ASTROLOGY versus THE MYTHS OF FREEWILL AND DOERSHIP

The basic premise for any form of prediction, astrological or otherwise is pivoted on the assumption that the future trends shall follow a certain determinable course that is unlikely to change. Any prediction or any futuristic assessment shall not prove to be accurate if the assumptions, on which it is based, undergo change during the time preceding the occurrence of the predicted event or behavior. If there can be any form of control due to individuals’ actions on the factors affecting the ultimate outcome then any form of futuristic assessment is meaningless. The very foundation of astrological analysis and prediction is the premise that the future trends are determined by factors beyond the control of any individual action. This fact, more often than not, does not resonate with the egocentric mind and intellect of the modern human being, leading to a skeptical approach towards astrology.

The ego centric manifestations in the form of “ I am the doer “ or that “ I have a free will ” are so strongly engrained in the mind and deeply embedded in the intellect of the average human being that any idea contrary to such a belief is not only vehemently challenged but is usually rejected by the indomitable Ego. Hence, unless and until a clear and firm understanding that ‘free will’ and ‘doership’ are myths and that the ‘conditioned will’ and ‘doing’ are the only truth gets firmly realized, the relevance of astrology can never be appreciated..

The design and construction of the human being needs to be examined thoroughly for establishing the fallacy of the concepts of freewill and doership. In this context the role of the genetic code or the DNA program, the environmental conditionings, the training of the intellect through education as well as the unique matrix of ongoing experiences of the individual that shape the human being in each moment need to be investigated.

The DNA programming

Human beings are equipped with three faculties - the body, the mind and the intellect. Of these, the body’s design as well as its functioning are programmed vide the code present in an individual’s unique DNA. Though human bodies are normally equipped with the same number and type of organs embedded in the similar basic design, each one of us is actually uniquely different in our constitution. This uniqueness of our physical entity is a manifestation of the program coded in our DNA. Encoded within the DNA are the directions for traits as diverse as the color of our eyes, our height, the form of the nose, the tone and quality of our voice, our susceptibility to specific infections or diseases, our tastes as well as what attracts or repels us. It has been established by modern science that our DNA entirely determines our physical constitution. Whether we like it or not we do not have any say or control in this matter at all. In other words we are bound by our DNA program and it is nearly impossible for us to transcend this limitation. The aspect of heredity is only a reflection of this basic truth.

The DNA program therefore becomes a very important determinant of our physical uniqueness and individuality. Looking at it from a broader perspective, it will not be an exaggeration to claim that this program comes into play in all spheres of our living since all our actions and reactions happen through our physical body. The limits, to which we can stretch ourselves physically, are thus preset. For example, a person with weak lungs cannot hope to become a medal winning athlete or for that matter a person with a stammering drawback can never dream to become a great orator. We therefore are programmed with some strengths and some weaknesses and we have had no say in such a programming. This undeniable reality is the key - We have had no say in our DNA programming. Our actions and reactions therefore always have an inbuilt dimension of predetermination that gets carried in all aspects of our living and existence. With this inherent bondage can we really claim to have freedom to act or react with freewill? The DNA program can be compared to the parts or roles written down in a play. Each character of the play is preconceived wherein the actor has no choice whatsoever but to faithfully enact the assigned character in the drama, having no right (freewill) to modify the assigned role in any manner. Much in the same way, we have been assigned specific roles in the play of this universal drama for which we are programmed in the physical sense by our unique DNA. Thus the question of freewill in the play of life does not arise at all.

The programming of the mental faculty

We do not choose the environment of our birth instead we inherit our parents, our relatives, our neighbors, the geopolitical, social and the economic surroundings at birth. Our attitudes, our unique personality, the language we speak, the traditions and customs that we follow, the religion, the value system and the philosophical background to which we subscribe are all learnt from the family and the environment of our birth. Our inner faculty called the Mind gets conditioned by the specific features and characteristics of our birth environment. The mind absorbs and adopts the special properties of the given environment and makes it an essential part of our being. Our mind thus gets tuned to the specific environment so that we can comfortably blend, exist and flow with the surroundings. This conditioning of the mind is unique and it happens after birth in many ways at multiple layers.

The first and the foremost layer of conditioning comes from the family. The structure of the family, the nature of the parents and siblings, the family’s historical as well as its current economic and social status, its adopted way of life and its value systems etc. play a crucial role in defining the first layer of conditioning of an individual’s mind.

