Dear Arjuna Prabhu,

Please accept my dandavat pranams.

I will try to read your email more carefully to see if I can get some clues to decipher it. For now, it appears to be like a Brownian motion of words. I'm sure it is due to your difficulty trying to communicate complex ideas in English when your native language is Spanish.

One item I would like to address in general is that of randomness. I think Einstein did not believe in it and I don't think I do either.

What I believe, and what I have seen in my life experience, is that so called random events always turn out to be coordinated and predictable events when viewed through a lens of greater knowledge.

Does that mean that everything is predetermined? I don't think so. Then what of your reference to the ability of the sages to see the future?

I think these two events, destiny and the future should be understood separately from each other.

If we look at the statement of Srila Guru Maharaja "Everything is existing within consciousness.", and Mahaprabhu's aphorism achintya bhedabheda (inconceivably one and non-one) then we must believe everything is possible within the world of consciousness.

This means two apparently opposite statements such as "destined" and "non-destined", "predictable" and "random" can be true at the same time and in the same place.

Now scientists seem to acknowledge the truth of the above and are using both ideas in their research for solving problems.

For example, we are all familiar with the simplicity of the binary system used for manufacturing computers. It relies on the very simple idea that an electrical circuit is either "O" (open) or "I" (closed) which also corresponds to the numbers "0" and "1".

While it works very well for determining if a light is either on or off, due to a circuit being either closed or open, and it works well for relatively small calculations, it becomes almost impossible to use, when very large numbers of calculations are involved such as in integer factorization and complex cryptography.

The solution? The Quantum computer. Quantum theory, used to describe the uncertainty, or unpredictability of events, when properly understood and utilized, can reliably predict outcomes.

All things that exist, have a destiny, otherwise they would be nonexistent, (Bhagavad Gita, "That which is temporary has no existence, that which is existing has no cessation"). The sages can see our future, but we may, or may not, choose the future we will have.

The way I see it, material nature is predictable. We need not strap ourselves into our beds fearing one night we might float away due to a sudden loss of gravity. If it were not so (predictable) then maha maya would lose her hold over the jiva who is content with results that are generally predictable with brief interruptions (such as flood, fire, earthquake, etc) which, when they occur, frighten him. Why are these interruptions frightening, because at all other times the jiva is convinced he can proceed with a plan for his life that will have a predictable outcome. This idea causes him to be calm and comfortable and allows him to forget the precarious nature of his position within the material world.

One who is fearful of his eminent demise, on the other hand, is in an almost constant state of prayer to God, knowing his only hope for salvation must come from such a great being who exists in a state which transcends the material universe and its laws.

Such a constant state of anxiety for the jiva, although beneficial for him, works against maha maya who is trying to keep the jiva within her clutches. She therefore is careful to always cover the jiva with illusions of solutions that offer comfort and assurance such as friendship, society and love.

As for the aforementioned idea that we may, or may not, choose our future, it means this; those who are oblivious to the influence of maha maya over them are carried by the waves of material nature into different conditions of life.

isvarah sarva-bhutanam

hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhutani
yantrarudhani mayaya

"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy." --Bg 18.61

They are the slaves of their senses which lead them through different stages of ignorance. In this condition they are subject to a particular destiny.

The Transcendental Reality, however, is not subject to the laws of His material creation and thus, at any moment, may intervene in any fashion He chooses. He can change destiny, realign the stars, destroy the universe or offer liberation to everyone in it.

The jiva being a transcendental entity himself, may, at any time, of his own accord, decide to surrender to the Almighty and leave the bonds of maha maya which have heretofore ensnared him. His previous destiny is thus interrupted and his path to the future lies in the hands of the Lord and His devotees.

More often than not, however, the cycle of the jiva's illusion is interrupted not by his own volition, but by the intervention of the Lord or His devotee. Once this occurs it provides the jiva a way out of his illusion and his prior destiny.

A sage who can see the future may also see the future life of a nitya baddha jiva as a nitya siddha even before he has attained that position.

[There is a discussion of Fibonacci numbers that is omitted here as it is not relevant to the general reader.]

I want to give this some more thought but this is my initial response, as time allows, to your ideas.

I pray this finds you well in all respects and happily engaged in your seva.

With affection,

Giri Maharaja
 

PS If you have any particular point or question you would like me to address, I could do that easier one at a time rather than face such a complexity of points as you have put forward in your email.