Raison d’ etre

Life is unpredictable! Sorry to disappoint some of you, but life is in fact quite predictable. The certainty about life is omnipresent though in its subtle form. It’s out there but only for those who dare to look in that direction.
When one looks from the angle of management, life is like an ongoing business activity with each individual comparable to a business unit. Like any business entity each person has his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, core competencies and functions, not in a vacuum but in a dynamic micro and macro environment.
The reason why I am saying that life is predictable is due to this little term called ‘destiny.’ Everybody’s life is predetermined. That omnipotent supernatural power exists. I’m aware that many of us don’t believe in either. Some are atheists, some agnostics and I respect that. A couple of years ago even I did not believe in God or destiny, but now I do. What was the cause behind this metamorphosis of thought, this radical shift, this sudden transformation of my perception? Actually, when I mull over it, it wasn’t sudden at all. The questions were there in my psyche for a long time. Questions like – Why do we need to worship? Follow a religion? Obey a guru? What is the purpose of our existence? Etc., etc. These I suppose nag everyone’s mind at some point or the other. I couldn’t fathom a satisfactory answer to these questions. For people like us I realized the answers lie in becoming receptive, to look at a different perspective, to dare to change.
Now I’ll attempt to explain my rationale behind my beliefs. Being a student of management I can’t help but look at everything from a managerial viewpoint. Using various scientific quantitative techniques one can forecast the future and predict the business environment. At the same time in order to predict on the long-term techniques such as Delphi, expert opinion is used which has a qualitative basis. Similarly, to enable us to forecast our lives there are n number of science art combos which are quite accurate. These methods are proven, have been published in magazines and showcased on television. Just to name a few of these – Brighusanhita, Suryasanhita, Nadi Astrology etc. You can search for them on the Internet as well but, you’ll have to see it to believe it. It’s unbelievable how accurately these can predict about you and your life. Of course deviations are always there. In business forecasts there is always a little difference between actual values and forecasted values. This applies to life as well!
Some of you might argue that through hard work one can change ones destiny. According to me, this is partially true. Destiny can be modified, but cannot be altered altogether. It can be modified through your ‘karma.’ One has to pay for his past karma no matter what. What one can endeavor to do at the most is alleviate the punishment levels. We can look at it this way; there is a tolerance level till which one can make changes. Beyond that there exists a very rare chance of any alteration.
According to Rig Veda, destiny and hard work are two extremes of the human perception. The reality is that both go hand in hand. One has to maintain a balance between the two extremes. For example, a farmer should mow and plough his fields well i.e. put in his efforts. It’s up to good fortune to bring in rains at the right time. Only then he can reap a good harvest.
Those, to whom all of this is resonating as illogical and opinioned, try to look at it as a different school of thought, a different kind of concept maybe…

By Sakshi Prakash