The second layer of mental conditioning comes from the (birth) society. The rules and norms of the society, its hierarchal structure, its accepted value system, its beliefs, traditions and customs ( both historical and current ) create specific and unique influences on the individual’s mind after birth in the given society. The prejudices and biases which are prevalent in the birth society are learnt and accepted by the mind which in turn conditions its responses, attitudes and reactions. It is for this reason why an individual born in one country develops ill will towards another country which is apparently inimical to his or her own country of birth. Similarly an individual born in a football crazy nation is more likely to become an ardent football lover.

The actions and reactions of a human being get expressed through the body as directed by the mind. When both, the mind and the body, are bound by factors outside individual’s control then can it be claimed that there can be any truly ‘free-willed’ action through the individual’s body-mind system. The answer is simply and truly ‘No’.

The intellectual programming through Education

Human beings have evolved from primitive nomadic creatures into modern cultured, social and progressive beings. This transformation is unique only to the human race. The plant or the animal kingdoms have not changed much over the years. This evolution of the human beings has been made possible due to the divine gift to humanity in the form of the faculty of the Intellect.

The intellect provides the human species with the capacity to reason, to infer, to discriminate, to distinguish, to know, to learn, to understand, to think abstractly and profoundly as well as to plan thereby enabling the human race to observe and to learn about all aspects of its existence. This knowledge helped human beings to continuously improve upon and to develop better means and methods for living in this world as well as to shed many of the animalistic behavioral attitudes and to learn, develop and cultivate value patterns for healthier coexistence. The development of music, poetry, literature and various art forms as well as of science and technology has all been possible as a result of the intellectual expansion of the human race as a whole - an unparalleled success story.

This enormous intellectual evolution has pushed the horizons of knowledge and development further and further, so much so that the mighty forces of nature have been tuned to serve the human species. The human evolution can be best described as a continuous relay race in which the runners from one generation have been passing on the baton of knowledge and development to the next generation who in turn run further on the evolutionary path passing on the baton of evolution to the upcoming generation. This passing-on of the baton has been made possible by the process of Education.

Education is the programming of the Intellect through the process of learning and gathering knowledge. The level of knowledge available at any given epoch in the world is the sum total of all the knowledge gathered and processed by humanity over the ages up to that point in time. This enormous knowledge has been branched out into different categories as different sciences to facilitate understanding and specialization. It is difficult for a single individual today to have knowledge in all the fields hence modern education has two important stages namely - the primary stage during which the student develops knowledge necessary for the next stage, which is the stage of higher learning and specialization wherein the student focuses on a single branch of knowledge or science, best suited for his aptitude and interest. Throughout this entire educational process, the intellect gets programmed with knowledge. Not all persons pursue knowledge to the very edge of its existing horizon which is why the level of evolution varies from person to person, even within the same epoch and within the same branch of knowledge.

The degree of evolution through education becomes an essential and inseparable part of the total personality of the individual having a direct bearing on the behavior, attitude, actions, reactions, vision, enterprise as well as placement in social hierarchy that gets reflected in the manner in which the individual applies oneself in a given situation. Thus whatever one does carries the dimension of one’s education. This establishes the fact that one is bound by one’s intellectual development thereby leaving no room for the so called Free Will.

   

The conditioning from Personal Experiences

Life is a string of experiences occurring continuously as long as one lives. No two persons can have the same set of experiences in life even if they have lived in the same geopolitical and economic settings within the same epoch; their experiences not only differ but are unique to each one of them. Our inclinations, motivations, opinions, actions and reactions are influenced greatly by our past personal experiences. In fact our personal experiences are also some of the most powerful lessons learnt by us which orient us one way or the other in a given set of circumstances or situations. The following illustration highlights this:

If while dealing with one Mr. A, I had an unpleasant experience, I shall record in my memory that Mr. A is not good enough. On the other hand a friend of mine who has also dealt with Mr. A has found his experience of dealing with him to be a good one therefore he shall register favorable remarks for Mr. A in his memory. Mr. A is the same whether for me or for my friend but to me he is not so good a person whereas for my friend he is a pretty nice man. This contradictory acknowledgement of Mr. A is purely based on the unique personal experiences of my friend’s and my own dealings with him which shall color our future dealings related to Mr. A.

Experiencing is a regular and continuous process in our lives due to which we keep learning and reorienting ourselves every moment of our life even if the change is insignificant or unnoticeable. The following story brings forth this fact of life very effectively:

Once upon a time a great Zen master called one of his disciples and asked him a simple question on a topic which had been recently taught. The disciple gave the correct answer. The next day the master called the same disciple and asked him the same question, to which the disciple gave the same correct answer as was given by him on the previous day. The following day the master once again called the same disciple and asked him the very same question. This time the disciple got puzzled however he gave the correct answer to the master but now he had a doubt in his mind on the master’s real motive so he respectfully questioned his master as to why he has been asking him the same question every day? To this the Zen master replied that on all the occasions you gave the same answer to my question which showed that you have not modified or upgraded your understanding of the topic in question  with respect to your experiences during the intervening time since I taught you this topic. You are not the same today as you were on the day you learnt this lesson then how can your understanding remain the same? It only shows that your learning has only become a part of your memory but not a part of yourself.

