A Simple Gita
The Bhagavad-Gita – with all its depth and detail – in simple, succinct, straightforward terms.
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A Simple Gita – My New Book: Bhagavad Gita in simple terms
Tag Archives: Bhagavadgita
Freewill vs. Habits
Habit vs Freewill
nānyaḿ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraḿ
yadā draṣṭānupaśyati
guṇebhyaś ca paraḿ vetti
mad-bhāvaḿ so ‘dhigacchati
Gita 14.19
The performer of actions is none other than the three modes of nature.
See this through the eyes of those who can see,
And come to understand something above and beyond these three modes:
My spiritual nature… and you can attain it!
These words from Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad Gita could not possibly be more pertinent to an astrologer like me. After all I deal with the subject of fate vs. freewill on a constant basis.
Say you slap someone in the face – let’s use that as a simple example of free choice. What happens next? Next you must suffer the consequences! The consequences are the fate which arises from your free choice. This is a simplified analogy to illustrate what karma really is. It is the marriage of freewill and fate. Fate exists because of freewill.
I cannot control my fate, but I can control how I choose to react to it. My choices in the past created my present fate; and so too will my choices in the present determine my future. Thus, “I am the architect of my own destiny.”
But do I really have full control over how I react?
The answer is no. But I could get full control if I work towards it. That is what this verse is talking about.
The fourteenth chapter of Gita explains that we are habituated to react to circumstances in various predictable ways. There are three forces of habituation acting on us:
- Tamas habituates us to ignore our choices and run away from issues and circumstances seeking refuge in fantasy, intoxication, and forgetfulness.
- Rajas habituates us to be greedy in how we react to our circumstances, always trying to profit more, enjoy more, and amass more.
- Sattva habituates us to be thoughtful and careful about how we choose to react to circumstances in our lives. Thus it leads us to acquire knowledge and generates long term happiness.
Kṛṣṇa says here in this verse, nānyaḿ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraḿ – The entity making choices (“kartāraḿ”) is nothing besides these three habits, these three modes of material nature. Our habits make all our decisions for us.
But we have reincarnated as human beings – which is relatively rare opportunity to change this! We have a chance to understand that we can exist in a similar way that God exists (“mad- bhāvaḿ”): completely situated in pure freewill without any imposition. The purpose of being born as a human being is to use our freewill and stop reacting to circumstances out of instinct and habit, like animals do.
How?
First we must “know the enemy.” First we must be able to spot a habit when we see it, and differentiate a habitual response from an act of freewill. This means we must have clear knowledge of what the three habituating forces are – tamas, rajas, and sattva – and be able to spot them when we see them. Thus Kṛṣṇa says,
“See the habituating modes!” (yadā draṣṭa)
I don’t see them! How can I see them?
“Through the eyes of those who can see.” (anupaśyati)
If you look up at a cloud and see a clown face, you can say to me, “Hey wow! See that clown face cloud?”
I’ll say, “No, where?”
You’ll point and say, “There, see. Those are the eyes, there’s the puff hair…”
Then I’ll see it, “oh yeah! That’s cool!”
That’s what anupashyati means – seeing through the eyes of those who see. So we must learn about the habituating modes by hearing about them from people who understand and can see them in action. Kṛṣṇa is one such person, and we try to see through his eyes by exerting an effort to understand what he teaches in Bhagavad Gita.
What exactly do we see when we see the eyes of those who see?
We see that the modes are not everything! There is freewill beyond the habituations enforced by material energy. Thus Kṛṣṇa says, “guṇebhyaś ca paraḿ vetti” – Seeing through the eyes of those who know, you will come to know the three habituating modes (gunebhyah) and something beyond them, too (ca param).
What is beyond the programming and habitualizations of the material world?
“mad-bhāvaḿ” – Kṛṣṇa’s own existence!
Is that not beyond us? Is free will only for God?
No! “’sah adhigacchati” – you can also attain this perfectly free level of existence!
Knowing that freewill exists and is within our reach is half the battle of attaining it. Being able to spot our conditionings is the third quarter of the battle. Being able to desist from the force of habit once we spot it is the final part of the victory.
- Vic DiCara
Does Astrology Contradict the Bhagavad Gita’s Wisdom?
“When we consult an astrologer, aren’t we trying to get the fruits of our work? And isn’t that in contradiction to the advice of Krsna in Bhagavad Gita?”
What a really, really wonderful question! Thank you so much for asking this.
First I will note that different people consult astrologers for different reasons. Some consult astrologers in ways that do not violate this principle of the gita. Most, however, do violate this principle in their astrological inquiry. But it is the duty of the astrologer to gently redirect them towards the wisdom of this Gita shloka in the course of addressing their inquiry.
