Maktub, it is written in Arabic, points to the fact that whatever happens is already known to the One. It signifies destiny exists and points a finger to the fact that everything is already known to the All” (Technology of the Heart). Maktub indicates that all has been written and people should not fear because everything happens for a reason. Our destinies have been predetermined... or have they??
“Why do I have a lot of money? Because I was born into a rich family. Why do I keep chasing women all the time? Because I was born with male chromosomes. Why am I pursuing such and such a job? Because I did B.Tech. Why did I choose B.Tech.? Because I had subjects Physics, Chemistry, and Maths in class Twelfth? Why did I have these subjects in class Twelfth? Because it was fashionable to choose these subjects when I was doing class Tenth. Why were you doing your class tenth from such a place where there was this fashion? Because I was born in a particular state, of a particular country, in particular, economic conditions.
So the situations of your birth are dictating your entire life. That is slavery. Your place of birth is dictating your entire course of education. Your education is dictating your job. Your job is dictating your wife. Your wife is dictating your family. And there is hardly anything more to your life. There is nothing more in your life.
So the entire life is being dictated by the situations of birth. The very fact that you were born in a particular year, in a particular family, with a particular gender decides the entire course of your life. That’s it.
How many of us want to live like that? “Because I was born in the year 1993, in the Gupta family, as a girl, therefore I am a homemaker today with five kids. That is the story of my life.” How many of you would want to be like that?
“Because I was born in the year 1990 as a Hindu, or as a Muslim, so I have devoted my entire life to the service of my cult.” Don’t you see that all these incidents are just random occurrences?
Were you greatly interested at the time of your birth, that whether you should be born a Muslim or a Hindu? The moment you were born, did you run towards a mosque or a temple?
Imagine the child is newly born, and he is running to the church. And the doctors and the nurses are chasing him. The child is saying, “I am a devotee. After coming to the world, the first thing that I must do is to say ‘Thank you to the lord.” Did that happen? No! So I rest my case.
But today you act as if your religious identity is your biggest asset. Is that so? That is the price you pay, that is the punishment you suffer, for not being at your center. The one who will not live by his intelligence will have to live by his destiny. In fact, the lack of intelligence will become his destiny.
When I say ‘intelligence’, I do not mean cleverness. Intelligence is that which shines inattention. Intelligence is that which shines when the ego has made way. Intelligence is that which starts shining when the mind says, “I want to know.”
So it is all in your control. The moment you say, “I really want to know,” the power of intelligence becomes available to you. That is called attention. The feeling that – “I really want to know,” this is attentiveness. That power is always readily available to you.
Em Hotep - Patrick Gaffiero