This story highlights the importance of the subtle changes in our personality due to our experiences of life on a moment to moment basis. Our entire personality is always in a state of flux. One or more dimensions of our Self are always changing. Like the minute hand in the clock whose movement goes unnoticed but when looked at after some gap tells another time, we too keep changing in a subtle and unnoticeable manner on the basis of our experiences however over a sufficiently long period of time, the changes in our personality become clearly evident.

It is not without reason that while recruiting employees, the employer normally looks for a candidate with relevant and sufficient experience over and above the educational qualifications.

Knowledge by itself is only gathered information and unless this knowledge is seasoned by experience it does not become Wisdom. Whereas knowledge is a part of memory, wisdom becomes the part of understanding which comes into play all the time and in all aspects of living. Richer is the experience greater is the wisdom. By education one can gather knowledge but wisdom comes only through experience. The value addition to one’s personality is therefore directly related to one’s education and one’s experience which in turn determines one’s utility and place in society. In other words one’s status, position and success etc. are directly proportionate to one’s experiences.   

One’s experiences are neither due to one’s choice nor due to one’s ‘doing’ alone. When experiencing itself is not in one’s control, then how the changes that occur within one’s system as a result of the experiences can ever be as per one’s choice or will? In which case the ‘Person’ both before and after the experience is not in control either of the experience or the changes within the Self caused by that experience. Extrapolating this analogy for the entire life, it can be easily arrived at that at no point of time during one’s Life; one is in control either of the happenings or of the consequent changes occurring within one self, in which case the question of freewill does not arise at all. 

Everyone at every moment is unique, having a unique constitution determined by the DNA code, with a unique personality fashioned by the environment, having a unique level of evolution determined by the education and having a unique disposition caused by the experiences in the life up to that point in time. In all these aspects one has had no choice. The choices one makes or the expressions of one’s Will are not independent of one’s total conditioning. The so called willful actions are completely influenced by one’s overall conditioning and orientation as has been described in the foregoing paragraphs. The choices made or willed cannot be termed as freewill. At best the will of the individual can be called the Conditioned Will. It is the ego which labels the Conditioned Will as Free Will. The ego rejects any form of its subjugation being always insecure and afraid of annihilation of its identity and therefore it asserts itself by declaring that all choices are a result of one’s own freewill alone.

If there had been freewill in human beings then there would have been total chaos in this world. Reconciliation would not have been possible for the expressions of contradictory willing by different persons? There would have been a total absence of system and coexistence would not have been possible at all. Even a simple thing as the digestion of food would have been disturbed. It is not without reason that the power that created and may be managing this universe has not provided the human species with Free Will. Even with the limited or conditioned Will the human race has created enough imbalances in nature in the form of ecological disturbances leading the entire universe to the brink of a colossal disaster. Today all living beings including humans are living on the edge. The tragedy would have been much more horrifying and would have come even more quickly, if the human being had freewill.

The concept of Free Will has another dimension to it in the form of ‘Doership’. The so called freewill is meaningless until and unless it results in the accomplishment of its objective - the willed result. Merely by making a choice or by willing, nothing can be achieved. An element of doing or action is necessary to make the Will a reality. The strong belief that merely by my action I can achieve my willed objective is what is called ‘Doership’. There cannot be a greater illusion than this belief of ‘Doership’ which is often expressed as ‘I am the doer’ or ‘I shall do it’ etc. Whereas action or doing is an inseparable part of living or existence, the idea of doership is illusory. Actually doership is synonymous with being in control in a given situation which is never the case and is an illusion created by the ego. Why the concept of ‘Doership’ is illusory is being explained in the following paragraphs:

The fallacy of Doership

The strong belief that in any given situation I am fully capable of taking any action that I want to take, as well as that my action alone is sufficient to ensure the desired result is ‘Doership’. To understand the fallacy of this belief, we have to look at the process of ‘Action’ itself. Every action is preceded by a thought. There cannot be any action without a thought behind it. We get thoughts; we do not generate or create thoughts. A thought which is strong and compelling enough leads to action. The thought comes to us either from memory or as a reaction to external stimuli and we then label it as ‘my thought’. Whereas our memory is the register of all our past observations and experiences leading to our unique conditioning, our reactions always result from our total conditioning up to the point in time of the reaction. Thus any thought we get is never independent of our total conditioning. When the thought itself is not our creation then how can we call the action resulting from that thought to be our own action? It is our ego which identifies itself with the thought as well as with the connected action and calls it ‘my action’. Truly speaking none of our actions are actually ours. The actions only happen through our Body-Mind-Intellect system which has been conditioned in a certain unique manner as has been explained in detail earlier. This is the reason why different persons act differently in the same or similar situations. The very basis for the belief of ‘Doership’ is therefore a misplaced one.

