Genetics, Free Will, Destiny and Karma

Genetics, Free Will, Destiny and Karma
Shrikant Vasueo
18th May 2008
Since ancient times there is a debate about the role and importance of Free Will, Law of Inevitability due to Destiny, Law of Karma.

Law of Free Will states that we have a choice to become who we want to be, by planning, hard work, intelligent choices and learning. On the other hand, the role of Destiny is exactly opposite to that of Free Will. The law of Destiny states that our fate is ‘pre-determined’ and we can do nothing about it. Whatever has to happen will happen anyway – inspite of the human effort in the opposite direction. The Law of Karma states that we will have to reap what we have sown. It is a spiritual version of the Newton’s law – every action has equal and opposite reaction. It is a mixture of Free Will and Destiny. Once you do your actions, you incur Karma. The result of your action gets determined by your action. The reaction to your action is bound to happen. It then becomes your destiny – an inevitable thing. However, the first action which set into motion the law of Karma is of Free Will. In other words, the Free Will action invites Karma and becomes Destiny for the reaction to happen. The whole thing is not as simple as that. I have put it into over simplified form for easy understanding and brevity.

In the backdrop of above laws, the study of genetics puts in very interesting insights into human nature, destiny, free will etc. I believe that the findings of the science of genetics should form an integral part of the metaphysical discussion about Free Will, Destiny etc. This is because the science of genetics is throwing up shocking information upsetting the old paradigms about human nature.

Let us see how.

We consider human being is the most advanced species on earth. By comparison, plants are way below us in evolutionary scale. The genes in us are the basic building blocks of our nature – the computer program which decides who we are and how we will behave and what are our capacities etc. The science of genetics has discovered that the Plants have more genes than the human being !

It was thought that the human being is having 100,000 genes. When the human genome project was completed, scientists were shocked to know that we are only having 30,000 genes – far short of estimated. It made us wrongly believe that environmental factors are the determining factors of our nature and not the genes.

Here is another surprise. We are having about the same set of genes as other animals. We differ by just a single atom (Gc enzyme) on a humble sugar molecule with Chimpanzee. No – this single molecule does not make us human – the LACK of this molecule makes us human. The Chimpanzee has it. We do not.

In 1960s, a geneticist Dmitri Belyaev has done a very novel experiment on foxes. He had a fur farm. He tried to tame the foxes and train them for working on his farm. It was a very difficult task. After 25 generations of the foxes, he was able to tame the foxes completely. This is not much of surprising. What is surprising is that the physical features of the foxes also changed ! They now resembled to that of the pet dogs ! The exactly same set of genes of the 25th generation fox as that of the 1st generation fox – but with vastly different physical features. How could this be explained as per the genetics science ?

Over the decades, scientists have conducted numerous studies of identical twins to study the effect of genes on human nature. In as early as year 1874, a well known geographer named Francis Galton conducted studies identical twins. He selected 35 pairs of identical twins and 23 pairs of non-identical twins for his study. He observed that the identical twins remained similar throughout their lives in many diverse aspects. This similarity was not shared by non identical twins. Even the identical twins reared apart exhibited the similarity in traits.

From all the various studies of the heritability of IQ in twins, adeptees and combinations of the two, conducted over a period of time and by different scientists and at different places, we come to a common conclusion. IQ is about 50 % ‘additively genetic’, 25 % influenced by the shared environment (family life, schooling, neighbourhood etc) and the balance 25 % is influenced by environmental factors unique to the individual (events of his life).

If we put the above observation onto a time scale of the life of an individual, we get a very interesting and apparently intriguing phenomenon. Scientists have discovered based on numerous studies that the influence of genes is least in the early part of the life of an individual. During that period, the influence of the environment is maximum. On the other hand, during the later part of life of an individual, he ‘expresses’ the ‘genetic influence’ more strongly – over-riding or even altogether eliminating the early life influence of environment. Suppose a child of parents with very low IQ is adopted by those of very high IQ parents. Such a child will show bright results during his school days and also probably during his college days. However, by middle ages, he will have adopted to a job which requires very less of intelligence or application of mind.

