Well, the general belief is that good actions lead to good destiny i.e. it brings about positive outcomes whereas bad actions lead to our destiny yielding us negative outcomes.
Let us understand this a bit more deeply…
For example, I do a kind action of donating money to the poor and needy.
We generally believe that the act of donating money is a good action and therefore it should create good destiny, isn’t it? But what if I actually didn’t intend to donate that money? What if I donated only because I was forced to do this action by my close relatives to whom I couldn’t say ‘No’? Our destiny will be such that in future, we will face circumstances full of obstacles in the matters of money.
Whether someone understands our genuine intention or not, but it can never remain hidden from Nature. Our intent of not willing to donate inevitably sends a negative input to Nature. And based on the laws of Nature, we are given its output in future, which is called destiny.
Our future actions too get influenced by our inner intentions i.e. in future it will not allow me to do such a kind action of donating money to the poor and needy.
How does destiny take shape?
Who brings about these obstacles? How does our destiny come into shape? Who does all this?
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan enlightens us on how the natural laws of science work. He says, “The circumstances are the doer. All the scientific circumstantial evidences come together and an event takes place. So the control is not in our hands. We must simply observe the circumstances and see what they are. Once the circumstances come together, the work gets accomplished.”
He further explains, “All the circumstances must come together. Man is dependent on the circumstances, but he believes that he is doing something. The portion of whatever he does is also dependent upon circumstances. If one of these circumstances were to fall short, then he will not be able to do that particular work.”
Thus, the fruits of our past inner intent materialize in the form of circumstances being positive or negative today. And our inner intent during the positive or negative circumstance today, decides our future destiny.
Our past intentions (causes) are responsible for our today’s actions (effects).
It means we plant a seed through our inner intention in the present moment. And when this seed gets ready to bear fruits, the scientific circumstantial evidences come together and our action takes place. So, our inner intent is the cause, the effect of which gets reflected in our actions, thoughts and speech.
We can now understand why even when we don’t want to do something, we actually end up doing it. In the above example, I didn’t want to donate money, yet I ended up doing the kind action of helping the poor and needy.
This happened because: in the past, I had harnessed an inner intent that of donating money to the poor and needy (cause). That cause became ready to give its fruits today. So the positive circumstance of ‘my close relatives forcing me to donate money’ came forth and the kind action of donating money to the poor happened by me.
But while donating, internally I had an intent that “I don’t want to donate.” This new intent is the cause, which will bring forth my destiny (negative circumstances) such that I will not be able to do the action of donating money.
While this destiny is in play, seeing myself unable to donate, with remorse in my heart I may deeply intend to donate for a good cause. This once again plants a new cause, as a result of which destiny will bring forth a golden opportunity for me (scientific circumstantial evidence) to donate for a good cause, and I will end up doing the kind act again.
This is how the cycle of cause and effect, effect and cause continues. Knowing this science, we realize how whatever actions are happening by us are not in our control as much. To improve my future destiny, I need to keep my present intent clean and pure.
How to keep our intent clean and pure?
To help this happen, Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan suggests that every morning, we harness the intention of, “May no living being be caused the slightest hurt through my mind, speech or body.” We must repeat this at least 5 times, so that we sow nice new causes, the effects of which will come in the form of a beautiful destiny in future.
Dadashri further suggests that when we are not happy with our present destiny i.e. we are facing a lot of obstructions and negative outcomes in life, we must do pratikraman. Pratikraman means with great repentance in our heart, we seek forgiveness from God for our past mistakes (of having wrong intents) and also ask Him for strength to not repeat the mistakes again. This is how we can bring about a change in our bitter circumstances, and make them sweet. This is how we can shape a better destiny!
And Dada’s ultimate suggestion is “Attain Self-Realization.” He says, positive or negative circumstances, both are the result of our ignorance of the Self. Once the ignorance leaves, and true knowledge of ‘who am I’ sets in, no circumstance shall then affect us anymore.
With Akram Vignan, attaining Self-Realization is really easy. If interested, you may check out https://www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/
Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.