Even if we accept the argument that I am what I am at any moment due to my total conditioning and that the ‘Person’ that I am, acts in a certain manner’ then the action happening through me is ‘my action’; the other part of ‘Doership’ which makes us believe that I shall be able to achieve any desired result due to my action alone is fallacious. The following example shall clarify this point:

In a football match, the forward line players are assigned the role of putting the ball into the opposite goal as soon as they get an opportunity. When the goal is scored by a player, the credit of hitting the goal goes to him. The goal may have been finally accomplished by the said player but that act of hitting the goal is only the final act which would not have been possible if the other players of his team had not brought the ball up and passed it on to him. The goal scored is a result of the efforts of all the players of the team. If the player who scored the goal finally takes the entire credit, it is his mistake. He could score the goal only because the other team mates had done their part in the game. In the total effort his effort was only a part. Similarly in life too our effort in the form of our actions is only a small part of the total effort which goes into the happening of an event. We cannot take credit for the whole effort or claim that our effort was the only one to have made the event happen. The misunderstanding that ‘my action’ alone is responsible for the happening of an event is caused due to the fallacy of ‘Doership’.

Every event that happens is the net result of the actions of innumerable beings. In fact it can be stated that every event that happens is due to the effort put in by the entire universe. We are at all times dependent on the whole of this universe. This fact of interdependence is however taken for granted and conveniently overlooked by our ego due to which we fall into the trap of believing that ‘I am the doer’.

Buddha declared “Events happen deeds are done but there is no individual doer there-off”. This is one of the greatest declarations wherein it has been clearly stated that the happening of an event can never be the result of any one individual’s doing or action.

The Hindu sages and seers institutionalized this understanding in their rituals. One of the most important rituals for the Hindus is the Yagna or the Homam. During the performance of this ritual the community participates by offering their oblations into the sacred fire. This sacred fire signifies the fire of Creation and the oblations signify the effort or actions of each member of the community which are offered as contributions to the total effort in the form of the ongoing Creation. The idea behind the ritual is to make everyone aware that whatever one does is only a contribution to the universal process of creation. During the performance of the ritual, each oblation is offered with the chanting of the mantra “Idam na mamah” which means “This (action or offering) is not mine”. What a great idea to educate people to transcend the ego and its manifestation in the form of ‘Doership’.

Another idea highlighted by the ritual of Yagna was that all actions happen for the fulfillment of the universal agenda only. The community was educated through the rituals to keep the welfare of whole of humanity as the supreme consideration while deciding on a course of action. Any personal agenda or desire prompted action was considered to be a low grade action or an undesirable action. Unfortunately with the passage of time under the influence of greed and lust this ritual degenerated into an exercise for seeking divine blessings for one’s desire fulfillments which goes against the very purpose for which the ritual was designed.

The same idea was also proclaimed by Lord Krishna in his teachings to the prince Arjuna. Krishna said “One can only carry out his action but he can by no means ensure the result”. The natural corollary to this assertion is that the result or the happening of the desired event is dependent on the contribution or involvement of many agencies, not just on one individual’s action.

The actions or contributions of other agencies are never in control of any one individual. The best of shooters can at best set the aim perfectly before actually shooting at the target but if the target shifts as soon as the shot is fired, the effort shall fail. The behavior of the target is not within the control of the shooter. In much the same way the quality of the action alone does not determine its success. This fact highlights yet another dimension of the erroneous belief of ‘Doership’. 

One’s existence in this world in a given life is not for the purpose of self achievements or enjoyments. Everyone is assigned roles for each life in the universal play with the primary objective of fulfilling the universal goals set by Creation. One’s personal goals have no bearing except when they happen to be in line with the objectives of Creation. The entire universe is committed to the goals of Creation and only those of our actions are likely to fructify which directly or indirectly conform to those goals. It is difficult for anyone to know the objective of Creation at any point of time, hence one can only act as one should (as per one’s programming) with the awareness that the result of such an action may not unfold as expected or desired. Success or failure is one’s personal experience but the overall objective of Creation is always fulfilled.

