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Prarabdha and positive thinking

SeRe

Member
Owing to COVID-19, I have spent every weekend for the past few months indoors and reading. I have come across videos by Swami Mukundananda and Brahmakumaris, claiming that positive thinking can change Prarabdha, and beliefs play a major role in any person's destiny.

Brahmakumaris in particular pay special attention to affirmations, and boast of several success stories. Some examples that come to mind include people born in poverty rising out of poverty and having wealth, married couples and friends healing their relationships, unemployed youth finding jobs, blind women regaining eyesight, missing family members being reunited etc.

Swami Mukundananda mainly teaches surrender to God, but I have come across a number of videos of him explaining that the subconscious mind can be trained to make a person successful, changing our thoughts can change our life, etc.

I want to understand from your experiences and understanding, if you think prarabdha is changeable. If yes, does positive thinking impact it?
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
I am relatively new to these topics myself, and so I am by no means an expert, but if I am understanding it right, prarabdha cannot be changed, but we can prepare ourselves for the effects it takes in our lives.

Does positive thinking affect it? I don't know if it does so as directly as many claim, but may so in more subtle ways. For example, I do not believe that if I want a corvette, and I visualize the corvette, and meditate on driving it, etc, that I will receive a corvette somehow. I don't believe this because,as a person who used to suffer with terrible anxieties and phobias, no matter how clearly the fears played out in my mind, they never came to pass. If positive thinking worked in these matters, negative would, too. After all, positive and negative are more the inventions of the human mind. But, positive thinking may make us more open to positive experiences around us, more willing to try again after a disappointment, and more likely to relate well to our fellow man. All of these things are more likely to bring success, or at least to find our situation is as more enjoyable.

Is positive thinking in general worth it, and could that affect prarabdha? Perhaps. Having a generally positive or receptive attitude makes life easier in general. While the events that come at us may be our karma unfolding, we can respond differently. Some people cry "why me!" when events happen(typically bad ones) and are effected mentally for some time to come. If you are thinking positively, you can analyze the experience(if need be) and let it go.

So much of our 'lives' are in our head, anyways. What is real? Each moment comes, and it goes, and is forgotten. While it's best not to become attached to pain or pleasure, it's better to err on the side of being positive, if for nothing but to uplift those we share space with.
 

SeRe

Member
I am relatively new to these topics myself, and so I am by no means an expert, but if I am understanding it right, prarabdha cannot be changed, but we can prepare ourselves for the effects it takes in our lives.

Does positive thinking affect it? I don't know if it does so as directly as many claim, but may so in more subtle ways. For example, I do not believe that if I want a corvette, and I visualize the corvette, and meditate on driving it, etc, that I will receive a corvette somehow. I don't believe this because,as a person who used to suffer with terrible anxieties and phobias, no matter how clearly the fears played out in my mind, they never came to pass. If positive thinking worked in these matters, negative would, too. After all, positive and negative are more the inventions of the human mind. But, positive thinking may make us more open to positive experiences around us, more willing to try again after a disappointment, and more likely to relate well to our fellow man. All of these things are more likely to bring success, or at least to find our situation is as more enjoyable.

Is positive thinking in general worth it, and could that affect prarabdha? Perhaps. Having a generally positive or receptive attitude makes life easier in general. While the events that come at us may be our karma unfolding, we can respond differently. Some people cry "why me!" when events happen(typically bad ones) and are effected mentally for some time to come. If you are thinking positively, you can analyze the experience(if need be) and let it go.

So much of our 'lives' are in our head, anyways. What is real? Each moment comes, and it goes, and is forgotten. While it's best not to become attached to pain or pleasure, it's better to err on the side of being positive, if for nothing but to uplift those we share space with.

I agree with what you say. I also don't subscribe to "The Secret" book or any other such stuff. And I also agree that phobias do not come to pass. If they did, everyone with OCD would be living in hell!

How do you explain then the success that the Brahmakumaris have had?
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
I agree with what you say. I also don't subscribe to "The Secret" book or any other such stuff. And I also agree that phobias do not come to pass. If they did, everyone with OCD would be living in hell!

My eldest son is on the autism spectrum and has OCD. Before we found the proper medication for him, he could hardly eat as he saw bugs in his food. Now, I assure you, though I've cooked a variety of things, I have never included insects... but, those bugs were so real to him he would starve himself.

How do you explain then the success that the Brahmakumaris have had?

I think it comes down to attitude again. I hadn't heard of the Brahma Kumaris(had to google it), but from the examples you've given, I can see how positive thinking would work here. For example, a person in poverty with a negative mindset may be more apt to dwell on it, and blame outside circumstances. While outside circumstances absolutely come into play(such as being born into poverty), a person who thinks more on getting out of it than of lamenting that they are in it are more apt to take the steps to get out of it. And with healing relationships, a person who genuinely believes they have the ability to save their marriage is more likely to put their all into doing so than someone who deep down believes its all futile.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I don't believe the parabdha karma is changeable, but how you react to it is changeable. Lots of wise folks have indicated it is best to practice non-reaction, and accept your fate as positively as you can. Since you want the karma to end (the buck stops here) a non-reaction will end it. if you react, you risk re-creating it, or creating new karma, to again be worked out in this or a future lifetime.

I also think it wise to view yourself as a soul going along a sojourn, not as an individual with only one life to live. See the mala, not the bead.
 