There is another very interesting aspect to the genetics study. The genes themselves do not cause the result. The result is caused by the individual acting in a particular manner. The gene responsible for high intelligence will not by itself make an individual intelligent. It will ‘prompt’ the individual to study – by making him enjoy his learning experience. Unless the individual with intelligent gene makes an effort to study, the intelligence gene will not have an opportunity to express its ‘intelligence’ attribute. Similarly, the fat causing gene will not by itself make an individual fat person. It will induce the individual to feel hungry for a pizza. The individual with fat gene will gain weight only when he ‘obeys’ his natural instinct to eat pizza.
People staying in extreme poverty get influenced by the environmental factors. When their standard of living is raised, the genetic factor comes into importance – upto a limit. After having reached affluence, it again matters little as to how much wealth the individual is amassing. It becomes influenced by genetics.

Let us now look at the role of environment vis-à-vis gene in ‘sculpting’ the life of a person. A person with intelligent gene brought up in the conditions of extreme poverty is less likely to become an intelligent person. He needs basic resources like access to library, good tuition, computer etc to develop his intelligent faculty. Scientists have discovered that only when the standard of living of the people living in extreme poverty is raised that the genetic influence becomes prominent. Again this is true only upto a limit. After having reached affluence, it again matters little as to how much wealth the individual is amassing. It becomes influenced by genetics. On the other hand, the person brought up by very rich parents with intelligent gene, will become an intelligent person from early age. But the proportion of his intelligence will not be maintained with the amount of wealth his parents are having.

Now we come to the main part of our note. What is the influence of Free Will in bringing up the individual ? So far we are talking of genetics. And you must have observed that genetics more or less support the idea of destiny. Our genes are our destiny ! It is written – not on our forehead or on the palm of our hands but in our genes. And we have no choice in choosing our genes. Our parents are our only source for the genetic material. Even here we share (nearly) exactly half from mom and half from dad. We have no choice to choose the genes from our mom or dad. To be honest and frank – this is depressing. I hate the idea of being a puppet in the hands of my gene. If I do not have the gene for poetry ( I do not know as to whether scientists have so far discovered any such gene – most likely not), I will not become a poet – no matter how hard I try. This goes diametrically against the theme of Sri Anand Yoga. In Sri Anand Yoga, we strongly believe that we are architect of our life. We need to manifest our dreams through consistent efforts and JOYFULLY traversing our journey of Life. But if our genes hold the key, how do I unlock the door to my destiny ?

Now wait a minute. It is not over yet. What I have mentioned above about the science of genetics is not the whole story. For many scientists, this is mostly that matters for the purpose of their investigation. Not for me. There is also another discovery about how the genes themselves behave – rather the gene of the gene itself ! How the whole system works. When we study the system of gene working, the philosophy of Sri Anand Yoga becomes very logical, practical and achievable system.


There are proteins called ‘transcription factors’. Their job is to ‘switch on’ other genes. A transcription factor becomes effective when it attaches itself to a region of DNA called a ‘promoter’. The sensitivity of promoters of a gene is crucial in determining its ‘switching’ process. The ‘hox genes’ are the recipes for proteins called ‘transcription factors’. Now what are the hox genes ?

Hox genes are a small group of genes. Their job is to induce the proteins of the ’transcription factors’. DNA promoters express themselves in the fourth dimension – the dimension of time. Take the example of music composition. Forgive me for the crudity of my language as I am not literate on this subject. However, it is very crucial for my explanation of the working of hox genes. The music composition without the ‘time dimension’ will not make a symphony. Just the alphabets of the music will not make the symphony. Their correct sequencing will also not make a symphony. We need to add the factor of time – how long a particular note is played is the crucial missing link in making a music composition into a fine symphony. This is precisely the role of hox genes through transcription factors. A chimp has a different head from human being not because it has a different gene for its particularly shaped head. It is because the hox genes of chimp grows the jaws for longer and the cranium for less long than does the human being. The difference is all in timing and NOT in genes.