One’s action based on one’s personal considerations is only a contribution to the universal process. The circumstances which compel someone to act one way or the other as per one’s personal conditioning are never in one’s control. The circumstances get created to motivate one to act in a certain manner which is required as a contribution to the universal process. One’s existence is like the tiny particles in a kaleidoscope where one’s orientation is important only for the final picture that emerges from time to time in the kaleidoscope. One is neither in control of the picture nor of one’s own orientation in the picture but nevertheless one has an important role to play. In such a universal design of which we are only a tiny part where is the scope for ‘Doership’. One has only to look around to realize this Truth. The Sun shines and provides heat and energy to the world. The Sun may or may not be aware of its importance for the sustenance of life on earth but nevertheless its existence is crucial for life on the earth. The role played by the Sun in Creation is not its choice and certainly Sun cannot claim to be a doer so far as its role is concerned. Similarly even the tiniest form of life in this world has a crucial role to play for maintaining the fine ecological balance for life to go on smoothly.

The sense of ‘Doership’ is an illusion created by the ego which needs to be replaced by an understanding that all doing that happens through one’s system is necessary for the ultimate happening of an event which may or may not be exactly as desired or expected by the individual doer. In the ultimate analysis however, ‘doing’ is essential-an essential part of one’s existence but it should not necessarily be tied to the happening of any desired event as a result of such ‘doing’. As a corollary to this, it should be understood that ‘doership’ falls only within the authority of Creation or Totality of Existence but is out of bounds for the individual human being. We as individuals are the unique tools in the hands of Creation prepared and conditioned for the specific roles to be played by us in the ongoing process of creation. Even the personal goals and objectives we set for ourselves as per our desires and expectations are actually necessary to motivate us to act in a certain manner so as to actually fulfill the requirements of Creation in the process of making efforts for our own personal fulfillments. Creation in fact follows the ‘carrot and stick policy’ to get its work done through us as individuals.

In the foregoing paragraphs, the myths of Freewill and Doership have been addressed. That Freewill and Doership are mere illusions has been explained. Unless these illusions are cleared it is difficult to develop a meaningful understanding of Astrology. A majority of questions that are frequently asked on Astrology arise from the illusory belief that ‘I’- the limited individual-have unlimited power to ‘do’ as I want to do and achieve whatever I want to achieve. These illusions get reinforced by the talks and writings of experts on Motivation and the self-help Gurus since such talks and writings generate hopes and create a feel-good factor by flattering the Ego. As the master business coach Mike Jay puts it and I quote ‘---let’s get real---we’re not equal. I suppose that’s the most difficult thing to swallow.’ He goes on to say that most of the self-help Gurus would make us believe that ‘we come into this world as blank slates and that we can become anything we want to.’ In this process the self-help Gurus promote the illusory hope ‘If I can do it so can you.’ There can never be a formula for personal success or personal achievement. The same set of principles can bring success in one setting one day and can be the cause for a disaster in a similar setting another day. Once it is understood that there is nothing like personal success but only moments in life when one’s own objective coincides with that of Creation thereby giving the false notion of personal success or achievement, then and only then one can be truly realistic in one’s understanding and approach towards life and living.

There is some possibility of misunderstanding the concepts stated here-in-above as fatalism which is the other extreme of denying Freewill and Doership and it can lead one to develop the attitude of ‘all accepting impotence’ or fatalism which can be even more if not equally destructive as the diehard belief of Freewill and Doership. In no way cowardice or lack of entrepreneurship is being advocated or encouraged in the above paragraphs. Planning, programming and setting goals in the short term as well as in the long term is essential for any well directed action. Activity is the very essence of existence or living. Planning for the possible in any given situation is ‘conditioned willing’ not ‘free willing’ and similarly making a sincere effort as planned is ‘doing’ not ‘doership’. The false ego-centric understanding that ‘I am in control or that I can be in control’ in any situation is all that is being discouraged here. The following illustration shall help in clarifying this further:

A student from a weak economic background will not plan his education from an expensive institution. While planning his future education he shall keep his economic limitation in mind. This is conditioned willing, which is a realistic way of looking at things. Much in the same way an aspirant in a competitive examination can only work hard and give his best possible performance- which is ‘doing’- but he can never remain assured of his success- which is ‘doership’.

In the final analysis what is being advocated is a ‘Realistic’ approach to living as against a bravado approach to life. It is hoped that the readers will get their answers to the questions related to Freewill and Doership as well as to the questions related to the degree of control one has on one’s own life.