Question: Is every event in our lives predestined, or is there just a general direction?

Sri Chinmoy: It is predestined that you will realise God without fail, either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. The most significant events in your life are predestined, but if it is a question of what you are going to eat for breakfast, God is not interested in that. Again, even if it is predestined that you are going to die tomorrow, if you follow the spiritual life and God sees that you have genuine aspiration, you may not die. Instead, if it is God’s Will, you may just have a headache, that is all.

Fate can be changed by the Supreme’s Will. In the highest sense, the only thing that is predestined is that you are bound to realise God. He, she, everybody is bound to realise God. Ignorance can prevent you from realising God for only one day or two days, but you cannot remain unrealised throughout Eternity. Let us use the term “predestined” only in a good sense. If some calamity is going to take place, if you are not going to realise God in this incarnation, then you can use your will-power, your aspiration-power to change your fate. Fate can be changed by an unchanging will.

Take yourself as a player. A soccer player can use his right leg or his left leg. When he comes near the goal post, everybody thinks that he is going to use his right leg, and they are ready to prevent the ball from going into the goal. Then, at the last moment, he uses his left leg and scores. You may think it was predestined that he would use his right leg, but it is not true. He can use his left leg, too. So if you see that something undivine is going to happen in your life, some calamity, then you can use your aspiration-power to change it.