These hox genes set out the blueprint for the body of fly during its early development. It tells where to put the head, the legs, the winds and so on. Surprisingly, the mouse also has the same hox genes. Not only that, these genes are in the same order. They are designed (destined ?) to do the same job. In other words, the same gene tells a mouse embryo where to grow ribs as tells a fly embryo where to grow winds. If the message is still not yet clear to you, let me be more blunt. You can even swap this gene between species - EVEN A HUMAN BEING !. Not joking. I am serious. We are all brothers and sisters – humans, mouse, chimps, pigs. This is not a religious talk. This is the science of genetics. Buddha and Jesus must be smiling.

This discovery is having very far reaching effect on our understanding the divine plan of the Creator. I will therefore again put it in different words. Same genes can be REUSED in different places and at different times. All we have to do is put a set of different promoters beside it. Even small changes in the promoter can have subtle effects on the EXPRESSION of a gene.

Promoter is part of DNA. It is a paragraph of 200 letters. Between the two species, only a handful of letters vary – even a change in as few as 2 of the letters can make all the difference.

When we want to write an original novel, we do not need to invent new words for it. To paint a beautiful scenery, we do not need new colours. The basic elements are the same. Similarly, to make grand changes in the body design of different animals, we need not invent new genes. All we need to do is do the ‘switching on and off’ the genes in different PATTERNS. With the same genetic stuff, we can create an altogether new specie by adjusting the sequence of a promoter.

There is one more side observation from the study of genetics. For me it is very important as I will explain shortly. This is about the size of the brain. It is an accepted fact that the size of human brain has steadily increased over the millions of years of his evolution. It is also a fact that by and large (there are some exceptions though), the size of human brain proportionate to his body size is very high as compared with other species. Now here comes the surprise. No, the above observations are not wrong. They are still correct – actually they need a very small correction. And it is very significant for my purpose. During the last 15,000 years, the size of human brain has shown a steep decline ! If we put his evolution on a time scale of a day of 24 hours and if we assume that the human being was born on this planet at midnight yesterday, then upto the hour 23 and minutes 59, his brain size is increasing and suddenly – in a flash – during the last minute – the brain size has reduced ! What happened ? With all this digital world and space technology and scientific discoveries, one would have assumed that the brain size of a human being should have increased. Scientists ascribe the reason to the sedentary life style and ‘civilized’ world. I do not agree. The animals in the wild are living in a very precarious environment with great threat to their life. They do not have larger brain size. I feel the reason for this steep decline in the size of human brain is due to corresponding high development of his mental faculties and also the ‘complexity’ of the human brain. The size of the brain might have reduced, but the ‘mass’ might not have been reduced. The network of dendrites might have in fact increased. The ‘capacity’ of the human brain might have actually ‘increased’ even with the decrease in the overall brain size.

I have finished with the science of genetics. This is only the background of my note. My main thesis is now I am putting forth.

With all the knowledge of genetics as explained above, I am still absolutely confident about the ‘architect’ theory of mine. We are the architect of our life and not our genes. There is free will. This is a very involved subject and I will cover it in a separate note.

We have seen that the same gene is present in different people, in man and in animal. Even the hox gene is also same. What is causing the difference is the fourth dimension of time. This is worked out through the mechanism of transcription factors. Now here exactly comes the matter of ‘human intervention’. We have no access to the micro level working of the gene. We can not therefore normally do any modification in this transcription factors. We need not. Sri Anand Yoga has a path which achieves the same result without even one becoming conscious of the same. We should also note that the gene itself will not cause a person become what it is destined to become. The person has to work it out. We have seen that the fat gene causes the person to become crave for pizza. It by itself does not make the person fat. If a person chooses not to succumb to his craving and follows the strict diet, he will not become fat inspite of him having a fat gene. Same is with gene for intelligence. This gene will make the person enjoy his learning experience. It will not by itself make the person intelligent. The person with intelligent gene must do the learning. If for any reason, inspite of the learning being an enjoyable experience for him he does not learn ( may be he is engrossed in some love affair), then he will not become intelligent. In other words, the genes are the inducers. I will now refine this last sentence in the light of Sri Anand Yoga. Genes are only one of the inducers for manifesting our destiny. They are NOT THE ONLY ONES. Here is the KEY to unlock the secrets of becoming the architect of our life. We need to become AWARE of our LIVING. At present we are like zombies. We are puppets in the hands not only of our genes but more importantly in the hands of our emotions, our passions, our cravings, our addictions and our mental blocks. We need to come out of this slumber. We are getting dragged by these horses. We need to ride on them.

