Step 3:
Fate & Destiny
Philosophical Lessons with Swamiji
Make sure you have worked through Step 2: Show Me The Happiness before starting Step 3.
We encourage you to move through these teachings sequentially for the best learning outcome. Click on the name of the class to be taken to your video on-demand lesson. Move at your own pace. Take some time to reflect, journal, walk. Return when you are ready for the next lesson.
When you complete all 6 Lessons below you can progress to Step 4: Bhakti Yoga - The Eternal Path of Love. When you have completed all 7 Steps, you might be interested in joining our Satsang community of students.
1: Do We Need to Take Responsibility for Our Actions?
Or do we blame destiny, fate or God?
In many scriptural writings like the Bhagavad Gita, we find emphatic writing that Bhagwan (God) alone is the supreme controller of all that happens, even our actions. We are powerless. Yet, in total contradiction, the very same scriptures declare that the individual soul is the doer and is responsible for all that happens in their life. In this talk Swami Govindananda reconciles these apparent contradictions to clear up any confusion you might have.
35 Minute Lesson
2: Everything is Predetermined
Even the time of death
Can this be? Are we so bound by our destiny? The Gita says so. It explains that according to the laws of maya, we get exactly what we earn, no more and no less. If we cry out against some apparent injustice, it is only because the act that brought it upon us is buried deep in our past, out of reach of our memory. This powerful talk gives us profound insight into the nature of fate and destiny.
35 Minute Lesson
3: Karma - The Ability to Shape Your Future
Bound by destiny, you have free will too!
There is much to understand about freedom of will because it is governed by the complex science of karma. When explaining karma, most people simply say, ‘do this and get that result’, but there is much, much more to it than that. In this talk, Swami Govindananda will give you a crystal-clear picture of how we can be simultaneously bound by our past, while at the same time free to shape our future. A wonderful talk.
35 Minute Lesson
4: Be Active, But Do Nothing
The art of surrender
This talk explains that in order to receive grace, self-surrender is a must. But what is surrender? Why is it necessary? How can it be achieved? To explain, Swamiji relates an amazing event from the Gita that happened 5000 years ago involving the great warrior Arjuna. Just before the battle of the Mahabharata is about to begin, Arjuna loses heart and refuses to fight. The teachings he receives from his lord and master in response, will both surprise and enlighten you, because they go right to the heart of the various types of actions showing where they will lead you while alive and after death.
45 Minute Lesson
5: Surrender the Ego
‘I am the doer’
There is an impenetrable wall, called the ego, that prevents individuals from surrendering themselves to Bhagwan (God) and experiencing their true divine nature. What is this ego? Why is it such a problem that it should be surrendered? If it must be let go, how does one do it? Swami Govindananda will give valuable insight into this most complex, yet extremely important, subject.
40 Minute Lesson
6: One for All
The mystery of divine descension explained
This talk clears up the prevailing confusion concerning Bhagwan (God) and His/Her relationship with different cultures throughout the world and through the ages. In a concise and highly informative talk, many of your questions will be answered leaving you with profound understanding and perspective of Bhagwan that is rare to receive.
50 Minute Lesson