SeRe

Member
My eldest son is on the autism spectrum and has OCD. Before we found the proper medication for him, he could hardly eat as he saw bugs in his food. Now, I assure you, though I've cooked a variety of things, I have never included insects... but, those bugs were so real to him he would starve himself.



I think it comes down to attitude again. I hadn't heard of the Brahma Kumaris(had to google it), but from the examples you've given, I can see how positive thinking would work here. For example, a person in poverty with a negative mindset may be more apt to dwell on it, and blame outside circumstances. While outside circumstances absolutely come into play(such as being born into poverty), a person who thinks more on getting out of it than of lamenting that they are in it are more apt to take the steps to get out of it. And with healing relationships, a person who genuinely believes they have the ability to save their marriage is more likely to put their all into doing so than someone who deep down believes its all futile.

Glad to hear that your son is doing well! May God bless him!

I see your point. But some people have been miraculously cured of blindness or a debilitating health issue due to the affirmations. The attitude theory cannot explain this, right?
 

SeRe

Member
I don't believe the parabdha karma is changeable, but how you react to it is changeable. Lots of wise folks have indicated it is best to practice non-reaction, and accept your fate as positively as you can. Since you want the karma to end (the buck stops here) a non-reaction will end it. if you react, you risk re-creating it, or creating new karma, to again be worked out in this or a future lifetime.

I also think it wise to view yourself as a soul going along a sojourn, not as an individual with only one life to live. See the mala, not the bead.

Yes, this is what I believe as well. I have also come to understand that "not reacting" makes me feel a little bit less alive and makes life feel dull and boring. So wouldn't positive thinking be the next best thing?
 

stvdv

Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
My eldest son is on the autism spectrum and has OCD. Before we found the proper medication for him, he could hardly eat as he saw bugs in his food. Now, I assure you, though I've cooked a variety of things, I have never included insects... but, those bugs were so real to him he would starve himself.
I know that what your son has, can be real. I have the same. I see bugs (with my eyes). For example if I look up in the sky, I see moving bugs or worms, about 20cm away from my eyes. Quite intriguing. I think I know what is the cause of this, but I have to test this. Of course I know the bugs are not real, as in physical present outside my body, but my eyes show them to me. Strange phenomenon.

So maybe your son saw the same as what I see. It is not real outside me, but it is real inside me. We all know that our body is full of bugs; worms, bacteria, viruses, parasites etc. This is what my eyes show me. I have done some tests, and indeed I had worms at that time. So it is just a gift of God, to show what I have to work on. A few bugs the body can handle, but there should not be too many;). In my case there is too much.

Sai Baba once said in a discourse "People in the west have many diseases because of eating meat. Because of the meat, parasites can enter your body, and these parasites move to all your organs, and hence you get many diseases".

My immune system is not strong, hence there is imbalance of bugs inside of me.
 
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Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Yes, this is what I believe as well. I have also come to understand that "not reacting" makes me feel a little bit less alive and makes life feel dull and boring. So wouldn't positive thinking be the next best thing?

Sure. Depends on how much the reaction turns into action, I think. If you react by seeking revenge on a person, that wouldn't be good for karma, but if you just have a personal hissy fit over it, sure. I'm no expert. Positive thinking and positive affirmations are always great.
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
Yes, this is what I believe as well. I have also come to understand that "not reacting" makes me feel a little bit less alive and makes life feel dull and boring. So wouldn't positive thinking be the next best thing?

I don't know. The inner turmoil when trying not to react in a situation can really be quite the fight!

I know that what your son has, can be real. I have the same. I see bugs (with my eyes). For example if I look up in the sky, I see moving bugs or worms, about 20cm away from my eyes. Quite intriguing. I think I know what is the cause of this, but I have to test this. Of course I know the bugs are not real, as in physical present outside my body, but my eyes show them to me. Strange phenomenon.

So maybe your son saw the same as what I see. It is not real outside me, but it is real inside me. We all know that our body is full of bugs; worms, bacteria, viruses, parasites etc. This is what my eyes show me. I have done some tests, and indeed I had worms at that time. So it is just a gift of God, to show what I have to work on. A few bugs the body can handle, but there should not be too many;). In my case there is too much.

Sai Baba once said in a discourse "People in the west have many diseases because of eating meat. Because of the meat, parasites can enter your body, and these parasites move to all your organs, and hence you get many diseases".

My immune system is not strong, hence there is imbalance of bugs inside of me.

I am not really sure what he saw, but it was definitely real to him. He would just complain of bugs in his food, and dirt. Unfortunately, it presented health problems for him; he was so thin and would hardly eat. The doctor put him on some medication for OCD, and his bugs 'disappeared'. He also tended to see bugs in our bathroom, and refused to take a bath. I remember a week after he started the medicine he started complaining that there were bugs in the bathroom. I asked him to show me, and he went in, and was completely awestruck. "Mom! They're gone! The bugs are gone!" He was only about 7 at the time...maybe 8.

That's a very interesting thought on the bugs being internal bugs. He had a terrible immune system in his younger years. Thankfully, it's improved quite a bit. Maybe there was something to it.
 

SeRe

Member
Sure. Depends on how much the reaction turns into action, I think. If you react by seeking revenge on a person, that wouldn't be good for karma, but if you just have a personal hissy fit over it, sure. I'm no expert. Positive thinking and positive affirmations are always great.

Yes, so far I feel the same :)
 
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