Here I have to take note of the fact that inspite of the impact of environment in early childhood, the role of gene becomes inevitable as we advance in our age. However, it is not inevitable. Moreover, the severity of its impact can considerably be toned down.

I am now coming a very important observation which has to be snatched by reading between the lines. We have read about the scientific discoveries based on the population survey. Now, here we have to note that these surveys are mere ‘statistics’. Inspite of whatever scientific methods being applied to the method of surveying to eliminate the chance of error, human bias and defective observations being recorded, there still leaves an ample scope for re-interpretation and re-recording of the facts and re-angling of the observation itself. The canvas of life is very big and multi-dimensional. I do not grant to the scientists (with all due respect to their ingenuity and scientific expertise) the certificate of competency in ‘observing’ the life in a particular manner. Now here comes the punch line. We have seen the statistical observation that say, 60 % of the persons have exhibited such and such a trait, thus validating the particular theory. My question is, what happens to the balance 40 % ? It is a very large proportion of the population. Why they fall ‘outside’ the theory ? What are the factors responsible for they following a different path ? For the sake of arguments, let us assume that 90 % or even 99.99 % of the people surveyed have shown a particular trait thus certifying the theory beyond any doubt. You have guessed I right. What happens to the remaining 0.01 % of the population ? I would like to make micro level study of that person to understand how he defied the law of gravity (of a particular theory). He will offer the clue as to the new directions to look for in reaching the summit of the mountain. May be or may be not. But it is certainly worth the try. What I am trying to say is that we can not hard ‘define’ life. We can not put rigid theory into the life. It will at best only be an abstract direction. Life still offers ample scope for new methods, new theories, new approaches to conquer her.

It is not enough if we do lot of hard work to achieve our dreams. Machines do better job at that. There has to be JOY in our work. In fact it is not at all ‘hard’ work. It is not actually a ‘work’ also. It is a journey. It is a pilgrimage.

I do not wish to undermine the important role gene has to play in shaping our life. It does carry an element of destiny in its expression. It does to an extent undermine the role of environment in shaping of our life. To put it in other words, genes do hold a trump card in our life game of cards. It has the power of ‘cutting’ the non-trump cards – of even higher denomination than it. However, its capacity is limited by trump cards of higher denominations in our hand. And most importantly, we do have the MASTER TRUMP – AN ACE OF TRUMP. And that is our conscious aware joyful participation in the play of life.

The science of genetics also validate some of the principles of spiritual astrology. It is also confirming the ‘vortex’ theory of life. Every cell, every atom, every electron, quark, every point of existence in this world is having an astral field around it. This field is stronger at the core and it extends to the whole of the universe. This field is in the form of vortex revolving at very extreme speeds. It is having the defining aspects of speed, direction, depth, color, specific energy constant, intention and mass of experience. It is also having some other occult characteristics. Certain symbols and shapes also come into picture. The science of genetics conform to this science of life-cell. The answers to the question posed above as why the remaining non-conforming population falls outside the theory can be found to some extent in this science of life-cell. This science will fill the missing gaps in the science of genetics. It will be out of place and pre-mature to discuss them here. May be some other time I will dwell on these aspects.

This note is ongoing exercise. There are many more interesting aspects of genetic science. I will cover them as the time permits.