Predestination or Free Will?

There are two classes of beings, generally speaking, who have conflicting beliefs about destiny. There are those who think that destiny is something predetermined or pre-ordained, over which one has no control. It is some "god" or "power" outside of us that shapes and molds our destiny, and nothing can be done except to submit to its will. This belief arises from the non-understanding of the correct concept of God, of the real nature of man, the purpose and the goal of evolution. Those who hold it consult priests or palmists and astrologers so that through propitiatory ceremonies and offerings some change may be brought about. The Sufi poet Omar Khayyam seems to take this particular point of view when he says in his Rubaiyat:

The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, Moves on: Nor all thy Piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a word of it.

© The Theosophical Movement, February 1995, published by Theosophy Company (India) Private Limited, 40 New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400 020. Reprinted with permission.

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