Why speculate about future?

Aiming, planning, setting goals, hoping are fine but predetermining results is generally very painful, explains AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

Life can neither be all pleasures nor all miseries; it is a combination of both. They come and go. (Gita 2.14) However, when good times come, they lull us into thinking that they will last but they don’t. Similarly, bad times appear like never-ending but they do end also. Because both good and bad times are linked to what we have done in the past, and all our karmas are limited; they are never unlimited.

I will cite some famous examples. Shankaracharya’s mother had a dream in which Lord Shiva told her that He would incarnate in the form of her first born child. There was great happiness in her heart. And when Shankaracharya was a child, she could relate her dream to what she saw. Shankaracharya showed a penchant towards spiritual knowledge. In his early years, he could easily recite thePuranas and the epics. He mastered theVedas when he was studying in Gurukul. However, Shankaracharya took sanyasa and left her. When her son left, she began to cry. Time passed and she came to the end of her life. She was much pleased when her son returned to her as per the promise he had given to her prior to leaving.

Abraham Lincoln’s early years were tough is common knowledge but what transpired during his first presidency was very painful to him. Lincoln took the oath of office in early 1861 and became the 16th President of the United States. This must have been a great source of happiness to him having struggled for so long to reach this position. However, things soon became very painful as the Southern States seceded. Lincoln was very careful in this response but as the situation worsened, he took energetic action. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, and ended with destruction of life and property. Lincoln was re-elected President in 1869, which must have been a matter of great satisfaction.

The third example is that of Valmiki Rishi. This was his given name; he was named Ratnakar by his parents. He used to rob people of their belongings. One day he chanced to meet Narada Muni, and as usual asked him to give all his valuables. Naradji explained that he only possessed one veena. To cut a long story short, Ratnakar was a changed man after meeting Narada Muni. From a person who obtained pervert pleasure by robbing people, he enjoyed the highest pleasure of compiling the epic Ramayana. He could have never ever dreamed about what ultimately he became.

The fourth and the last example is that of Adolf Hitler. He rose the power after the World War I when Germany was defeated. He managed to bring the Germans together; he was preparing Germany for war. He began attacking different European countries. He had many impressive victories. However, the tide turned against Germany and in early 1945, the Allies marched into the heart of Germany. Hitler committed suicide. Could he have thought of such an end for himself?

Why do we speculate so much when results can be completely at variance with what we are thinking, but we do as a habit? This habit gives us a lot of pain. Unfortunately, pessimists outnumber optimists. For even positive thinkers, results could be very disappointing. So what should one ideally do? Stop speculating? Aiming, planning, setting goals, and hoping are all fine but predetermining results is generally very painful.

A wise person will focus on what all he can do as per his or her plan and stop speculating about the likely result. And the result will surely come according to the efforts made now and earlier. Fate is also a factor, (Gita 18.14) One can do better by involving God because God is the only one who has overriding powers over everything. How do we involve God? The Bhagavad Gita has detailed information on the subject. Do we still need to speculate?

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com