Karmanye-adhikari:
We have a right to act, to do our duties.
Ma phaleshu kadaca NA:
but we never have such rights over the results of our actions.
Ma karma-phala hetu bhur:
So don’t try to cause results of your action
Ma te sango ‘stv akarmani:
but don’t give up action, either.
The wisdom of this shloka from Bhagavad Gita is saying that we shouldn’t only do things which we think will bring good results to us personally, giving up things that we think will bring us bad results. We should do what we are responsible to do, because we are responsible to do it.
This lifestyle is called “karma-yoga.”
The bulk of the Vedic scripture, however, is a precursor to karma-yoga. Most of the Veda is “karma-khanda.” In other words it is about karma, not karma yoga. It is a manual, a handbook for enjoying the fruits of life. Why? Because this is what the vast majority of the readership of the Veda (humanity) is interested in. By giving them a handbook to get what they want – human beings develop faith in the handbook – the Vedas. Thus eventually they come to the more important, though less proliferate, sections on the yogas: karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, and bhakti-yoga.
Jyotish is an appendix on the main bulk of the Veda, and thus mainly it is part of the system of how people can enjoy or not enjoy the fruits. Therefore yes, you are right, the main bulk of astrology is subordinate and inferior to the level of knowledge being expressed in that verse of Bhagavad-Gita.
Jyotish can and should be used to help people rise to this level of knowledge and beyond – just as the karma-khanda of the Vedas are meant for that purpose. That is why the astrologers, at least, should be interested in higher levels. If the astrologers are in karma-yoga, jnana-yoga or bhakti-yoga – then the less advanced persons who come to the astrologers for guidance about everyday material things can receive a great deal of benefit.
- Vic DiCara
On Destiny vs. Freewill
Image by cambiodefractal via Flickr
You ask, “if everything the that the body does and experiences happens in material nature – then what blame or glory is there for the soul? If everything is predetermined and I have no freewill, then I am not responsible for my actions.”
Right. If you have no freewill, you could not be held accountable for your actions. If everything that happens in the world happens only in matter, and has nothing to do with spirit – then the soul can never be blamed for anything bad it’s body does (nor praised for anything good).
However it is wrong to believe that you have no freewill and that your soul is not the origin of all the actions your body performs and everything it experiences. Very wrong.
This whole chapter [referring to Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13] is about how spirit combines with matter and what happens as a result. “Matter changes form constantly and easily. This attracts the spirit soul who wants to shape it’s world into forms that s/he finds personally enjoyable. Thus the soul becomes welded to matter, bound to it, braided into it.”
From this, and from all the rest of the information in the chapter, we learn that this material world is a combination of matter and spirit – it is a cooperation of matter and spirit. Your question is based on a wrong definition of this combined cooperative relationship: the idea that the soul is a passive observer of matter. That is not what we hear from Krsna here in the 13th chapter. What we hear, in fact, is just the opposite! That the soul is the active principle, and that matter bends and shapes itself around the soul, and the soul’s desires. The soul is an interactive participant in matter. That is what we should learn, if nothing else, from the 13th chapter.
Your question is answered at this point. I am not sure how clearly I could explain it. I am sorry about that. If its unclear perhaps you could reread it a few times, and feel free to ask for clarification.
A little bit more to say…
Karma is the marriage of freewill and destiny. The soul desires something (freewill). It exerts this will towards matter which, being inferior to the soul, must attempt to comply. However the physics of the system of matter entails cause and effect, and inter-dependence. Therefore as the soul pushes matter in one direction with its will, the psycho-physical nature of matter itself generates a ripple, and we experience that ripple as “destiny.”
Different desires push matter in different ways into different shapes, and these generate lots of different types of ripples in the material energy – all these ripples interact with one another to make destiny (and the reading of it – astrology) a very, very, very complicated thing.
Once you throw a stone into a pond, the ripple moves on its own accord. However it is the stone, not the ripple, which caused the movement on the pond. Similarly, destiny appears to be “predetermined” – moving on its own, but actually it is the will of the soul which moved the lake of the material world and caused the ripple. Once the ripple is caused it is very difficult to stop (though it can be done by cancelling it with other ripples and withdrawing from agitating the pond, etc.). The ripple has its own force, sometimes becoming like a tidal wave. And that force seems to be, and is, beyond our control. Thus it feels like “predestination.” But it is our own desires which caused us to interact with the world and disturb the surface of the lake.
I have an article on this subject which more patiently and simply describes the relationship between destiny and freewill, and their interdependence and marriage in the concept of “karma.” Here is the link, I hope you will read it and it will be clarifying for you.
http://www.vicdicara.com/prep_karma.php
- Vic DiCara
