fate".

Its like someone being able to know what choices you will make even before you have made them.....a hard concept to get around, that Waheguru already knows when you will die, etc, even though you have control of whether or not you smoke, drink, eat fatty food etc which will affect your day of death scientifically.

WJKK WJKF

SSD

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REPLY
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Sat Siri Akaal. WHile Waheguru is indeed beyond time and space, your understanding of karma is somewhat fatalistic. It does not allow for the fact that free will is very much something that Waheguru does not control, though He could. Free will is what allows us to live & grow. Free will can create karma, indeed; it can also create dharma.

Let's say Joey is faced with deciding to meditate daily or meet with his pals in the bar every day when he could otherwise be meditating. He chooses to meet w/his pals daily, and one day has a few too many drinks. He slugs some guy who said something Joey didn't like, and the next thing Joey knows he's in jail on drunk & disorderly and having to deal with getting out of jail and avoiding the guy he slugged. That's karma, and he created that. The alternate scenario: Joey decides to meditate daily instead of doing the bar scene. The more he meditates, the more peaceful he feels inside, the more he understands that free will is about listening to and keeping God's will, understood through the heart alone. He learns to pray and meditate before making big decisions, and the rest, he knows what to do, intuitively. That's dharma. Joey had the free will choice all along.

The broad outlines of one's life are indeed determined by our past lives. Who our parents are, whether we will marry and/or have children, our work, etc. But many choices along the way are available to us to live dharmically or not. I have met people who seemed to know ONLY karmic living turn to God & spirituality and their lives changed and the karmic emotions & commotions abated. I've seen people who seemed to know ONLY dharmic living have a single bad day and make a single bad choice and fall into a web of karma that they otherwise knew better to avoid. That's free will. I hope this clarifies. Guru ang sang,
-DKK